About the texture of the days

To see the best of it, yes. The two hours after dawn are when animals move and no rate changes that.

What money buys is the freedom not to go. On a private vehicle, skipping a morning is a sentence over dinner. On a shared one it is a social negotiation, so people go when they would rather sleep.

Only if you will use it in the long middle, which is the one window and also the hottest, sleepiest part of the day. Many couples would rather lie still by water.

If a spa matters to you, it is usually better placed on the coast half of the trip, where there is actually time.

Shade on the deck, a bed you can see out of, same-day laundry, reliable hot water before six, and a kitchen that will feed you when you want.

None of those photographs. All of them are used every day.

Colder than people expect. At altitude in June and July, single figures before dawn — in places most visitors imagine as uniformly hot.

Camps provide hot water bottles and blankets on the vehicle. Bring a proper warm layer anyway.

It does, and it is worth saying in the enquiry. It changes the recommendation — solid-walled rooms rather than canvas, quieter siting, tents further from the main area — and it costs nothing at the booking stage.

It cannot be fixed once you have arrived.

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.