Questions about the top of the market

Only loosely. The rate correlates strongly with food, interiors, staff ratio and tent size, and only weakly with the land, the guiding and the vehicle arrangement — which are the three things that decide what you see.

A camp at $1,800 on a capped conservancy with a private vehicle frequently out-performs one at $3,500 on public land with a shared vehicle.

Continuity. By day four somebody travelling with you knows what you photograph, what bores you, and which of you wants to get out of the vehicle — and the week reorganises around it.

A camp guide on a three-night stay has two mornings to learn all that, and then you move and it starts again. On trips of ten nights or more the difference is substantial; on a short trip it is not.

When the destination has no airstrip, when the terrain makes the flight itself the excursion, or when it removes a genuinely awkward connection — yes.

As a faster substitute for a functioning scheduled flight, rarely. Ask what the alternative costs in hours rather than in money and the answer usually becomes obvious.

Sometimes, through the agency’s relationships, and we will not pretend to more than that. Space at the best camps in peak season is genuinely finite and no amount of money creates a tent that does not exist.

What does work is booking earlier, moving the dates by a week, or taking the whole camp — which is available more often than people assume.

No, and anybody publishing a ranking is ranking their own suppliers. What exists is a good match between a party, a season, a piece of land and a guide.

We would rather describe what a place is actually like and let you decide than hand you a list with a number one on it.

It is the commonest expensive mistake. Above the owner-run band, extra money stops buying wildlife and starts buying time, control and comfort — and if it goes into more places rather than longer stays, it actively makes the trip worse.

Spend it on fewer stops, a private vehicle throughout and one exceptional guide, and a large budget becomes remarkably effective.

A Africa safari is usually quoted fully inclusive: accommodation, all meals, park and conservancy fees, your guide and vehicle, and transport between parks. Most camps include soft drinks, house wine, beer and laundry.

Not included: international flights, visas or travel authorisation, travel insurance, tips, premium drinks, and extras like balloon flights and spa treatments.

For July to October — the migration months in the Masai Mara — six to twelve months is normal, and the best small camps sell out first. Christmas and New Year book up just as early.

For the shoulder months, three to four months is usually comfortable. Inside eight weeks we can still put a very good trip together, but you are choosing from what is left rather than from everything.

This site is a planning guide. When you send an enquiry it goes to Nomad Africa, our partner travel agency in Kenya, who prepare your itinerary and quote and handle the booking, the payments and you on the ground.

You deal with one team from the first email to the airport transfer home.

No. Sending your dates, getting an itinerary and getting a costed quote is free and carries no obligation. Money only changes hands when you decide to hold space at a camp.