Where a safari can take you
31 destinations across three countries, each one written up properly: what it does better than anywhere else, when to go, how many nights it deserves, and what it combines with.
Kenya
Kenya
The classic East African safari, from the Mara to the mountain
Maasai Mara
Big cats, open plains and the northern stage of the Great Migration
33 safaris go here
Lake Nakuru
A fenced rhino sanctuary around a Rift Valley soda lake
25 safaris go here
Lake Naivasha
Freshwater, hippo pods and the Rift Valley's gentlest day
10 safaris go here
Amboseli
Great elephant families beneath Mount Kilimanjaro
16 safaris go here
Tsavo West
Volcanic hills, crystal springs and wild, rugged country
4 safaris go here
Tsavo East
Red elephants on wide open plains
2 safaris go here
Samburu
Northern dry country and the Samburu Special Five
5 safaris go here
Ol Pejeta
East Africa's largest black rhino sanctuary, under Mount Kenya
5 safaris go here
Aberdare
High montane forest, waterfalls and floodlit waterholes
3 safaris go here
Nairobi
The East African gateway, and a national park on the city's edge
0 safaris go here
Sera Conservancy
Community-owned wilderness and East Africa's first black rhino tracking on foot
1 safari go here
Greater Mara
Low-density private conservancies bordering the national reserve
1 safari go here
Tanzania
Tanzania
The Serengeti, the Crater, and the greatest herds on earth
Serengeti
Endless plains and the engine of the Great Migration
23 safaris go here
Ngorongoro
A collapsed volcano holding its own complete ecosystem
26 safaris go here
Tarangire
Baobabs, a life-giving river and the circuit's greatest elephant numbers
20 safaris go here
Lake Manyara
Groundwater forest beneath the Rift escarpment
19 safaris go here
Ndutu
Calving season, short grass and concentrated predator action
1 safari go here
Arusha
The northern circuit's starting line, beneath Mount Meru
24 safaris go here
Zanzibar
Indian Ocean reef, spice history and the right way to end a safari
2 safaris go here
Uganda
Uganda
Mountain gorillas, chimpanzees and green savannah
Bwindi
Half the world's mountain gorillas, in genuinely impenetrable forest
8 safaris go here
Kibale
The best chimpanzee tracking in Africa
5 safaris go here
Queen Elizabeth
Kazinga Channel hippos and the tree-climbing lions of Ishasha
6 safaris go here
Murchison Falls
The Nile forced through an eight-metre-wide gorge
3 safaris go here
Ziwa
Uganda's only wild rhino, tracked on foot
3 safaris go here
Lake Mburo
Zebra, acacia woodland and Uganda's most walkable park
3 safaris go here
Lake Bunyonyi
Terraced hills, twenty-nine islands and the place to recover after trekking
3 safaris go here
Entebbe
Uganda's lakeside gateway on the shore of Lake Victoria
0 safaris go here
Mgahinga
Volcano slopes, golden monkeys and a second gorilla option
1 safari go here