FAQs

Just about any time of year. However, the most popular seasons are mid-December to mid-March and August to mid the end of October. This is because of the demand for Christmas and winter holidays and the summer school breaks. An increasing number of visitors are realising that June and November are ideal, benefiting from lower visitor numbers. Gatefam Tours and Adventures Limitedoffers some tours with greatly reduced or no single supplements in the months of April and May. Also, we may well be able to offer some good discounts for larger groups during this period – please contact us for details.

The millions of wildebeest and zebras are always somewhere, but they are not always in large herds and on the move. Their location is largely dependent on the weather, which can vary considerably from year to year. In general the herds begin to cross into Masai Mara in July and continue through August. They remain in the region until the beginning of December when they follow the rains southward back into Serengeti National Park. They can move in enormously long single file lines or in huge herds.

Yes. All safaris can be booked with the exclusive use of a vehicle for your party. A custom safari for two clients is significantly more expensive per person than seats on a similar small group safari. However, on a custom safari with an exclusive vehicle, the cost of the vehicle and driver/ guide are divided by the number of clients sharing the vehicle. Therefore, the per person cost of a custom safari reduces the more clients that are sharing the vehicle (maximum in one vehicle is usually 7 but on request, such as for families with children, we can carry up to 8).

If you are arranging an exclusive vehicle (custom) safari, then you are free to arrange whatever itinerary you choose, within logistical constraints. Gatefam Tours and Adventures Limitedpresents a small selection of proven itinerary favourites in this website. We can arrange any required itinerary subject to practical and logistical considerations and will be pleased to discuss and quote for your special requirements.

Your safari driver will probably do his best to make you see animals hunt, kill or eat each other. If he doesn’t succeed, he will probably at least find you some carcass to look at. This means, there may be unpleasant scenes awaiting you. If you don’t want to see such, you can look the other direction.

You don’t see that many insects or creeping things during dry seasons. More appear during rainy seasons (including beautiful ones, such as butterflies). The same goes for mosquitoes, which by biting may infect you with malaria, a life-threatening disease unless properly treated. Mosquitoes thrive in moist and warm areas, and are most common during rainy seasons, near rivers and lakes, and by the coast. The mosquitoes that may carry malaria are active at night. Tsetse flies, which are active during daytime, may infect you with sleeping sickness. This is very rare to safari-goers, though. The bites hurt a lot, and are reason enough to kill or chase flies out of the vehicle. Avoid storing food in your room or tent, as it may attract ants.

It is rare seeing snakes on safaris. Most snakes try to get out of your way when they notice you, so they are gone before you have a chance seeing them. But all don’t, and as some East African species have strong or even deadly venoms, you should always look where you are walking and use a flashlight when walking outdoors at night. Snakes don’t bite because they are evil, but because they are frightened or feel threatened. For safety reasons, you should stay at least two snake lengths away from any snake you can’t identify as harmless. For the reason of not disturbing the animal, you should back away even further. Never try to handle a snake unless you know what you are doing. Seemingly dead snakes may not be dead at all, and should not be approached. And so on. In short, stay away from snakes. The only snakes that may regard humans as prey are very large pythons, but they are not seen very often. Don’t leave children unattended where there are pythons around.