Questions about getting between places

Close to the date. A time given at booking is indicative, and the final one usually arrives a few days before, because the circuit is built around who is actually flying that morning.

It is not disorganisation; it is how scheduled light aircraft networks work. Camps and transfer drivers are given the same information at the same time.

Not on the light aircraft legs. The hold is a curved space with no room for a rigid frame, and the weight limit — commonly around 15kg per person including hand luggage — is enforced at the strip.

Leave the case in a city hotel store for the international legs. Almost every transit hotel offers this and most do not charge.

For four or more people, often, because the per-head cost converges on scheduled seats. For an awkward connection with no good scheduled option, yes. For a day where the circuit would eat a game drive at both ends, sometimes.

For two people moving between two strips on the same circuit, rarely.

Usually yes. Vehicles and guides generally do not cross, so you change at the post or at the airstrip and meet a new team on the other side.

It matters more than people expect when the relationship with a guide was part of what you were enjoying, which is one argument for depth over breadth.

It depends on your nationality and the exact combination, and the rules change often enough that we would rather confirm the current position for your route than publish something here that may have moved.

Generally: a single visa covering several East African countries has existed in various forms, most nationalities apply online in advance, and Zanzibar is a separate formality from mainland Tanzania.

On a trip booked as one itinerary, the operator moves you and rebuilds the day. That is the substantive difference between a planned trip and a set of separately booked components, where a missed leg is your problem.

It is also why we would rather build a route with slack in it than one that depends on every leg running.

A Africa safari is usually quoted fully inclusive: accommodation, all meals, park and conservancy fees, your guide and vehicle, and transport between parks. Most camps include soft drinks, house wine, beer and laundry.

Not included: international flights, visas or travel authorisation, travel insurance, tips, premium drinks, and extras like balloon flights and spa treatments.

For July to October — the migration months in the Masai Mara — six to twelve months is normal, and the best small camps sell out first. Christmas and New Year book up just as early.

For the shoulder months, three to four months is usually comfortable. Inside eight weeks we can still put a very good trip together, but you are choosing from what is left rather than from everything.

This site is a planning guide. When you send an enquiry it goes to Nomad Africa, our partner travel agency in Kenya, who prepare your itinerary and quote and handle the booking, the payments and you on the ground.

You deal with one team from the first email to the airport transfer home.

No. Sending your dates, getting an itinerary and getting a costed quote is free and carries no obligation. Money only changes hands when you decide to hold space at a camp.

The safari areas themselves are well run, and camps take guest safety seriously. The practical risks are ordinary travel risks: road transfers, sun, stomach upsets and not listening to your guide around animals.

Check your own government’s current travel advice for Africa before you book and again before you fly, and take out insurance that covers medical evacuation. We will not tell you an area is fine if the advice says otherwise.