The Elleme journal

Safari stories & guides

Practical writing on costs, seasons, permits and packing, from the guides who drive the routes. No listicles about the top ten reasons to visit Africa.

Featured story

What a Tanzania safari really costs, line by line

Park fees, concession fees, camp rates, vehicle day-rates, internal flights and guide wages, broken out of a real nine-day itinerary so you can see where $4,850 actually goes.

Neema Sanare · March 2026 · 12 min read

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Climbing Kilimanjaro in 2027: routes, cost and what actually matters

Lemosho versus Machame versus Marangu, summit rates by route length, and the acclimatisation profile we insist on.

PlanningJanuary 20266 min

Fifteen questions to ask any safari operator

Who owns the vehicles, who employs the guide, what the quote excludes, and how the cancellation terms actually read.

Wildebeest silhouettes grazing at a distance under a setting sun

MigrationDecember 20257 min

Where the herds will be in July 2027

A sector-by-sector read on the northern Serengeti, and which camps are still holding space for the crossings.

PlanningNovember 20255 min

What to pack for a nine-day safari, and what to leave

Fifteen kilos is the internal flight limit. Here is what fits, what the camps launder, and what you will never use.

The Ngorongoro Crater floor at first light

PhotographyOctober 20258 min

Photographing the crater at first light

Beanbags over tripods, why the 6am gate matters, and the two hours when the caldera holds usable light.

Forest interior typical of Bwindi's trekking trails

GorillasSeptember 20256 min

Gorilla permits: Rwanda or Uganda?

A $1,500 permit against a $800 one, three hours of driving against nine, and what each buys you on the trek itself.

Begin your journey

Africa, shaped around you.

Read enough? Tell us your dates and a guide will turn them into a day-by-day route with a full price.

Design my safari

Field notes from Arusha

A few letters a year, no more

Migration timings, camp openings, and the occasional note on a route we have just changed.