About timing

April and May are the hardest across East Africa and we would rather say so than reassure you. Everything else has a good answer somewhere on the continent.

And even those two have three: Rwanda or Uganda, green-season value, or moving the dates by a couple of months.

September. Peak dry-season game, the migration still in the Mara, marginally fewer people than August, and Botswana at its very best. It also books out earliest.

Thirty to forty per cent at the same camp is typical and at some it is more, with minimum stays relaxed and upgrades far more likely.

What you trade is certainty about weather, and in the wettest months some camps being closed.

It is a legitimate answer and more couples take it than admit to it. The version that works best is something easy immediately after the wedding and the real trip later in the year.

Having it to look forward to through the summer is, several couples have told us, better than going straight away.

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.

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.

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.