Bushtracks

Safari Planner's Notebook

A new series from Bushtracks exploring the questions, insights, and behind-the-scenes considerations that shape exceptional safari experiences.

Africa is vast.

More than 50 countries. Thousands of miles of wilderness. Deserts, rainforests, mountains, rivers, coastlines, and some of the most extraordinary wildlife destinations on Earth.

So where do you begin?

Interestingly, when we start designing a safari, we rarely begin with a map. We begin with experiences.

Do you want to track wildlife on foot? Explore by boat? Spend time with conservationists? Photograph wildlife? Travel by private air?

Those answers become the foundation of a truly personalized safari.

That's where great safari planning begins.

Access is one of the most overused words in travel.

But occasionally, it's the right word.

For decades, Ami Vitale has built relationships with conservationists, researchers, wildlife organizations, and communities across Africa.

Those relationships open doors. Not to places unavailable on a map, but to conversations, perspectives, and experiences most travelers never encounter. Wild Hope isn't simply a safari through Kenya and Seychelles. It's an opportunity to experience conservation through the eyes of one of its most respected storytellers.

And because conservation work is constantly evolving, many of these experiences are unlikely to be replicated in exactly the same way again.

Wild Hope
February 15–24, 2027

One room remains.

If you could spend a day with one conservationist, photographer, or explorer, who would it be?

Inquire through the link in our bio.

Photos by Ami Vitale.