Questions

Send us a message on WhatsApp, call, or email us with your dates, how many of you there are and which resort you are staying at. We reply with availability and a price.

Nothing is confirmed until you have that price in writing and have told us to go ahead.

A few days is usually enough for a private safari. Lodges and camps inside the park fill up over Christmas, New Year and in August, so give us more notice if you are travelling then.

Accommodation is subject to availability and is confirmed at the time of booking.

Every safari is private: your own vehicle, your own guide, your own pace.

The departures page shows dates that already have a vehicle going out, which is useful if you would like to share the cost with another party.

The drive inland takes about 4 hours from the coast, and 6 from Nairobi to the Masai Mara. Animals are also most active in the cool part of the day, so leaving at 06:00 means the first game drive happens while the park is still at its best.

Your hotel can usually prepare a light breakfast before you go.

Elephants, zebras, giraffes, buffaloes, antelopes and baboons are seen on most trips. Lions are common. Leopards and cheetahs are possible but never guaranteed.

Where you go changes the odds: Amboseli for big elephant herds and Kilimanjaro behind them, Lake Nakuru for flamingos and rhino, the Masai Mara for the Great Migration between roughly July and October. Nobody can promise you an animal, and we will not pretend otherwise.

Tsavo is a wild park, not an enclosure, so no honest operator will promise you a particular animal. What we do promise is a guide who knows where to look.

A 4x4 safari vehicle with an open photographic roof, so everyone has a window seat and a clear view upwards for photographs.

The vehicle carries comprehensive insurance and emergency assistance, and we can send a replacement vehicle if anything goes wrong.

For the coastal trips, from your resort or hotel in Watamu and from most addresses along the Malindi and Watamu coast. Tell us where you are staying and we will confirm the pick-up time.

The longer safaris start in Nairobi instead, from the airport or from your hotel there, and finish at the coast or at Mombasa airport.

Yes. It is a long day in a vehicle, so tell us their ages when you enquire and we will suggest the itinerary that suits them best.

Light clothing for the day and something warm for the evening and the early starts, insect repellent, high-protection sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat, comfortable shoes, swimwear, a power adapter and binoculars if you have them.

The same list works whether you are away for 1 night or 6. The full version is on every safari page, and there is more in the travel information.

Ask your doctor or a travel clinic about malaria prophylaxis and vaccinations before you leave home. We are not qualified to advise on this and would rather you heard it from someone who is.

Yes, and many guests do. If you would like to contribute clothing, food or other basic supplies, we can arrange a respectful stop on the way back to hand them over directly to local families and children.

It depends on what you are after. Trolling and live bait off Watamu — wahoo, sailfish, marlin, yellowfin tuna — runs from August to the end of April. Jigging off Watamu and the GT programme in Lamu run from the end of October to early April. Early November is the prime window for sailfish off Malindi and Watamu.

Message us with your dates and we will tell you honestly what you are likely to find.

No. The crew rig everything and will show you what to do. Tell us if it is your first time so we can plan a trip that suits.

For trolling and live bait off Watamu, the boat’s standard fishing equipment is included. For a dedicated GT trip — popping and jigging, in Watamu or Lamu — most serious anglers bring their own, and our GT tackle guide on the fishing page sets out what we recommend.

At least 4 months ahead, especially for the peak GT season. Fishing slots and the boat are limited, and they go early.