A guide from your African safari expert

How to plan your East Africa safari

A safari can look perfect on paper and still go wrong. The best ones are not the trips with the longest list of parks. They are the ones where the pace, the places and the camps suit you, and where the details are handled before you arrive.

I live in a wildlife conservancy in the Maasai Mara, and I have spent over a decade living and travelling across Africa. Here are the five things I wish every first-time safari traveller knew before they book.

1

Never copy someone else's itinerary

I see it all the time: people asking for the exact itinerary a friend or an influencer did. It is one of the fastest ways to turn an exceptional experience into a fairly standard one. Once you know what is possible, everything changes. Did you know you could:

  • ride on horseback through wildlife in private conservancies
  • track animals on foot with expert guides, and meet endangered rhino on foot
  • white-water raft down the Nile
  • watch the Great Migration one day and be on a tropical island the next
  • stay in ultra-exclusive lodges with complete privacy
  • take a helicopter ride over Mount Kilimanjaro

A safari should be designed around you. Not sure where to start? Take the two-minute quiz and I will match you with a journey.

2

Choose the right place, season and pace

The dry season, from June to October, gives the best wildlife viewing but also the highest prices and the most vehicles. The shoulder seasons and the green season offer fewer crowds and lower prices, with a different kind of magic. The pace matters just as much. Rushed itineraries and long transfers quietly spoil a trip, so I aim for at least two or three nights in each place.

Not sure whether to choose Kenya or Tanzania? Start with Kenya or Tanzania: which is better for a first safari?, then read how to plan an African safari and the top 3 mistakes people make when planning.

3

Sort the logistics before you go

Even a beautiful itinerary can fall apart if transfers, flights, permits or paperwork are not handled properly. Start a list: flights and transfers, visas, vaccinations, and packing. These guides will help:

4

Plan for when things go wrong

Picture this. You arrive in Nairobi, clear immigration and walk outside looking for your driver. Your name is not there. You try your agent, but they are in a different time zone and do not answer. It happens more often than you would think.

Africa is complex. Distances are long and logistics are layered. I have seen incorrect permits delay entry into the Serengeti, and small problems become stressful because nobody was there to fix them. What makes the difference is someone on the ground who can step in straight away. When a guest's international flight was cancelled just before departure, I rearranged their itinerary behind the scenes so they arrived, settled in and continued exactly as planned.

5

Choose the right safari company

There are hundreds of companies, and many are legitimate, but the differences are in the details most people cannot see: the quality of the guiding, the condition of the vehicles, how logistics are handled and how problems are solved. Ask before you book:

  • Who will be guiding, and how long have they guided?
  • How old are the vehicles, and how often are they serviced?
  • Who answers if something goes wrong while I am travelling?
  • Can I speak to someone who has travelled with you?

I work with a small number of partners I know personally, and I would send my own family with them. Read more in how to choose the right safari company.

Ready to plan yours?

The first step is a simple conversation. We will talk through your plans, your timing and what would make this safari exceptional for you, and I will take care of the rest.

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Safari njema,
Your African Safari Expert