Safari journal

Everything here is written by the people who run the trips. Guides, drivers and planners who were in the park last week. We publish when there is something worth saying, which means fewer articles than a content calendar would produce and none of them written to fill a slot.

Most of it answers what guests actually ask us. When gorilla permits go on sale. What the Mara looks like in April. Whether a six year old will cope with a long day in a vehicle.

24 August 20268 minute read

Birding in Uganda: where to go and when

A Uganda birding safari runs west and south-west — Murchison Falls, Kibale, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi — with a boat trip for papyrus and swamp species. December to February is dry countrywide; June to August is the dependable dry window in the south-west.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

Sunrise over the Serengeti at the start of a game drive

22 August 20267 minute read

What a day on safari actually looks like

A safari day is built around two windows of good light and one long gap in the middle: out before dawn, back for a late breakfast, several hours of rest, then out again until the park closes. Trekking days work differently.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

A light aircraft used for medical evacuation in East Africa

11 August 20269 minute read

Travel insurance for a safari: what to actually check

A safari policy needs three things a standard one may lack: emergency medical evacuation from a remote park, cancellation cover sized to the full trip, and trekking named as a covered activity. The biggest sum at risk is the permit: refunded in part at best, and not at all in Rwanda.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

The floor of the Ngorongoro Crater from the rim

9 August 20267 minute read

The Ngorongoro Crater: fees, timing and what it is really like

A Ngorongoro Crater safari means paying the NCAA USD 70.80 per non-East African adult to enter the conservation area, plus a USD 295 crater service fee charged per vehicle, not per person. Here is how the day actually works.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

5 August 20268 minute read

Ishasha's tree-climbing lions, and whether to detour for them

Ishasha is the southern sector of Queen Elizabeth National Park, and its lions genuinely do rest in trees. Sightings are never guaranteed. The detour makes sense if you are already driving between Queen Elizabeth and Bwindi, and rarely otherwise.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

2 August 20267 minute read

Tipping on an East African safari

No tipping rate is published by any authority we could find in Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya or Tanzania, so the figures quoted online are house conventions, not rules. What matters is the structure: one amount for your driver-guide at the end, plus one-off amounts for trekking staff and lodge teams.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

31 July 20267 minute read

Trekking the Rwenzori: routes, days and how hard it is

Two companies run the only two routes up the Rwenzori, and the summit is a glacier climb rather than a walk. Which route to take, how many days a Margherita attempt costs you, and when the three-day loop is the better answer.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

A crater lake in the Ndali-Kasenda field

29 July 20268 minute read

The Fort Portal crater lakes, and how to drive them

The Fort Portal crater lakes are a field of volcanic lakes in western Uganda, driven as loops of unsealed murram road south of town. Do them as a half day from Fort Portal, or as the scenic way between Kibale Forest and Queen Elizabeth.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

The Nile squeezing through Murchison Falls

27 July 20269 minute read

The Murchison Falls boat trip: delta or falls?

Murchison Falls has two Nile boat trips running in opposite directions. Upstream takes you to the foot of the falls; downstream takes you to the delta, where the birding is. Both run about two hours and cost USD 30 per person for foreign non-residents.

By The Mnyansio safari desk

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Safari journal

Articles tagged Planning

Birding in Uganda: where to go and when

What a day on safari actually looks like

Travel insurance for a safari: what to actually check

The Ngorongoro Crater: fees, timing and what it is really like

Ishasha's tree-climbing lions, and whether to detour for them

Tipping on an East African safari

Trekking the Rwenzori: routes, days and how hard it is

The Fort Portal crater lakes, and how to drive them

The Murchison Falls boat trip: delta or falls?

Reading this because you are actually going