How to plan a first safari: seasons, camps, small planes and what to pack

Season first, then camps

Almost every safari country has a dry season and a wet one, and both have their merits. In the dry months vegetation thins, animals gather near water and mornings are cool, so wildlife is usually easier to find. It's also the busiest, most sought-after time. In the green season the landscape comes alive, young animals are born, migratory birds arrive, storm skies are dramatic and there are fewer vehicles. But afternoons can bring rain, some tracks become difficult and some camps close.

So the first question isn't which camp is the most beautiful, but when you can travel and what's happening then. If your dates are flexible, choose by what you'd like to see. If they're fixed, around school holidays for instance, treat them as a given and find the region that suits them. The most popular small camps are often booked well ahead for peak weeks, sometimes a year in advance, so a safari in the summer holidays is worth thinking about early.

Tented camp, lodge or mobile camp

The word 'camp' can mislead. Most safari tents are spacious rooms under canvas with proper beds and a bathroom; only the walls are thin, so at night you hear everything: hyenas whooping, hippos grunting, sometimes a lion. Many camps are unfenced, so after dark a member of staff walks you to your tent. A lodge usually has solid walls, more facilities, often a pool, and tends to suit families with young children better. Mobile camps move with the season or the route, and are simpler and closer still to the wild.

For a first safari, a camp's size and location often matter more than its type. In a small camp with a handful of tents you share your guide and vehicle with fewer people, and a remote corner of a park means fewer other vehicles. Families and photographers may want to consider a private vehicle so they can set their own pace. Some camps have minimum ages for children, particularly for walking and canoeing, so it's worth knowing early.

By road or by light aircraft

There are two ways to move between parks. By road you see the landscape change, pass villages and roadside markets, and feel one region give way to the next. But gravel roads are long and dusty, and half a day in a vehicle after several early starts is tiring. By light aircraft it's quicker and often more beautiful: small planes hop between dirt airstrips near the camps, sometimes stopping at several along the way, and from the air you see a delta or a savannah in a way you never could from the ground.

Many routes combine the two: road where distances are short and the drive is interesting, flights where the alternative is losing a whole day. In Botswana many camps can only be reached by air, while in northern Tanzania driving is more common.

What a safari day looks like

The day starts early, often before dawn, with coffee or tea brought to your tent. The morning drive usually lasts three or four hours, when many animals are most active and the light is at its softest. Back at camp there's a late breakfast or brunch and a long midday break while it's hot and the animals rest in the shade: time for sleep, a book or watching from the deck. In the late afternoon you head out again, often ending with sundown somewhere high, and dinner is by the fire or under the stars.

That rhythm can feel intense for the first day or two, but it quickly becomes natural. You don't have to go on every drive; a morning spent in camp isn't wasted, especially if the deck overlooks a waterhole. Where possible, vary the days: a guided walk, a mokoro or boat trip, or a night drive shows you things you'd never see from the vehicle, and feels completely different.

Pace: what a well-shaped ten days looks like

The most common first-safari mistake is too many places. Each move costs half a day, and a place's wildlife only really reveals itself over several drives. A shape that works well for ten to twelve nights looks roughly like this: one quiet night in your arrival city, three or four nights in each of two contrasting areas, perhaps two more in a third, and a spare day or night before the flight home. With Lithuanian annual leave, that's about two weeks including travel, often only a little over a week of leave once weekends are counted.

There's good news for travellers from Lithuania: although the flight is long and usually connects through a European hub, the time difference with East or southern Africa is typically one hour or none. You'll barely notice the jet lag that comes with Asia, but an overnight flight is still tiring, so it's worth spending the first night near the arrival airport and heading to camp the next morning.

On safari, time spent in one place almost always repays you better than one more park.

What to pack

• A soft bag without a frame or wheels if your route includes light aircraft.
• Neutral colours – khaki, olive, sand. In some areas dark blue and black attract tsetse flies, and bright white quickly turns dust-coloured.
• Layers: in the dry season, early mornings in an open vehicle are surprisingly cold, so bring a fleece, a windproof jacket, a scarf and a hat, with a light long-sleeved shirt for later.
• Binoculars for everyone: sharing one pair means someone is always waiting at the key moment.
• A camera with a zoom lens, spare batteries and memory cards. Power in camps is often solar and limited.
• A head torch, sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat, sun protection and insect repellent.
• Comfortable closed shoes for walking, and swimwear for the camp pool.
• Medication and travel-health advice: talk to a doctor or travel clinic well ahead about vaccinations and malaria prevention.

Take less than you think you need: many camps offer laundry almost daily, and safari clothing is simple. Nobody dresses up for dinner.

What to avoid

• One- or two-night stops; they rarely pay off.
• A long road transfer straight after an overnight flight.
• A trip built only around the 'Big Five': nobody can guarantee sightings, and the best moments are often unexpected – an elephant family at a waterhole, a bird you'd never heard of.
• Ignoring the season: a camp that looks perfect may be closed in the very month you can travel.
• A one-size plan: what suits a couple doesn't always suit a family with young children, and vice versa.

A well-planned first safari doesn't need to be complicated. It needs the right season, two or three well-chosen places, enough nights in each and a light bag. The rest – the guiding, the morning light, the sounds beyond the canvas – takes care of itself.

If you're not yet sure which country suits you, start with our comparison of safari countries. If you are, tell us when you can travel, who's coming and how you picture your days in the bush. Tell us what excites you. We'll explore the possibilities from there.