Crash Course for Planning Your First East Africa Safari

So you want to go on an East Africa safari? Well, I’ve got you covered on your East Africa safari trip planning! The wild world of planning an East Africa safari is going to seem overwhelming — and it is — but I’ll try to break this down for you, with information that I wish I had all in one place when I was planning my safari.

While most people plan safari trips years in advance, I planned an East Africa safari in only 1.5 months! My husband had to go on a last minute work assignment trip to Nairobi, and I used it as an excuse to head to Nairobi during part of the time when he was there and go on safari. I had no prior knowledge of safari planning, so this was a total crash course for me, and in general, it all went off without a hitch. So I’ll give it you straight, with the basic information you need to start planning your safari adventure.

Where to go on your East African Safari?

East Africa consists of four countries — Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. So your first order of business is to take the time to research the various safari destinations in East Africa. Each country offers unique wildlife experiences and landscapes. Kenya and Tanzania are renowned for their vast savannahs and the Great Migration, while Uganda and Rwanda are known for gorilla trekking experiences. Consider your interests and preferences when selecting your destinations.

On my trip, I visited Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. I had certain things I wanted to see on my trip. These were:

• See Mt. Kilimanjaro. While the mountain is actually in Tanzania, the iconic photo you see everywhere is actually taken in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park.
• See the huge flocks of pink flamingos, which required a visit to Lake Nakuru in Kenya.
• The Masaai Mara, because, well, that’s the most well-known spot for safari animals. Seeing the “Big 5” was a must!
• Serengeti – I wanted to go there because, well, it’s the Serengeti.
• See tree-climbing lions – best spot for that was Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda
• Gorilla trekking in Uganda, as it was cheaper than Rwanda
• Wrap up the safari with a visit to the beaches of Zanzibar
  
  I got to see all of this stuff — and more — but it took a lot of planning and logistics! If you want my entire itinerary and what exactly we did, check it out here!

When you’re planning your safari, you’ll want to do some basic research and make a list like mine of what you want to see. This will give you a good foundation for choosing a tour operator.

Decide when you want to go on safari

If you have a choice (which I didn’t but that’s okay!), you can chose low, shoulder or high season. High Season is generally considered to be June – October as the Great Migration happens during that time. It also comes with a high price tag — doing a safari at that time of year would’ve been nearly double the price I paid for going in early March!

I went during early March, which is on the cusp of the rainy season. Rainy season kicks in from roughly mid-March to early June and prices reflect that. I was really worried about this — worried we wouldn’t see that many animals (rainy season means the grass gets taller and it’s more difficult to spot wildlife), worried we’d get rained on constantly, etc., but that wasn’t the case at all! We only had rain ONCE, and it was a short thunderstorm in Ngorongoro Crater. Otherwise, we saw the Big Five, within our first few days and had pleasant weather.

How early should I plan for an East African Safari?

I started planning only a month and a half before! You absolutely can plan this last minute but I was feeling the time crunch because not only do you need to research what you want to see, you’ll need to chose your safari outfitter, secure the visa(s), a yellow fever vaccine (maybe?) and more. It was a bit stressful, but it’s doable.

There are hundreds and hundreds of safari outfitters willing to take you and your group, and when I was reaching out to them, every single outfitter had availability to take us. Granted, we went in March, which is just on the cusp of the rainy season — you could have issues if you’re going during the Great Migration, which is in the summer months.

Determine your budget

I never in a million years thought I’d go on a safari. I assumed safaris were for ultra-rich doctors, CEOs and the like. Not so much for a schmuk like me. But safaris, while not exactly budget friendly in and of itself, are available at all price ranges; you’ll find one-day low budget safaris, to a 30-day ultra luxe trip to multiple countries.

So many things play a factor in determining how much this will cost — how many nights? Private safari or joining (group) safari? How many game parks? What type of transportation between parks (flying? Land cruiser? Mini van?), what type of accommodation (actual tents? Rooms with shared bathrooms? Or a luxe lodge?)

We did private mid-range for both of our safaris. We did a Kenya/Tanzania safari with one tour operator and then used a different tour operator for our 5-day Uganda trip. After having been on safari now and experienced what mid-range offers, no way would I take a budget safari – but that’s just me – I like my creature comforts.

How long to go on an East Africa safari?

Like I mentioned above, there are safaris available for any amount of days you have. How long you go for will depend on numerous factors: your budget, your interests (what do you want to see, where do you want to go?), and your overall (estimated) tolerance for being on safari (which is something I overestimated).

As I said before, we did an 11 day safari and followed it up with a 5 day safari in Uganda. This was far, far too much. I wanted to make the most of my time here and have the chance to see everything I set out to — because I probably wasn’t going to return. So we went HARD on safari — I like animals and all but I’m not some huge wildlife aficionado. Hence, after you see your hundredth elephant, you no longer go bezerk when you see one. However, before I went on safari, I researched and researched and I couldn’t find anyone out there who got ‘safari’d out. So I didn’t think I would either.

By the end of our 11 day, we needed the beach break in Zanzibar! And when it was time to go to Uganda, we were done. We wanted to go home. We weren’t interested in seeing anymore lions or elephants. Those last few days were a real struggle.

So keep this in mind. If I did this again, I’d cut this way, way down. Frankly, a 3-5 day safari is PLENTY.

Do you want beach days?

Many East Africa safaris end with a few days at an all-inclusive beach resort in Zanzibar. Now that I’ve done safari, I understand why.

I am not a beach person. Frankly, this was the first all-inclusive resort I’ve ever been to!

But I LOVED this. It was so, so needed. When you’re on safari, you’ll have early mornings, you’ll be in the Land Cruiser all day (this gets old!), you’ll be on bumpy (and I do mean bumpy!) roads all day, every day, and yes, you’ll get tired of looking at animals.

It all gets old after a while. And having a break from being in that car all day, with NOTHING on your schedule, is amazing. I highly recommend adding a stop in Zanzibar on to your safari, especially if you’re going on a longer one, like I did.

Choosing a tour operator

Whether or not you like guided tours, you’re going to want to do this for your safari. While it’s possible to completely DIY the whole thing yourself, (where you rent a car and drive to the game parks). I do NOT advise you to do this. I did not see anyone in ANY of the game parks we visited DIY’ing it — and some of the game parks do not allow private vehicles, only safari companies.

The guides for the safaris are very good – they know where to look for the animals, they know when to go, they use radios to communicate with other guides, and they know how to navigate the roads to/from the parks (not only will you will encounter police checkpoints, you will have to drive on some of the worst/scariest death-defying roads I’ve ever been on in my life). If you DIY the whole thing, you’re setting yourself up for a miserable trip. Chances are, you probably don’t have extensive experience on african wildlife behaviors and knowing the ins and outs of the roads and dirt tracks of the game parks.

I used SafariBookings.com to research and compare tour companies and their itineraries. This is an aggregator site where you can read reviews, check prices, and sort out by budget/mid range/luxury and country itineraries much easier than trying to sort through google results. It was absolutely vital in my planning process!

With nearly all packaged tours, all of your meals are included. But it’s probably not going to be good food…

As you do your research, you will notice that the majority of the tour operators offer private tours only. And that’s what you’ll want, unless you are on a super-super tight budget. I highly recommend going with a private tour, as you can plan and customize your itinerary and it’s just your party in the vehicle — you can do what you want, which, after doing this, is so, so important.

Each safari operator on this site provides a sample itinerary, so you can see if any of those fits your interests during your research.

I have an entire post to help you choose a tour operator for your East Africa safari – check it out!

Most of the safari itineraries also include the names of lodges or camps where you’ll be staying. You’ll want to research each and every one of those, too. Some safari operators will give you a short list of accommodation options to chose from once you book – ours did, and I researched each place (yet still picked a few duds…)

You’re going to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of tour operators for safari! But the thing is, unless you’re going very high end, the majority of them are pretty much the same. Many of the guides contract out through multiple tour operators — so “Bill” could be working for “AAA Safaris” one week and then go to “Best Africa Safari Company” to do another tour the next week, all depending on his availability. Just read the reviews carefully!

Reach out for quotes

Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few different tour operators with general itineraries you like, email them through SafariBookings.com for quotes, and note any changes in the itinerary you might need. Most are willing to customize a safari for you — as long as it’s a private safari — so if you don’t see exactly what you want, email them! They’re willing to help – just provide them with a rough itinerary and they’ll do the rest.

The safari company will then typically email you back with an itinerary, which will include the complete price tag (which typically includes internal airfare if needed) and names of the lodges where you’ll be staying.

If you haven’t downloaded “WhatsApp” on your phone, you’re going to want to do this. In the USA, it’s not widely used, but overseas, it’s the easiest way to communicate with your operator. Many will want to text you during the quote and planning process, which is completely normal.

Get your visas

The following information is valid for those with USA passports only!

The visa situation had me stumped for what I wanted to do – I was going to Kenya, Tanzania, back to Kenya, and then off to Uganda. I wasn’t sure exactly how to do this, because as an American, I would need visas for all three countries I wanted to go to. And I wanted to save a bit of cash too — could the East Africa Visa save me money? These visas are not cheap!

My route for safari was this:

Land in Nairboi from USA > Kenya safari parks > Land border cross into Tanzania > Tanzania safari parks > Fly to Zanzibar > Fly back to Nairobi.

Nairboi for a few days > fly to Uganda > Gorilla trek > Fly back to USA.

East Africa Visa
Initially during my research, I thought that this was the way to go. However, the East Africa visa is only valid for travel within Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. We were going to two of the three countries. Tanzania is not included.

With an East Africa visa, once you leave any of those three countries, it’s immediately invalided. So with my plan, once we crossed to Tanzania, my visa would be invalidated.

So instead, I got visas for each country separately. I got my visas for Kenya and Uganda online ahead of time and paid for the Tanzania visa on-arrival at the land border crossing, paying with cash ($100 for US citizens – yes they take USD).

Single entry? Multi Entry?

As you can see from my itinerary, I would be entering Kenya TWICE. First my arrival from USA into Nairobi and second, from my flight from Zanizbar back to Nairobi. Because of this, I thought I’d need a multi-entry visa but that is not the case!

A single entry Kenya visa is FINE as long as you don’t leave Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda, so when re-entering Kenya from Zanzibar, Tanzania you should be fine. Which I was!

A multi entry visa is a painful process and not easy to get! If you’re going to do something like I’m doing, you’re fine with a single entry!

Visa Links – these are the official sites to get your visa – don’t fall for scams!

Kenya Visa application
Uganda Visa application
Tanzania Visa application (We did ours on-arrival with USD cash at the land border crossing)

When to apply for your visas:

Don’t apply too early; most visas are only valid 3 months after you apply, not when you enter! For me, because I was planning at the last minute, I got my visas about a month before I left.

Get a Yellow Fever Vaccination

If you don’t have one and you’re going to be entering multiple East Africa countries like I was, you’re going to need this — and yes, they checked!

Tanzania requires it if you are entering from a known Yellow Fever transmission country, like Kenya. Because I was entering Tanzania from Kenya, I had to have this, and they did ask for it at the land border crossing!

Uganda also required it, as I was arriving from Kenya.

Of course, always check the requirements before you go as they might change!

Where to get your Yellow Fever vaccination?

I got mine done at a Passport Health clinic – they have many locations all throughout the USA, and from my research, they were the cheapest. Yellow Fever is an EXPENSIVE vaccine and it’s very likely that your insurance will NOT cover it. Expect to pay $180-300 for the vaccine. I priced it out by checking with regular health clinics and Passport Health was the cheapest (my local Walgreens and CVS pharmacies did not carry it, but yours might). While at Passport Health, I also got a prescription for malaria pills, which I recommend too. Because when you get to East Africa and see mosquitoes in your room (which you will!), trust me, you’ll sleep better knowing that you took the pills!

Get your vaccine as soon as you know you’re going – because it has to have been 10 days before you enter the country that’s requiring it for it to be valid.

Any pre- or -post safari activities?

In my experience, your first day of arrival into an East African country (coming from the USA, or any country multiple time zones away), is going to be rough. It was incredibly rough on me. We arrived in Nairobi on a Friday morning, and our safari didn’t start until Sunday morning, which worked out perfectly. We stayed at a hotel in Nairobi for those first two days. This gave me time to adjust, which I desperately needed. The Friday we landed, I was so out of it. It was really hard adjusting that first day, but with a good night sleep, I was able to do some local stuff the next day. If you are going to be in Nairobi pre- or -post safari, we stayed pretty busy seeing attractions like the Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, a tea farm, coffee plantation, etc.

I couldn’t imagine having to be picked up at the Nairboi airport and stuffed into a safari vehicle, en route for a 5 hour drive to the Mara after such a long travel time. Be sure to plan any of this into your itinerary!

Do you have any more East Africa safari trip planning tips to add?