I am passionate about wildlife, travel and a keen wildlife and bird photographer, I am also a qualified Field Guide (safari guide) and have worked at safari lodges in South Africa.

During my time working in the bush I noticed that may visitors would either come with poor quality or no binoculars at all. In my opinion, binoculars are even more important than your camera. 

Binoculars for Safaris

Deciding which are the best binoculars for your safari holiday can be difficult as there are so many different types available, so what should you get? Ideally the perfect safari binoculars will be great wildlife binoculars, good birding binoculars and compact enough to easily pack into your luggage and to easily carry with you should you go on a walking safari.Great wildlife binoculars need to be tough and at least water protected (ideally fully waterproof and fog proof), which will not only protect them from the toughest conditions, but also from any dust entering the mechanism. To view wildlife you need a decent magnification, I tend to go for at least 10x. Field of view is not as important as it is with birding binoculars, but always try and get the widest field of view as possible.Field of view and a steady, bright image are probably more important in bird watching binoculars than their magnification, this is because many birds are fast moving and erratic so a wide field of view makes them easier to locate through the optics and so the most popular birding binoculars tend to only have a magnification of 8x and an objective lend diameter of 42mm (8x42)Obviously a large objective diameter also means a large pair of binoculars, so this is where with a binoculars for safari holidays, where you are going to be doing a lot of travelling, you may have to make some compromises.In more expensive binoculars, with better quality lenses, fully coated optics and overall better light transmission, you can get away with smaller diameter objective lenses that will still give you a bright clear image even in poor light conditions. 

How much should you pay
Go for what you can afford, but don't be tempted to go for the cheapest, they can be really bad and in some cases will even make looking through them worse than using your own eyes. As for the most expensive binoculars, like expensive wine, they are the best, but only a true connoisseur can tell the difference between a good and a great wine. If you are only a casual user of binoculars go for something mid priced, they will work fine and in may cases unless you are an expert, you cannot tell the difference between them and the most expensive versions.

In my opinion Steiner make excellent value for money binoculars, with the Steiner 10.5x28 Wildlife Pro or the Steiner 12x30 Wildlife Pro ideal binoculars to take with you on Safari.

Enjoy your holiday.

For more information, take a look at the Best Binoculars & Binocular Reviews and Safari Holiday Guide websites.