Safaris in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda

A solid first week is Serengeti and Ngorongoro. You drive or take a light aircraft into the reserve. Game drives start early. Midday is hot, so you rest or sit at a waterhole. The crater is one long day on the rim and down onto the floor. You see a lot in a small space.

If you have more time, Ruaha and Nyerere in the south have fewer cars. Kilimanjaro is a climb, not a day visit. Plan six to eight days on the mountain if you want the summit. After the parks, Zanzibar is the usual close. One night in Stone Town, then the east beaches for swimming and quiet.

Give the Mara three or four nights. From July to October the herds often push on the river. The rest of the year is quieter and still full of game. You leave camp at first light, come back for a meal, and go out again when the heat drops.

Amboseli is a shorter hop from Nairobi and worth it for the elephants. Tsavo needs more days. Lake Nakuru is a stop if the waterbirds are there. Samburu is drier and a good second visit if you already know the Mara.

The walk in Bwindi can be an hour or most of the day. You spend one hour with the family once the rangers find them. It is steep, wet, and worth the permit if you can walk.

After Bwindi, Queen Elizabeth or Murchison Falls gives you savanna, hippo, and the river. Kibale is chimpanzees if that is the point of the week. Jinja is the Nile if you want a town and water after the forest.