The map
A country is not a destination
"Botswana" tells you almost nothing. The Okavango in June and the Kalahari in January are different landscapes, different animals, different weather and different prices. The region is the unit worth choosing with, and almost nobody publishes at that resolution.
The four blocks
Where the top of the market concentrates
Fourteen regions, four groupings. Each one does something the others cannot.
East Africa
The Mara and its conservancies, Laikipia, Samburu, Amboseli, and the Serengeti in three parts. The highest density of large mammals on earth.
The East African regions
Southern Africa
The Okavango, the Linyanti, Chobe and the Kalahari. Water in the dry season, and the lowest vehicle density anywhere.
The Botswana regions
The gorilla forests
Volcanoes and Nyungwe in Rwanda, Bwindi and Kibale in Uganda. An hour at a time, and nothing else is like it.
The forest regions
The coast
Zanzibar’s four coasts and the Kenyan shore. Where a safari ends, and the difference between the coasts is not cosmetic.
The coastal regionsWhy this resolution
The step everybody skips
People choose a country, then start looking at camps. The step in between — which region of that country, and why — is where almost every good decision gets made and almost no published writing operates.
It matters because the regions inside one country can be less alike than two countries. A water camp in the Okavango and a land camp forty minutes away by helicopter are different holidays. The Mara reserve and the conservancy on its border have the same animals and entirely different rules.
- The region decides what you may do — off-road, night drives, walking
- The region decides how many other vehicles you will see
- The region decides the month, more than the country does
- The camp is the last decision, not the first
Timing
When each block peaks
The shortest possible version. The regional pages break each of these down properly.
| Block | Peak months | The good second window |
|---|---|---|
| East Africa — Kenya | July – October | January – March, and the coast is at its best then |
| East Africa — Tanzania | June – October in the north | January – March for the calving in the south |
| Botswana | June – October, following the flood | December – April in the Kalahari, when it greens |
| The gorilla forests | June – September, drier and easier underfoot | Year-round; December – February is a second dry window |
| Zanzibar | June – October and December – February | Avoid the long rains in April and May |
Free download
The Safari Region Guide
Fourteen regions across six countries, each with what it is best at, when it peaks, and what it sensibly pairs with.
- Why the region is the right unit to choose with
- Kenya: the Mara, the conservancies, Laikipia, Samburu, Amboseli
- Tanzania: the Serengeti in three parts, the Crater, the south, the west
- Botswana: the Delta, the Linyanti, Chobe, the Kalahari
- Rwanda and Uganda: the forests
- Zanzibar: four coasts, four different weeks
- What pairs with what, and what does not
- Peak months, region by region
- A shortlist worksheet
No cost, no obligation. We ask for an email so we can send it and, if you want it, follow up once.
What this is not
It is not a camp directory. We do not publish a list of three hundred properties with a booking link on each, because a collection that is really an affiliate index is worth nothing to you — every camp in it is excellent, by definition, and you are no further forward.
What we publish instead is the level above: the land, the rules that come with it, the months, and how the regions combine. Then, when you enquire, a specialist names specific camps for your dates — which is the only point at which naming camps is useful, because availability is what decides it.
Before you ask
The questions the map raises
How many regions should one trip cover?
Two, usually, plus a coast if there is one. Three is possible in fourteen nights and starts to cost you a day per move.
The thing worth resisting is a third region added because it is famous. Four nights in two places beats three nights in three, and the second morning at a camp is reliably better than the first.
Which two regions pair best?
The test is contrast. A Mara conservancy with Laikipia or Samburu works because the landscapes and the activities are genuinely different. The Mara and the northern Serengeti do not, because they are one ecosystem with a border through it.
In Botswana, a water camp in the Delta followed by the Linyanti is the strongest two-stop in Southern Africa.
Is Botswana worth the extra over Kenya?
It depends entirely on what you are buying. Botswana costs more because the concession model caps the number of beds on very large areas of land — you are paying for other people not being there.
If solitude is what you want, nowhere does it better and the premium is honest. If you want the highest density of big cats, Kenya gives you more for less.
Who actually arranges my safari?
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.
Start planning
Tell us your month and we will tell you the regions
The month narrows the map faster than anything else. Add a per-person-per-night figure and what you want the days to be like, and the shortlist is two or three regions rather than fourteen.
Our Africa specialist replies within 24 hours with named camps and an itemised price.
- The regions that are at their best on your dates
- Named camps, with the land each one sits on
- An honest answer about whether two regions or one is right
- No deposit to see a plan, and no obligation at any point
Who answers
Nomad Africa, our partner travel agency in Nairobi, builds and prices every itinerary we send. You deal with one team, on the ground, for the whole trip.
Founded in 2017 as East Africa’s only dedicated travel magazine, Nomad still publishes — so the people planning your trip are the ones who write about these places for a living.
Get your tailored itinerary and quote
Our Africa specialist replies within 24 hours with a costed plan built around your dates.
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Specialist guides across our Africa network
Each of these is a focused guide we publish. Same Africa specialist behind every enquiry.