Best-in-class itinerary · global circuit

The Safari TrailNairobi to the Okavango — the great game parks of East and Southern Africa

Two weeks across five wildlife nations, built around one signature wilderness per leg: the Serengeti’s great migration, Kruger’s big five, the thunder of Victoria Falls, and the water-world of the Okavango Delta. Light internal flights stitch the parks together; every gateway city is a real destination in our data.

📅 14 days 📍 Nairobi · Arusha · Johannesburg · Livingstone · Maun 🌍 5 countries (KE · TZ · ZA · ZM · BW) 🦣 Best: Jun–Oct (dry season)

The route

East Africa to the Delta, gateway by gateway.

Days1-3
Nairobi & the Mara · Kenya

Into the Maasai Mara

East Africa’s safari capital and the rolling plains of the Mara.

Arrival + first game drives
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A dawn game drive in the Maasai Mara

Big cats on open grassland in the year’s best light — the Mara is the Kenyan half of the Serengeti ecosystem and arguably the finest big-cat country on earth. The first morning sets the tone for the whole trip.

☀ First light; predators are active before the heat

Arrive Nairobi, then fly into the Mara. Spend two nights in a tented camp with morning and late-afternoon drives. Nairobi itself rewards a day on the way out — the elephant orphanage and Nairobi National Park, the only big-game park inside a capital city.

Maasai Mara game drives2 days
Nairobi NP & elephant orphanage~half day
OnwardFly Nairobi → Kilimanjaro / Arusha (~1 hr).
Days4-6
Arusha · Tanzania

The Serengeti & the Ngorongoro Crater

The greatest wildlife stage on the planet.

Full · the peak
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The Great Migration, Serengeti

Over a million wildebeest and zebra moving across endless plains, trailed by every predator in Africa — the single most extraordinary wildlife spectacle on earth, and the trip’s peak. The Ngorongoro Crater next door packs the big five into one collapsed caldera.

☀ Jun–Oct for the migration in the northern/central Serengeti

Arusha is the gateway to Tanzania’s northern circuit. Fly into the Serengeti for two nights, then descend into the Ngorongoro Crater — a UNESCO World Heritage Site where 25,000 large animals live on the crater floor.

Serengeti National ParkUNESCO2 days
Ngorongoro CraterUNESCOfull day
OnwardFly Arusha/Kilimanjaro → Johannesburg (~4 hr).
Days7-9
Johannesburg & Kruger · South Africa

The big five in Kruger

Southern Africa’s flagship park, the easiest big-five country to reach.

Full
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A private-reserve drive on the Kruger fringe

The Sabi Sand reserves bordering Kruger offer the closest, most reliable leopard sightings in Africa, with off-road tracking the national park doesn’t allow. This is where you complete the big five.

☀ Dawn & dusk drives; the dry season concentrates game at waterholes

Connect through Johannesburg to a lodge on the Kruger boundary for two nights. With time, the city’s Apartheid Museum and Soweto are a powerful day before the bush.

Greater Kruger / Sabi Sand drives2 days
Johannesburg — Apartheid Museum & Soweto~half day
OnwardFly Johannesburg → Livingstone (~2 hr).
Days10-11
Livingstone · Zambia

Victoria Falls

The largest curtain of falling water on earth.

Transfer + falls
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Victoria Falls — “the smoke that thunders”

A mile-wide wall of water dropping into a gorge, its spray visible from miles away — a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the natural counterweight to weeks of wildlife. A deliberate change of register before the final leg.

☀ Higher water Apr–Jun; the Devil’s Pool swim is best in the low-water months

Livingstone sits on the Zambian side of the falls. Walk the rainforest viewpoints, take a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, and (for the brave) the Devil’s Pool at the lip.

Victoria FallsUNESCO~half day
Zambezi sunset cruise~2 hr
OnwardFly Livingstone → Maun (~2 hr via a hub).
Days12-14
Maun & the Okavango · Botswana

The water wilderness

A quiet, watery finale in the world’s largest inland delta.

Full · reflective finish
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A mokoro through the Okavango Delta

Pole through still channels of lily and reed in a dugout canoe, elephants wading nearby — the Okavango is a UNESCO site and the most serene wildlife experience in Africa. The trip is engineered to end calm and remote, by light aircraft into the Delta.

☀ The flood peaks Jun–Aug, when the Delta is most alive

Maun is the gateway to the Okavango. Fly by light aircraft to a Delta camp for two nights of water-based safari — mokoro, walking, and game drives on the islands — the perfect, peaceful close to the trail.

Okavango Delta — mokoro & game drivesUNESCO2 days

Good to know

When to go

  • Best: June–October — the dry season concentrates game and the migration is in the north.
  • The Okavango flood peaks Jun–Aug; Victoria Falls is fullest Apr–Jun.

Health & logistics

  • Malaria prophylaxis and yellow-fever requirements apply across the region — check ahead.
  • This is a fly-in safari — light aircraft with strict soft-bag luggage limits between camps.

Pacing

  • One signature wilderness per leg; 2 nights each so you get both a morning and evening in every park.
  • The Serengeti is the peak; the Okavango is the deliberate, quiet ending.

On safari

  • Neutral colours; no flash at night drives; keep to the vehicle.
  • Tipping guides & trackers is expected — budget for it per day.
How this is built — every gateway city is a real destination in our data with coordinates (mapped above), members of the curated Safari Trail circuit served via /v1/circuits/safari-trail. Park names, UNESCO status and migration timing are widely-documented; health, flight and luggage notes are operator-reported and should be re-verified before travel.