Just wrapped up a few days in Masai Mara and we were lucky enough to see a leopard and cheetah kill.

Nature is brutal but so incredible.

Hi, has anyone been to Amboseli or the Maasai Mara very recently and can advise how cold it is? Trying to pack for travel in a few days ☺️

Traveling end of May 2027 with my wife. Can you recommend mid to high end tour operators? We will be in Cape Town for a wedding so would like to add this trip. Not planning on living in a tent or doing any self-drive tours.

I'll be in Jeddah around March 20-23, then as it's not too far away I was thinking of doing one. But I have 0 experience or knowledge

My concern is being safe as a couple , can spend upto 5-6k for 4 nights

From Chatgpt it said that Tanzania might be safest but idk

Is it even worth it or not? I did the one in San Diego and Animal kingdom in US

So, just to mention that this safari in the Serengeti/Ngorongoro wasn’t my first safari. I have experiences with other guides and companies.

Throughout the entire trip, there were issues with communication. We never received any communication beforehand. We always had to ask multiple questions, like “Where is my driver?”, “What is his name?”, “What is the car plate?”, “Where am I going to find this or that?”, and we always had to wait. The company was never proactive and never communicated anything to us.

Now, here comes the issue with our guide that met us in the Seronera. We spent four days in his company and ended up seeing the animals on our wishlist. The lodges were also nice, but we chose them ourselves, the safari company only booked them for us.

The rest of the things were just frustrating. The safari guide:
-Didn’t tell us a single thing about the animals or the area unless we asked him to. When we asked him, the explanations were very dry.
-He just kept talking on the phone all the time. Imagine a scene: we’re parked by a pride of lions enjoying their meals, we’re in total silence, and our driver is, in the meantime, talking on the phone. The same thing happened every day.
-He never warned us when he decided to move abruptly from a spot. I tripped a couple of times because I would be standing up with my binoculars, and he would get started with no warning.
-We booked a very nice hotel on our last day, with a view of the Ngorongoro Crater. We had our flight at 16:00 and had agreed with the tour company that we would be brought to Arusha Airport 2h before the flight. The night before, the driver started insisting that we had to wake up at 6:00, have breakfast at 6:30, and leave the hotel at 7:00. We argued that we wanted to enjoy the hotel longer and didn’t want to arrive at the airport with too much time to spare. We also don’t enjoy eating breakfast at 6:30, unless we really have to. Then the guy started telling us a bunch of things like, “You never know what happens on the roads, so it’s best if we leave 10 hours before,” and “Arusha Airport has three-hour waiting lines,” etc. The thing is, I’ve been to Arusha plenty of times before, and I know that the airport is sometimes busy, but to require four hours in advance for a domestic flight? Then we argued again, and the driver started offering us the Maasai experience for $50. We refused, as we find these things inauthentic, and we have also seen Maasai-related things before. Then the guide just texted us a message literally saying, “There’s no alternative. Please pack your bags, have your breakfast, and make sure you’re ready by 7:00.”

We were shocked. This has spoilt our last day of the trip, and we also ended up getting to the airport 4.5 hours before our flight. This, together with waking up at 5:45 that day, four hours on a bumpy road, and four hours of waiting, only to be followed by a 2h flight, made things extremely tiring.
All this to say that the company came back to us, scolding us for not tipping them or the guide. Were we somehow in the wrong? Am I failing to see anything?
And sorry for the many words!

UPD: the company is See Endless Adventures, please beware.

Has anyone stayed at duke’s camp in Botswana? If so, how was your experience? (Accommodations, guides). Not seeing a ton of reviews online. Thanks!

I am planning a safari in Kenya and we are fairly constricted with the dates which we can actually go for the safari which is from 18th - 23rd of March approx. Is this a good time to go for Safaris around Masai Mara/Amboseli? I heard it's the beginning of rainy season which can cause difficult driving conditions and harder to see animals. Has anyone been there in March and still saw animals?

I’ll add that we really enjoy the modern luxury feel. Thanks!

My safari company has just cancelled our safari (due to El Niño) that was going to happen in the 2nd week of November 2026. They are cancelling all of their trips from mid October through the end of November. We had already known about El Niño but hadn’t been too worried based on everything we read and heard.

Has anyone else’s tour company also cancelled or is mine being overly cautious??

Would really like to hear about others plans for November as we now need to decide whether to rebook with a different company in Tanzania, or if we can do a last minute booking to a different country that may be less impacted by the rain.

we had such a great time in tanzania, sharing a some highlights

We have a safaris for mid December doing the northern circuit in Tanzania. Any experiences with doing the safari during el niño ,how we should prepare, and how we may be affected? TYIA

We are traveling to South Africa in Sep 2027 and just secured our flights from the US to Cape Town once the airline schedule opened up so I felt secure starting to book our hotels and safari lodge now that our dates are “locked in”. I had already created a short list of the safari lodges we were interested in so this weekend I narrowed it down further to our top 2 based on published rates/our budget and the overall reviews and things that I valued most. Since the 2 lodges that I liked the most do not offer online booking, I had to submit interest forms on their websites over the weekend and heard back Monday AM. Both were initially available so my husband and I reviewed the details again and decided which one was our favorite option. I responded back to request the booking and in those 9 hours (due to time difference) our top lodge took another booking and was no longer available for our dates :( I’m someone who is laughed at by most of my close friends and family for how far out I book our trips but now I’m realizing that even my normal timeline is not aggressive enough to ensure top pick of your desired safari lodge.

I know a lot of people rely on travel advisors to help with safari planning so maybe that’s where I went wrong. But even so, I was not about to lock in trip dates until I can confirm my flights. Curious what other people are doing. Is it just a matter of being more flexible with your dates or itinerary?

We have our 2nd pick lodge held for our dates and we’re now waiting for final quote including transfers, etc. but I’m still bummed after getting excited for our first pick that we couldn’t go with them.

Same as the title. What if you have to pee 1-2 hours into a safari at Masai mara or somewhere else?
I believe the game drives are longer than that and with the dirt road conditions, it may be even more difficult to hold it lol.

For early Feb 2027 - need to book a 3-night stay before our safari trip begins. If you had 3 nights (2 days) where would you stay? TIA

Hi everyone, my husband and I are flying from the US to Kilimanjaro (JRO) for a Tanzania safari in late Oct, and due to award ticket availability, we are currently booked on separate tickets with carry-on luggage only (no checked bags): Ticket 1 is on Qatar Airways (SEA – DOH – NBO) arriving at NBO at 23:50, and Ticket 2 is on Kenya Airways KQ426 / Precision Air (NBO – JRO) departing the next morning at 08:15 (an 8.5-hour overnight layover). Since our transit in Nairobi is strictly under 12 hours, our plan is to stay airside at NBO and hang out in a 24-hour Priority Pass lounge (like Plaza Premium or Turkish Airlines Lounge) so we don't enter Kenya and can legally qualify for Tanzania's Yellow Fever vaccine exemption (<12 hrs airside transit). For those who have done a separate-ticket airside transit at NBO recently, I would love your insights on three logistics: (1) NBO Transfer Desk at midnight: If KQ/PW online check-in requires a "Document Check" and doesn't issue a mobile boarding pass QR code right away, is the airside International Transfer Desk at NBO open around midnight (00:00) to print our NBO-JRO boarding passes without clearing immigration? (2) Boarding in the US (SEA): When checking in with Qatar Airways in the US on a ticket ending in NBO, will showing our printed confirmed e-ticket receipt for the morning NBO-JRO flight be enough to waive the Kenya eTA requirement, or would you recommend paying the $30 for a Kenya eTA just as a backup to satisfy the US check-in agent even though we won't use it to clear NBO immigration? (3) Port Health at JRO: When arriving at JRO on the morning flight from NBO, how smooth was the Yellow Fever check when showing printed e-tickets and boarding passes proving an 8.5-hour airside layover with no Kenya entry stamp? Thanks in advance for any recent data points!

Hey everyone! My partner and I are planning a trip to Africa for late January/early February and would love some feedback on our itinerary, especially from anyone who has visited these areas around that time of year.

We’re mainly interested in wildlife, safaris and nature, rather than spending much time in cities. We want to see a good variety of animals and landscapes without making the trip feel too rushed. We've been quoted about $35K CAD for this trip (for 2 adults, excluding our international airfaire). Does this quote seem reasonable?

We're aware it's rainy season in Botswana and Kruger. We like the aspect of more intimate safari experiences that we would have in Botswana compared to Tanzania and elsewhere.

Here’s what we’re currently looking at:

• Days 1–3: South Africa – Arathusa Safari Lodge (3 nights)
  • Fly into Johannesburg, then connect to Hoedspruit and transfer to the lodge.
  • Safari in the Greater Kruger area.
• Day 4: South Africa to Victoria Falls
  • Fly from Hoedspruit to Kruger Mpumalanga Airport, then on to Victoria Falls.
  • Stay at Batoka Guest Lodge for 2 nights.
  • Sunset cruise on the Zambezi and a tour of Victoria Falls.
• Days 6–8: Botswana – Nxabe ga Under Canvas (3 nights)
  • Fly from Victoria Falls to Kasane, then transfer to camp.
  • Explore the area around the Nxabe ga camp.
• Days 9–12: Botswana – Sandibe Under Canvas (4 nights)
  • Transfer from Nxabe ga to Sandibe.
  • Finish the trip with 4 nights here before flying back to Maun and then Johannesburg.

Which would be better? Getting to Kenya from Rwanda saves me a day. But is Tanzania worth losing extra day? I only have 4 nights total.