Questions about the land underneath

Ask whoever is quoting you. There is a one-sentence answer for every camp in East Africa, and an evasive reply tells you something in itself.

The follow-up question is more useful still: where do the game drives actually go? Plenty of camps on private land drive their guests into the neighbouring public park every morning, which returns the day to park rules.

They are capped, which is not quite the same claim. A lease fixes how many beds may exist per acre and often how many vehicles may attend a sighting, and somebody is employed to enforce it.

A park has no such cap, so its crowding varies enormously with season and location. A park in April and the same park in August are different places.

Rarely, and only where the managing authority specifically provides for it. Walking is generally a private-land or concession activity.

If a park-based camp advertises walking, ask where it happens and how long the drive to the start is. Both answers are usually fine; only one of them is available before breakfast.

Land that permits off-road driving, which in practice means a conservancy, a private property or a concession. The difference between twenty feet and forty feet of grass is the difference between the photograph and the memory of it.

A private vehicle matters at least as much, and that is a booking decision rather than a tenure one.

On a community conservancy the structure is a lease: landowners are paid a rent per acre, monthly, whether or not visitors come. Conservancies publish their own figures and we would rather you read those than take a characterisation from us.

On private title the arrangement belongs to the owner, and on a concession it depends on the agreement.

If what you want is the absence of other people, yes, because that is precisely what the price buys. If what you want is the greatest number of animals in one view, often not — the set pieces are on public land.

Most routes we write use both, for exactly that reason.

A East 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 East 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.