9.4
Safari East Africa · €€€€€
Angama Mara
Two glass-fronted camps on the escarpment above the Mara Triangle
Panorama viewFamily hotelsDesign hotelsSustainableSmall and personalVery quiet
Tanzania and Kenya · 2 hotels
Safari East Africa
Where the room count matters less than the vehicle count
Best months
SeasonThe dry season from June to October is the classic safari window, while the long rains of April and May close many camps and turn the plains green.
AirportsNairobi Jomo Kenyatta and Kilimanjaro International are the main gateways, with Nairobi Wilson and Arusha serving the bush flights into the parks.
East Africa's hotel landscape is a landscape of camps. The great names of Kenya and Tanzania are tented lodges with a dozen rooms, run by families who have watched the same lion prides for three generations. Canvas and timber take precedence over concrete, and the best houses are measured not by their pools but by how far the nearest neighbouring vehicle is at a sighting. Private conservancies bordering the Masai Mara, and the quieter western and northern reaches of the Serengeti, are where the smallest and most silent houses cluster.
Dry season from June to October brings the migration river crossings and the most reliable game viewing, though January and February are prized for calving in the southern Serengeti. Insiders skip the busiest camps in peak weeks, book mobile camps that follow the herds, and accept a bush flight over a long road transfer. Families do well at lodges with dedicated guides for children and fenced gardens.
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