Ways to Travel
Speak with a specialist
Aerial view of a river winding through floodplain, Botswana
An experience is a theme that shapes a route: a migration, a forest, a way of moving through the land. Each of those below can lead a private journey or sit within a longer one, planned with a specialist. Each belongs to particular places, some of them to particular months, and none of them is ever a certainty. Herds may or may not cross, and a trek may offer more or less than hoped.
The herds follow the rains in a year-long circuit across the Serengeti and into the Masai Mara, so where they are depends on the month. Whether a river crossing happens on a given day, or at all, is never assured. Where the herds are, month by month.
Mountain gorillas can be tracked in the forests of Rwanda and Uganda, at Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, and at Bwindi, Uganda. According to UNESCO, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park holds almost half of the world's mountain gorilla population. What a trek offers on the day is never assured.
Victoria Falls is a World Heritage site shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Devil's Cataract lies on the Zimbabwe bank, and the flow of the water changes with the season.
Walking safaris are led by a guide, and the rules differ by place, and sometimes by property.
The things to do on safari are layers on a route, not trips of their own. A route might be built around the herds in the Serengeti, with some time on foot elsewhere, or around a forest trek with time to rest afterwards. Season and place decide what combines well. For how a private itinerary takes shape, see how a private itinerary is built. Routes already drawn up sit under sample journeys.
Not sure which experience fits? A specialist can help you choose.
Tanzania: the Great Migration, and walking on the Ngorongoro Crater rim.
Kenya: the Great Migration, walking in the community areas around the Masai Mara National Reserve, and riding in the Mara and the Chyulu Hills.
Botswana: walking in designated areas with a licensed guide, under the national parks regulations, and riding in the Okavango Delta and Tuli.
South Africa: riding in the Waterberg.
Rwanda: gorilla trekking.
Uganda: gorilla trekking, and riding at Lake Mburo.
Zambia: walking in South Luangwa, and Victoria Falls.
Zimbabwe: walking at Mana Pools, and Victoria Falls.
Begin with the moment that matters most, and a specialist can help shape the journey around it.