Africa Recommendations

Many of you have expressed an interest in heading to Africa to go on safari. AWESOME! We highly recommend it! While our tour definitely had ups and downs we are SUPER glad we got to experience Africa and look forward to exploring more of it one day!

Now that our time in Africa has come to an end, we figured we'd write up our thoughts on the places we went and things we did. So! Here are the things we recommend doing and about how long you should spend there:

The Masai Mara (Kenya): spend at least 3 days
It's located about a 6 hour drive from Nairobi, Kenya, or you can fly directly there. We stayed at Camp Fisi which was a great budget location fairly close to the park. If you are prepared to spend the money, you can also stay IN the park itself, which might provide you more time for game drives - always a plus.
Highlights: cheetahs, lions

Serengeti (Tanzania): spend at least 2 full days.
DON'T go during the rainy season (aka when we went (January-March)). The grasses are WAYYY too high to see anything - seriously - lions could be 10 feet away from you in the grass and you wouldn't know. Go during the wildebeeste migration to see animals EVERYWHERE. Only CAMPING here - no upscale accommodations are available.
Highlights: lions

Ngorongoro Crater (Tanzania): spend at least 1 full day.
Should be great year round. There is currently no accommodations there so you MUST camp in a tent if you want to go. Also - gets cold so bring extra layers for sleeping! Tons of animals, really awesome.
Highlights: rhinos

Zanzibar (Tanzania): about 2-3 days (one in Stone Town, 1-2 at the Beach in the north)
Zanzibar is great and can be reached by air or ferry. Ferry is somewhat of a hassle, but definitely cheaper than flying. Stone Town isn't huge, but beautiful to see. Beaches in the north are great and reminiscent of the Caribbean - quite pretty. Great place to relax mid-safari.
Highlights: beach, Stone Town

Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe): spend 1 full day
Not a ton to see/do in the area, but the falls are breathtaking. The National Park where they are located can be done in about 2 hours (if moving slowly), otherwise good restaurants and market shopping in the area. Bungee jumping also recommended :-p.
Highlights: Vic Falls!

Our recommended route (if you have the money!):
Fly into Nairobi for 1 full day in the city
Drive to Masai Mara, spend 3 days
Fly from the Mara airport to the Serengeti airport, Serengeti for 2-3 full days
Drive to Ngorongoro Crater for 1 full day
Drive to Zanzibar from Crater (spend 1 night in Dar Es Salaam and catch the early ferry (7 am) the next day)
Fly from Zanzibar to Vic Falls for 1 full day

Total trip: roughly 2 weeks :)

(PS - I still attest that Malawi was my favorite country in Africa - you should definitely try to fit in a trip to the lake if possible!)

Hope this is helpful for anyone planning an East African safari! Let us know if you're interested and have any questions!!