Luxury safaris

At the top of the market the camp stops being somewhere to sleep and becomes part of the experience. A limited number of suites or tents, private decks facing the bush, food that would hold its own in a city, and guiding of a standard that genuinely changes what you see and understand.

The properties in these packages are among the best in East Africa: andBeyond Bateleur Camp and Cottar's 1920s Camp in the Mara, Elewana Tortilis in Amboseli, Finch Hattons in Tsavo West, Sasaab and Elephant Bedroom in Samburu, Four Seasons Serengeti, Elewana The Manor at Ngorongoro and andBeyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge.

What you are buying beyond comfort is exclusivity and access. Premium camps in private conservancies can offer night drives, guided walks and off-road following that national reserves prohibit, and they cap vehicle numbers at sightings. On a busy migration morning in the Mara, that difference is substantial.

Luxury routes also tend to use light aircraft between destinations rather than long road transfers, which converts driving days into game-viewing days. The eight-day Samburu, Sera and Greater Maasai Mara route is the clearest example of that logic in this catalogue.