13-Day Kenya, Tanzania & Zanzibar Safari

The journey leaves Nairobi and drops over the escarpment onto the floor of the Great Rift Valley, reaching Lake Nakuru National Park in time for an afternoon game drive around the soda lake.

Nakuru is best known as a rhino sanctuary, with black and white rhino both living inside its fence, and it does not disappoint: flamingos and pelicans crowd the shoreline, and Rothschild's giraffe browse in the acacia woodland. The night is at Lake Nakuru Lodge.

From Nakuru the road climbs out of the highland farmland and runs south west, down onto the Mara's open grassland, arriving at Basecamp Masai Mara, a tented camp inside the reserve, in time for lunch and a first game drive.

Wide plains and scattered acacia give the Mara its famously clear views, and the odds are good for lion, as well as the resident herds of topi, zebra and wildebeest that hold the plains for most of the year.

Morning and afternoon game drives range across the reserve's different habitats. Along the Mara and Talek rivers, the riverine forest is where leopard are sometimes found resting in the shade, and hippos and crocodiles fill the pools. On the open plains, cheetah hunt in daylight when the grass is short.

The day ends with sundowners out on the savannah, a cold drink as the sun sets over the plains, before the return to camp.

A third day on the Mara gives time to follow up on what the reserve has already shown: a return to a pride with cubs, a river crossing when the migrating herds are in the area, or new ground along the escarpment to the west.

It is the extra day that turns a quick pass through the Mara into real time with it, and it is often the day the best sightings happen.

One last morning game drive on the Mara, and then the drive south to the Isebania border, where the crossing into Tanzania is made on foot between the two countries' posts. On the other side, the same great ecosystem carries on under a different name and a different flag.

The road continues into the Serengeti, with time for a first game drive on arrival, before dinner at Enkirari Wilderness Camp.

Game drives cover the Central Serengeti's open plains and kopjes, the granite outcrops that give lion and cheetah a natural lookout over the grass. The sightings often gather around the seasonal water, and the guide weighs up the morning's reports from other vehicles before deciding which way to go.

The sheer scale of the plains takes a while to sink in.

The third day in the Serengeti lets the game drives range further, timed where possible to the migration, when hundreds of thousands of wildebeest and zebra move across the plains in a single, near endless column.

Outside the migration season, the focus turns to the park's resident predators and its permanent rivers, where leopards rest in the trees and lions lie in wait for the herds that come to drink.

The road leaves the Serengeti and climbs east into the Ngorongoro highlands, a belt of cloud forest wrapped around the rim of the crater. The air cools, the grass gives way to trees, and the views open out.

Ngorongoro Kuhama Camp sits close to the rim, and the first view down into the caldera comes on arrival. The descent onto the crater floor is saved for the morning.

An early descent onto the crater floor begins the morning's game drive, across grassland, swamp and soda lake enclosed by the steep walls, with good odds for lion, elephant, buffalo and hippo, and black rhino sometimes seen out in the open.

The climb back out is followed by the drive to Lake Manyara and Nasikia Mandhari Lodge, on the escarpment above a park known for its tree climbing lions and the flamingos on the lake below.

A short flight carries the safari off the mainland and out over the Indian Ocean to Zanzibar, the savannah giving way to turquoise water and white sand within the hour.

Nungwi sits at the island's northern tip, a former fishing village now known for its calm, reef protected water. The rest of the day is free to settle into Nungwi Dreams by Mantis, with the beach and the pool both close at hand before dinner.

No game drives and no schedule: just Nungwi's white sand and calm water. Snorkelling over the reef just offshore, a dhow sail along the coast at sunset, or a spice tour and the old streets of Stone Town are all easy half day options for a change from the beach.

Or the day can be spent doing nothing at all, which after a week on safari is a perfectly good plan.

The last full day beside the Indian Ocean, with nothing on the schedule and the safari well behind. Nungwi's beach runs shallow and calm a long way out at low tide, perfect for an easy swim.

If the sunset dhow sail was not taken the day before, the last afternoon is a fine time for it.

Breakfast, and then departure from Zanzibar, closing the tour. No accommodation is included for the final night.