TWO AFRICAN GIANTS. MILLIONS OF ANIMALS. NEAR-ENDLESS WILDERNESS. ONE SEAMLESS, EPIC JOURNEY...

Upon arrival, we'll fast-track you through the airport and onward to Hemingways, an enclave of sophisticated calm. This five-star all-suite retreat sits at the foot of the Ngong Hills, a perfect spot for sinking into safari mode.

Accommodations

Hemingways
Nairobi, Kenya

A mid-sized colonial-style lodge, surrounded by gardens and offering views of the Ngong Hills on the outskirts of Nairobi. Chic, plantation-style rooms are bright, light and airy, with private balconies gazing over the lush gardens to the dreamy Ngong Hills – ideal for relaxing after a long flight. The restaurant serves fusion cuisine, light bites and hearty breakfasts; and there is also Hemingways bar, a spa, and small swimming pool.

After breakfast, we'll drive you right onto the runway for your flight, direct to Amboseli National Park. In no time you'll be at Tortilis Camp, eating lunch in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro: unlike most Amboseli lodges, which are in the middle of the park, Gold Eco-rated Tortilis is set away from the rest, on the pristine southwest border, with the best mountain views and full access to both Amboseli and an exclusive private conservancy. Tortilis has been key in developing community-owned conservancies, where land outside national parks is secured for wildlife preservation. It's beneficial for animals and local people, and for you too - encounters with big game here tend to be higher quality and more frequent.

Also, few other travellers explore this area - when you head out on your afternoon game drive, you're unlikely to see anyone else, just prolific wildlife: from huge herds of elephant (Tortilis' guides know all the elephant families and their histories) to cape buffalo and hyena, giraffe and zebra, and over 600 species of birds. Discuss the late-afternoon's action over a delicious dinner back at camp, before a night in your luxe tent, sleeping soundly in the bush.

Accommodations

Tortilis Camp
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Tortilis Camp is set away from other Amboseli lodges, on the pristine southwest border, with the best mountain views and full access to both Amboseli and an exclusive private conservancy, where game walks, bush breakfasts and off-road driving are allowed. 16 spacious tents, each consisting of a main bedroom, elegant ensuite bathroom, private veranda, and glorious view of the mountain are complemented by a family tent and private villa. A lounge, bar and dining area, exquisitely built with natural materials and thatched roofs, provide a place to catch up after safari activities.

Be prepared: your alarm will ring early, but it's worth the early wake-up to get out for that morning game drive when the plains are astir, the animals most active, the big cats returning from a night on the hunt. These are also the golden hours for photographers, as dawn light rose-tints the savannah and Kilimanjaro is most likely to be free of clouds. After a wild start, enjoy a lavish bush breakfast, served out amid the acacia trees.

Then there's time to relax back at camp - with a swim, a massage, a good book in the sun - before a buffet lunch. After, prepare for your most intimate encounter with the bush: local guides, who know almost every blade of grass, will lead you on a walking safari; you'll follow animal tracks, taste bush herbs, revel in the tiny details, perhaps encounter something larger... a bush walk offers a fresh, thrilling perspective.

As the day draws to a close, raise a classic African Sundowner. Nothing says safari like an ice-cold G&T, sipped as the sun disappears, before a private dinner under the stars.

Accommodations

Tortilis Camp
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

Tortilis Camp is set away from other Amboseli lodges, on the pristine southwest border, with the best mountain views and full access to both Amboseli and an exclusive private conservancy, where game walks, bush breakfasts and off-road driving are allowed. 16 spacious tents, each consisting of a main bedroom, elegant ensuite bathroom, private veranda, and glorious view of the mountain are complemented by a family tent and private villa. A lounge, bar and dining area, exquisitely built with natural materials and thatched roofs, provide a place to catch up after safari activities.

Breakfast will never be the same, now you've eaten it with Kilimanjaro looming beyond your coffee cup.
This morning, we venture out in the camp's custom-designed 4WDs for one last game drive - one last chance to see Amboseli's big cats and big herds. Then we'll whisk you to the airstrip for a seamless and spectacular flight to Loisaba Conservancy on the Laikipia Plateau. With the second-highest density of wildlife in the country, and forward-thinking conservation efforts, this is one of the most exciting destinations in Kenya.

You'll be met on arrival and plunged right into the action: the transfer from airstrip to Loisaba Tented Camp doubles as a game drive. Laikipia is one of only a few places in Africa where wildlife numbers are on the increase, and a huge array of animals - from the Big Five to endangered Grevy's zebra - might be spotted.

Loisaba Tented Camp sits perched on the edge of an escarpment, with unhindered views over rolling river valleys, rich forests and open plains to Mt Kenya. Intimate and elegant in design, the camp is also a hub for cutting-edge conservation. Find out more over drinks and dinner, before retiring to your tent, where floor-to-ceiling windows invite the outside in and the night sky views are unmatched.

Accommodations

Loisaba Tented Camp and Star-Beds
Loisaba Conservancy, Kenya

Perched on an escarpment with unhindered views over the rolling valleys and open plains to Mt Kenya, intimate Loisaba Tented Camp is a hub for cutting-edge conservation. At the heart of a huge conservancy, owned by the Loisaba Community Trust, the camp is a delight: stylish tents with floor-to-ceiling windows, enveloped by this remarkable wilderness. For the ultimate night’s sleep, consider the magical experience of drifting off in a Loisaba Star Bed. Sister property to the camp, four Star Bed rooms, each with a four-poster that can be wheeled out onto a panoramic veranda overlooking a permanent waterhole, allows sleeping under a sparkling canopy of stars.

This morning, the choice is yours. Head out on a game drive for more wildlife-spotting - rarities like patas monkey, reticulated giraffe or wild dog might be seen. Or enjoy a camel or horseback safari, or a walk or run with a local Samburu guide. Or, pay a visit to the conservancy headquarters to meet the sniffer dogs and the anti-poaching team to find out how they safeguard the wilderness - any of these options are followed by a bush brunch.

This afternoon enjoy some down time, enjoy a massage, and relaxing on the decking or dipping in one of Africa's most astonishing infinity pools, before heading out for another afternoon activity.

Accommodations

Loisaba Tented Camp and Star-Beds
Loisaba Conservancy, Kenya

Perched on an escarpment with unhindered views over the rolling valleys and open plains to Mt Kenya, intimate Loisaba Tented Camp is a hub for cutting-edge conservation. At the heart of a huge conservancy, owned by the Loisaba Community Trust, the camp is a delight: stylish tents with floor-to-ceiling windows, enveloped by this remarkable wilderness. For the ultimate night’s sleep, consider the magical experience of drifting off in a Loisaba Star Bed. Sister property to the camp, four Star Bed rooms, each with a four-poster that can be wheeled out onto a panoramic veranda overlooking a permanent waterhole, allows sleeping under a sparkling canopy of stars.

This morning, we game-drive en route to Loisaba's airstrip, where we hop aboard our SkySafari flight and prepare to touch down in an African icon: the matchless Masai Mara.

Your ride from the airstrip to Sand River Masai Mara Camp, a secluded spot in the southern area of reserve, is your first game drive: don't be surprised if you meet most of the Big Five before lunch. Even if you don't, your afternoon game drive might oblige: these acacia-dotted plains are dense with game. Keep your eyes peeled for lion, leopard and cheetah, hyena, giraffe and elephant, and 500-plus species of bird.

Raising a classic Sundowner in this classic wilderness is the perfect way to toast the day. Returning to camp is the icing on the cake - there are few more elegant places to stay than this award-winning camp, which oozes 1920s glamour.

Accommodations

Sand River Masai Mara Camp
, Kenya

Sand River Masai Mara Camp, hidden far away from other lodges in the Masai Mara National Reserve, is big on game and big on glamour. Exuding 1920s safari elegance, it was named one of the 50 Best Resorts in the World in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards. Its handful of secluded tents are luxurious, with period furnishings, net-draped four-posters and a matchless wilderness locale - animals can be spotted right from the veranda. Indeed, the camp, which overlooks its namesake river, sits right on the route of the annual Great Migration.

After a dawn breakfast, set off with a packed picnic hamper for a full day's game drive, so you can delve deeper into the reserve. Nowhere in Africa is wildlife more abundant. And while the seasonal migration of two million wildebeest, zebra and gazelle crossing from the Serengeti is one of Mother Nature's greatest spectacles, the profusion of wildlife in the Mara - from 450 species of bird to the Big Five - makes it one of the best safari spots year round.

Of course, you might enjoy your best sightings without going anywhere at all. The Sand River Masai Mara, overlooking its namesake river, sits right on the annual migration route, so the drama may play out just beyond your verandah. And, as you tuck in to dinner under the stars, you'll still be listening to the calls of the wild.

Accommodations

Sand River Masai Mara Camp
, Kenya

Sand River Masai Mara Camp, hidden far away from other lodges in the Masai Mara National Reserve, is big on game and big on glamour. Exuding 1920s safari elegance, it was named one of the 50 Best Resorts in the World in the Condé Nast Traveler Readers' Choice Awards. Its handful of secluded tents are luxurious, with period furnishings, net-draped four-posters and a matchless wilderness locale - animals can be spotted right from the veranda. Indeed, the camp, which overlooks its namesake river, sits right on the route of the annual Great Migration.

Enjoy your last few hours, gazing out across the water and riverine forest, looking out for breakfasting beasts and birds, before driving back to the airstrip for your onward SkySafari flights - we'll ease you through customs, so you touch down in Tanzania's sweeping Serengeti in time for lunch.

The Serengeti is huge, an endless-seeming swathe of short-grass plains, braided with life-giving streams, speckled with rocky kopjes, riffled by occasional hills, rich in Masai culture, absolutely teeming with life. And while you can revel in the bigger picture, it's also the place to embrace the individual moments: the will-they-won't-they tension of a lion pack on the hunt; the shock of a crocodile bursting from the river; the white-knuckle posturing of a bull elephant.

We'll deliver you to the best lodge for the season. We might introduce you to the bygone-luxe tents of Elewana Serengeti Pioneer Camp, perched on a kopje in the south of the park. As well as being renowned for its immense wildebeest herds, the area is rich in prehistoric paintings while nearby Lake Magadi is popular with flamingos.

Alternatively, we'll take you to the sophisticated stilted tents of Elewana Serengeti Migration Camp, further north. This peaceful part of the park sees few other visitors; you'll feel you've arrived in your own private wilderness. The variety of wildlife safaris in Kenya and Tanzania is remarkable, the drama intense - especially when the Great Migration passes through: the camp is perfectly placed for watching the herds run the gauntlet of the Grumeti River.

Either way, your first afternoon's game drive will be a wildlife revelation.

Accommodations

Migration Camp
Northern Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Hidden among the rocky outcrops of the northern Serengeti, Serengeti Migration Camp overlooks the riverine forest of the famed Grumeti River. 20 deluxe permanent tents, each with richly furnished bedrooms, full ensuite bathroom, and private deck. The main tent has a split-level lounge, a swimming pool, restaurant and viewing platforms that offer vistas across the river and the rugged landscape beyond.

Serengeti Pioneer Camp
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Low-impact, high style – that’s Serengeti Pioneer Camp. Sitting atop a rocky outcrop, gazing across the infinite plains of the south-central Serengeti, this classy retreat blends seamlessly into its surroundings. Tents, tucked into the bush, have a romantic 1930s vibe but with modern comforts, from steaming-hot solar-heated showers to personal attendants. Better, they have unfettered access to the wilderness on the doorstep: to Moru Kopjes, a site sacred to the Maasai and home to ancient rock art; to Lake Magadi, a soda lake that attracts a blushing flamboyance of flamingos; and the sweeping grasslands where, come January-March, some 400,000 wildebeest calves are born, attracting huge numbers of predators. The wildlife-watching here is spectacular, and the camp’s specially permitted hill-top picnic site is the icing on the cake.

Game drives in the Serengeti are always a surprise, and you never quite know how the drama might play out. Most dramatic of all is to witness the pinnacle of the Great Migration, when more than a million animals cross the northern rivers.

If you are staying at the Serengeti Migration Camp, you may barely need travel at all to catch a life-or-death crossing. Also nearby are hippo-filled pools - you can hear their grunts and chortles from camp.

Alternatively, exploring from Elewana Serengeti Pioneer might mean witnessing the replenishing of the Serengeti's mighty herds: each year, 400,000 wildebeest calves are born in the park's south during the green season, a staggering event, which draws many predators...

Indeed, big cats are a particular pleasure around the Pioneer camp. Lions love to sun-bask on the rocks of Moru Kopje (where Masai paintings can be found). Also, the camp supports the Serengeti Cheetah Project, and talks by experts will introduce you to the local cats, and help you identify them when you're scanning the plains.

Whereever you are based, after full, fabulous days, it's time to raise a final Sundowner to the Serengeti, as the light softens, the earth cools, the horizon glows. Enjoy dinner back at camp, then sit out and listen one last time: to the eerie call of the nightjar and the whoop of a hyena, to the hippos' belly guffaw and the lion's nerve-trembling roar...

Accommodations

Migration Camp
Northern Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Hidden among the rocky outcrops of the northern Serengeti, Serengeti Migration Camp overlooks the riverine forest of the famed Grumeti River. 20 deluxe permanent tents, each with richly furnished bedrooms, full ensuite bathroom, and private deck. The main tent has a split-level lounge, a swimming pool, restaurant and viewing platforms that offer vistas across the river and the rugged landscape beyond.

Serengeti Pioneer Camp
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Low-impact, high style – that’s Serengeti Pioneer Camp. Sitting atop a rocky outcrop, gazing across the infinite plains of the south-central Serengeti, this classy retreat blends seamlessly into its surroundings. Tents, tucked into the bush, have a romantic 1930s vibe but with modern comforts, from steaming-hot solar-heated showers to personal attendants. Better, they have unfettered access to the wilderness on the doorstep: to Moru Kopjes, a site sacred to the Maasai and home to ancient rock art; to Lake Magadi, a soda lake that attracts a blushing flamboyance of flamingos; and the sweeping grasslands where, come January-March, some 400,000 wildebeest calves are born, attracting huge numbers of predators. The wildlife-watching here is spectacular, and the camp’s specially permitted hill-top picnic site is the icing on the cake.

Your drive to the airstrip gives you a final chance to soak up the sights, smells, sounds and sensations of the Serengeti, whether on a game drive or guided bush walk. Then it's a scenic flight to reach the highlands of the Rift Valley. We soon arrive at The Manor - quite possibly the most enviable address on the safari circuit. This handful of Cape Dutch-styled cottages sits within the lush gardens of a working coffee farm, near the edge of the Ngorongoro Crater. Settle in, with a drink overlooking the rippling forest, while your butler sorts the luggage. Then enjoy a pampering in the spa, a soak in your Victorian bathtub and a delicious dinner - the food here is always sublime.

Accommodations

The Manor at Ngorongoro
Karatu, Tanzania

The Manor at Ngorongoro combines a dash of opulence with easy access to the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. Set amid glorious gardens and lush coffee fields in the Tanzanian highlands, it oozes Old World glamour: think polished-wood floors and antique furnishings, fine dining, billiards and cigars. Each of its elegant Cape Dutch-styled cottages has a private deck, sitting room, open fire and enormous Victorian bath, which will be ready-filled with bubbles, awaiting your return from the day’s adventure.

It's well worth the early wake up when you're about to head into the 'eighth wonder of the world'. Measuring over 20km wide and 600m deep, Ngorongoro Crater is a natural volcanic amphitheatre, a geological marvel, and a festival of wildlife. Its acacia thickets, riverine forest and glittering lakes throng with around 30,000 animals: one of the highest densities of wildlife in Africa.

Spend a full day in Ngorongoro - our expert guides will introduce you to its vast cast of characters: lions, elephants and buffalo, cheetah and serval cats, hyena, jackal and black rhino. Plus, The Manor has special permission to host beautiful bush lunches in a private part of the crater, away from the crowds. You can picnic in exclusive style without missing a wildlife-packed minute.

Sundowners and dinner back at The Manor will be abuzz, as you exchange stories with your fellow travelers about what you've seen on this once-in-a-lifetime day.

Accommodations

The Manor at Ngorongoro
Karatu, Tanzania

The Manor at Ngorongoro combines a dash of opulence with easy access to the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. Set amid glorious gardens and lush coffee fields in the Tanzanian highlands, it oozes Old World glamour: think polished-wood floors and antique furnishings, fine dining, billiards and cigars. Each of its elegant Cape Dutch-styled cottages has a private deck, sitting room, open fire and enormous Victorian bath, which will be ready-filled with bubbles, awaiting your return from the day’s adventure.

This morning, enjoy a last lavish Manor breakfast before your charter flight back to Arusha.

Upon arrival in Arusha, we'll return to Arusha Coffee Lodge. As well as producing coffee, the lodge is home to Shanga, a social enterprise that employs people with disabilities to create quality handmade products - watch the artisans at work, sewing, painting, weaving and glass-blowing, and perhaps pick up a souvenir or two. You have the afternoon to relax with a day room before we transfer you to the airport for your flight home - full of African memories.