Safari Planning

Most standard 'out of the brochure' safaris are one-night, two night trips. There is a good reason for this - the wildlife is genuinely wild, and weather patterns are unpredictable. Therefore one particular park could be very quiet on your visit, but another park will be busier with game, so overall you will have a good experience.
If you spent too much time in one or two places, you might be unlucky and disappointed. However, it means you are very much 'living out of a suitcase'. Also, you spend a large proportion of your time travelling.

For what it's worth, on our first trip we travelled with a large general tour company (Kuoni). We did a two-week tour on a one-night, two night strategy. We regarded this safari as a recce, and as such it did us very well. We got a great overview of the main parks in Kenya, and met people on other safaris and heard about other things we could do. Although we had an overnight flight back home, I was immediately on the phone getting organised for the next safari!

Since then we have organised private safaris with a London-based company called Worldwide Journeys and Expeditions, who liaise with Express Travel Group in Kenya and Leopard Tours in Tanzania. This means we can stay at places for longer at a time - five nights in Samburu isn't too much, nor was six nights in the Serengeti (between two lodges). On a whistle-stop tour, you see the 'highlights' of the reserve, but on a longer stay you can explore all the different habitats, and get away from the other tourists.

In 2006, I did a trip with Naturetrek.