Field notes on the African safari
An honest, first-hand guide to the African safari.
No agency, no sponsorships, no funnel. I go to the parks and the camps myself and write down what's true — country by country, season by season, lodge by lodge — for anyone trying to make sense of it all.
Written by An anonymous expert.
Start with a country
All countries- KenyaEast Africa
The birthplace of the safari — big cats, the Mara migration, and private conservancies leading the way in conservation.
7 destinations - TanzaniaEast Africa
The most complete safari country on earth — the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater and the beaches of Zanzibar.
7 destinations - UgandaEast Africa
The Pearl of Africa — mountain gorillas, tree-climbing lions and the source of the Nile, all wonderfully under-visited.
5 destinations - RwandaEast Africa
Small, green and remarkable — the most dignified way to meet mountain gorillas, in a country reborn through conservation.
3 destinations - ZambiaSouthern Africa
The home of the walking safari — wild, low-key and guide-led, with some of the best big-cat country on the continent.
5 destinations - ZimbabweSouthern Africa
World-class guiding, the great elephant herds of Hwange, and the wild Zambezi at Mana Pools.
5 destinations - BotswanaSouthern Africa
Low-volume, high-wilderness — the water world of the Okavango Delta and the elephant kingdoms of Chobe.
6 destinations - South AfricaSouthern Africa
The most accessible safari of all — malaria-free Big Five reserves, world-class wine country and the drama of Cape Town.
7 destinations - NamibiaSouthern Africa
Safari as a road trip — the world's oldest desert, towering dunes, desert-adapted wildlife and skies full of stars.
5 destinations - The Republic of the CongoCentral Africa
Deep immersion in the world's second-largest rainforest — tracking western lowland gorillas and exploring wildlife-rich baïs.
5 destinations
Latest field notes
All field notesKenya or Tanzania — which safari should you choose?
They share the same migration and the same wildlife, so how do you pick? An honest, side-by-side comparison from someone who guides trips to both.
When do the Great Migration river crossings actually happen?
The honest answer to the most-asked safari question — when and where to catch the wildebeest crossing the Mara River, and why no one can promise it.
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Who's writing this
I spend my year on the road across Africa, sleeping in the camps and lodges so I can tell you what they are really like. No sponsorships, no agency — just field notes.
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