Amboseli & Tsavo
Exploring your destinations
Wildlife Safaris
Game drives across East Africa
A wildlife safari is the trip most people picture when they think of East Africa: early starts, open plains and time spent watching animals behave as they normally do rather than performing for anyone.
Most of our trips fall into this category. Clients usually combine two or three parks, so they see different country rather than the same landscape twice.
Plan My SafariWhat a Day Involves
Game drives run early and late, when animals are most active and the light is at its best.
You will usually leave camp around dawn, with coffee before you go, and return for breakfast two or three hours later. The middle of the day is yours. Animals rest in the heat, and most people do too. A second drive goes out in the late afternoon and returns around sunset.
Full-day drives with a packed lunch are an option when you are covering more ground or heading to a distant part of a park.
Your driver-guide decides where to be and when to wait. That judgement is the difference between a good safari and an average one, which is why we are particular about who we work with.
Who It Suits
Wildlife safaris work for almost everyone. There is little walking beyond getting in and out of the vehicle, so fitness is rarely a limiting factor.
They suit first-time visitors who want to see the well-known species, returning travellers looking for quieter parks, photographers who need time and patience rather than a packed schedule, and families, provided drives are kept to a sensible length for younger children.
Where to Go
Kenya is the obvious starting point: the Maasai Mara for big cats and migration months, Amboseli for elephants beneath Kilimanjaro, Tsavo for space, and Samburu for species you will not see further south.
Tanzania offers the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, which concentrates an unusual amount of wildlife into one enclosed area.
Uganda has Queen Elizabeth and Murchison Falls, both quite different in character, with boat safaris as well as drives.
Rwanda's Akagera is the part of the country most like a conventional safari, with the Big Five present following conservation reintroductions.
When to Go
The dry months are generally the most reliable for game viewing. Vegetation thins out, animals concentrate around water and roads are easier.
In Kenya and Tanzania, this broadly means June to October and again in January and February. The wet months are green, quiet and often better value. Wildlife is still there; you simply work a little harder to see it.
If you are travelling specifically for the wildebeest migration, timing matters more. Tell us your dates and we will advise which side of the border is likely to make most sense.
What We Arrange
Park and conservation fees, a suitable safari vehicle with a driver-guide, accommodation to the standard you want, meals, transfers and any internal flights.
We also advise on which parks suit the time you have, because fitting four parks into a week usually means seeing less of each one than you would like.
Safaris
Wildlife Safaris we plan
Maasai Mara
Mara & Serengeti
Maasai Mara
Maasai Mara
Rift Valley lakes
Samburu & Maasai Mara
Nairobi
Samburu
Plan a Wildlife Safari
Tell us what you want to see
Send us your dates, who is travelling and the species or parks you have in mind. If you are not sure, tell us what kind of trip you want and we will suggest a route.