Frequently asked questions

Yes, and it is the most common situation of all. To get started, even just the month you think you'll be in Kenya is enough: from there we work out from the time you really have and the kind of trip you have in mind.

If the dates then move, we start again from the new ones. It is more useful to think it through from a rough idea than to wait until everything is decided.

Yes. If it is easier for you, write to me straight there: send me the period, the number of people and what interests you, and we'll start from that.

Even then, before confirming you still receive a written summary with the itinerary, the conditions and the payment terms. The chat is there for talking to each other, not for replacing the summary.

The hours when I read messages and the indicative reply time are the ones given on the contact page. I prefer to keep them written down in one place and up to date, rather than promising a speed here that depends on where I am and what I am doing.

If you are already in Kenya, say so in your message: I look at requests from people who are already here first. It is not a promise of an immediate reply, it is an order of priority.

Write to me and I'll check what is available over the following days. I'll tell you what is realistic to put together at short notice and what is not.

It depends on three things: where you are setting off from, how many days you have and the pace you want to travel at.

A short safari is a first meeting with the savannah: it gives you the idea, but it compresses the transfers. With more days available the rushed journeys are cut back and there is more time inside the park, in the hours when the animals really do move.

Either way I'll explain the real travel times and the alternatives that exist, including when the honest answer is that a particular safari does not fit into the days you have.

When both formats are available for your dates I set them side by side: the price changes, and so do the flexibility over timings and the number of people travelling with you.

The proposal you receive lists only the options genuinely available in that period. I don't set out arrangements that I then cannot put on.

No. The animals are free, they move and they follow nobody's programme: sightings cannot be guaranteed, not in the savannah and not at sea. If someone promises them to you, know that they are promising something they do not control.

What I can tell you is how we look for them: keeping our distance, respecting the park rules, staying on the tracks, without chasing and without forcing an approach for the sake of a photograph. Respect for the wildlife comes before any promise.

Safety comes before the programme. If the weather worsens, if the sea is not workable or if conditions in the park change, we talk it through and decide whether to alter the programme, postpone it or replace it with an alternative.

The conditions that apply in these cases are set out in the proposal you receive, so you know in advance how things are handled when the day is not the one we expected.

Every proposal states explicitly what it covers: transport, entry fees, guide, meals, accommodation and activities. And it states what is left out as well, because that is usually where misunderstandings begin.

Before confirming you always receive a written summary with these points, so you can read it through calmly and ask me about anything that doesn't add up.

Only when you receive a written confirmation from me setting out availability, itinerary, price, conditions and payment terms. Before that message we are still at the stage where the proposal is being built.

The conditions are not the same for everything: they change with the experience, the parks involved, the lodges and the date. That is why I show them to you before confirming, applied to your proposal rather than in generic form.

In general: a deposit is paid on confirmation, the balance is settled before departure, and cancellations follow the windows set out in the proposal. If something changes on my side — weather, park conditions, a vehicle that breaks down — I tell you straight away and either find an alternative or return what you have paid.

Many of them can be, but there is no single answer: the duration, the length of the transfers and the timings all have to be weighed against age. A dawn departure with hours on the road is not the same thing for a four-year-old and for a twelve-year-old.

In the form all I need is the number of children and their age ranges. Names, dates of birth and other personal details are not required: those, if they are needed at all, come only when a property or a park asks for them.

Entry requirements and health recommendations change over time, and they also depend on the country you are travelling from and on your own personal circumstances. That is why I don't give definitive answers on this point.

I can share what I see working in practice, but the decision has to be made on official sources: the Kenya eTA portal for the entry authorisation, the travel advice published by your own government for the country brief and the health recommendations, and a travel medicine doctor for whatever concerns you personally.

On travel insurance I am not neutral: my advice is to always have one, with medical cover suited to the kind of trip you are making.