1. A first conversation
Email, phone, or a video call with Nigel or Lolo. We'll ask about who's coming, when, what you've done before and what you haven't, and what would make this particular trip feel worth it.
Tailor-made
A safari built, from scratch, for you.
Every Nigel Archer safari is planned by hand. No templates, no itinerary catalogue, no "tweak this departure". We begin with a conversation about who you are and what you want, and we finish with an itinerary that belongs to nobody else.
How it works
Five steps. One real conversation throughout.
2. A first draft
Within a week you'll have a draft itinerary — camps, regions, activities, rhythm, a sketch of the trip. Not a brochure.
3. Revision, together
We refine until it's right. We are very happy to push back on itineraries we think are trying to do too much — and to suggest the slower day in a place we know you'll love.
4. Confirmation & logistics
Flights, transfers, park fees, permits, gorilla permits, every piece of the logistical puzzle — we handle it.
5. Your safari
You arrive. From the moment you land, you are with our people. Nigel, Lolo or a senior team member is on the end of a phone the whole trip.
6. And after
Many of our guests come back. Many bring their children. We love both.
For inspiration only
Four sample itineraries.
These are not trips you can book off-the-shelf — we don't do that. They exist to give you a sense of the shape of the thing.
10 nights · Kenya
The Classic Kenya
Our most requested first safari. Laikipia, then Samburu and the Mathews Range, then four nights in the Mara at Seringet.
- Laikipia · 3 nights
- Samburu & the Mathews · 3 nights
- Seringet Mara Camp · 4 nights
12 nights · Kenya
The Mobile Safari
A classic mobile-camp safari across three of Kenya's great regions — pure mobile, your own camp pitched fresh in each place, striking and re-pitching twice along the way.
- Mobile Camp · Samburu · 4 nights
- Mobile Camp · Meru · 4 nights
- Mobile Camp · Amboseli · 4 nights
14 nights · Rwanda, Tanzania & Kenya
Gorillas & the Great Migration
Volcanoes National Park for gorilla trekking, then the Serengeti for the migration, and a final four nights at Seringet.
- Volcanoes NP (Rwanda) · 3 nights
- Serengeti migration camp · 4 nights
- Ngorongoro & Manyara · 3 nights
- Seringet Mara Camp · 4 nights
10 nights · Kenya
A Safari for Photographers
Built for serious photographers — longer stays, a dedicated photographic guide, and the best light at each location.
- Laikipia private conservancy · 4 nights
- Seringet Mara Camp · 6 nights
Honest pricing
What every Nigel Archer itinerary includes — and what it doesn't.
Included as standard
- Private senior guide and vehicle for the full trip
- All accommodation (our own camps or hand-picked partners)
- All meals, all day, in and out of camp
- House wine, beer and bar drinks
- All game drives, walks and standard activities
- Park, conservancy and reserve fees
- Road transfers in our own vehicles
- Flying Doctors (AMREF) emergency evacuation cover
- 24/7 support from Nigel, Lolo or a senior team member on the ground
Quoted separately
- International flights to East Africa
- Light-aircraft flights between parks (usually bundled)
- Gorilla & chimpanzee trekking permits
- Hot-air balloon flights
- Private helicopter days
- Premium wines and spirits beyond the house list
- Travel insurance (we strongly recommend it)
- Visas and vaccinations
- Gratuities (advice given on request)
Where we go
Four countries. A lifetime of safaris.
Twenty-five years of safari have taken us the length and breadth of East Africa. Some places we return to with every other trip. Some we send one or two parties a year to, because they are wild enough to need a rest. What follows is the country we know — the part we will take you into ourselves.
Kenya
Home.
The country we began in, and the country we spend most of our time in. From the Mara in the south, through Laikipia and Mt. Kenya in the centre, out to Samburu and the Mathews in the north, down to the Chyulu Hills and Amboseli, and across to Tsavo and the coast — Kenya is the variety our safaris are built around.
What makes it ours: Seringet Mara Camp in the heart of the Maasai Mara National Reserve; the Mobile Camp that follows the seasons through the whole country; a guiding team that has worked these parks for decades.
- Maasai Mara & private conservancies
- Laikipia & Solio
- Samburu, Shaba & the Mathews Range
- Mt. Kenya & the Aberdares
- Chyulu Hills & Amboseli
- Meru, Tsavo & the north
- The coast — Lamu, Diani, Watamu
Tanzania
Bigger country, fewer roads.
The Serengeti is the headline, and deservedly so — 1.5 million wildebeest on their vast figure-of-eight through the ecosystem, and the best place in Africa to photograph predators. But Tanzania has depth. Ngorongoro, Tarangire, Ruaha, the Selous, the Mahale chimps on the shore of Lake Tanganyika. We run mobile and permanent-camp trips here in every season.
- Serengeti (all five regions)
- Ngorongoro Crater
- Tarangire & Lake Manyara
- Ruaha & the Selous
- Mahale & Katavi (remote western Tanzania)
- Zanzibar, Pemba & Mafia
Uganda
The wild card.
Under-rated, often quieter than its neighbours, and home to some of the best primate experiences in the world. Gorilla trekking in Bwindi Impenetrable, chimpanzees in Kibale, tree-climbing lions in Queen Elizabeth, and shoebills in the papyrus of the Mabamba wetland. For guests who have already done Kenya or Tanzania and want to go deeper.
- Bwindi Impenetrable NP (gorillas)
- Kibale Forest (chimpanzees)
- Queen Elizabeth NP
- Murchison Falls
- Kidepo Valley (remote NE)
Rwanda
The most comfortable gorilla trekking on the continent.
Rwanda does the gorilla experience better than anywhere. The logistics are excellent, the lodges are some of the finest in Africa, and Volcanoes National Park itself is a genuinely beautiful landscape. Pair three nights of gorillas with a few nights in Akagera (for a classic savanna-and-Big-Five finale) or with Nyungwe's canopy walk for chimpanzees and monkeys.
- Volcanoes NP (gorillas & golden monkeys)
- Nyungwe Forest (chimpanzees)
- Akagera NP (Big Five)
- Lake Kivu
Four countries, one operator, one bill. We handle cross-border logistics — flights, transfers, visas, permits — in-house. Your safari crosses borders the way your itinerary says it does, not the way somebody else's sub-operator decides.