East Africa Safaris
Each year, over a million wildebeest and zebras crisscross the Mara river in the northern Serengeti (Tanzania) as they migrate in search of fresh grazing land. Depending on the rains each year, these river crossings can start as early as June as herds move north, and end around November as the majority of migrating animals … Read more
The great wildebeest migration spectacle is unlike other safaris because of the huge numbers of animals, but sometimes it seems the tourists outnumber the animals. Visitor estimates during the 2018 peak season in the small area called the Maasai Mara range from 2,500 to 8,000 per day. This post describes some avoidance tips we picked … Read more
The Maasai Mara National Reserve and the Serengeti National Park are part of the same continuous ecosystem, which extends from southern Kenya into northern Tanzania. The ecosystem has 2 or 3 seasons depending on who you ask. The confusion lies in the fact that its rainy season is divided into a short rains season and … Read more
Safaris are addictive. Tanzania’s northern safari circuit boasts 2 of the most iconic areas in all of Africa: the Serengeti ecosystem and the Ngorongoro (Crater) ecosystem. We have visited both of these areas several times and describe them in this post. Our first visit was in 1999 and our most recent visit was 2021 — … Read more
The holy grail of African safaris is the great wildebeest migration that takes place each year in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem of Tanzania and Kenya. This post describes some of what we learned while researching and what we experienced while on safari in the Serengeti (see our post) and the Mara (see our post). The Serengeti-Mara … Read more
Kenya is a stunning country with many premiere wildlife reserves, in this post we will discuss the two most popular, the Maasai (Masai) Mara National Reserve and Amboseli National Park. When visiting Kenya, one should also consider Tanzania. See our post on Tanzania. Maasai Mara National Reserve Named after the Maasai people (Masai), the Mara … Read more
Is Nairobi worth exploring, or is it just a mere stopover on your trip into or out of the wilderness? Nairobi is definitely worth exploring, as it is the cultural and culinary hub of Kenya. Kenya’s main tourism attractions are safari tours, and sun—sea—sand resorts on its coast, and many tourists combine both in a … Read more
In this post, we share a few safety and general travel tips for your visit to Africa, with an emphasis on Safari related travel. Our travel notes on Egypt and North Africa are described in other posts. We’ve been to Africa only a half dozen times, so obviously we aren’t Africanophiles, and have no African … Read more
What are the variables that go into planning an amazing safari vacation, and how to choose from all the possible safari options? Time and Budget Your Budget for an African safari vacation is driven by 2 main variables: the type of lodging and the duration of your vacation. At the low end, you can rent … Read more
Many tourists want to know the differences between Kenya and Tanzania when planning their safari vacation in Africa. The glib advice is “choose both countries” but if time or cost constraints force you to choose between these two countries, this post describes some of their key safari-related differences, based on our experience. There are many … Read more
