A Day In the Life of an African Safari, What does a normal tour day look like? Yes and no. Which Kenyan or Tanzanian places you visit will determine the exact things you do and see. You won’t find as many animals in the Masai Mara savannahs as you would in the Serengeti woods or on the rolling hills of Tsavo.

However, just like every day has a morning and a sunset, our days on safari had some things in common. And that means getting up early, sometimes before the sun comes up, but at least early enough to get up with the animals and watch them leave in the soft morning light.

Come with us as we walk, ride, and look around on what an adventure day has to offer.

We like to get up early on safari because we want to make the most of the animals’ day. As soon as the alarm goes off in the morning, we’ll leave our city routine behind.

You might have forgotten where you are for a moment, but the birdsong and the calls of monkeys, hippos, or big cats nearby will quickly tell you that you are on safari.

Coffee, tea, and a small meal will help you get ready for the cool air in the early morning as you and your guide get into your 4×4 Jeep to watch wildlife for several hours. The many animals that feed during the day, like wildebeests, zebras, gazelles, and antelope, will come out. You may also see some animals that hunt, like hyenas, jackals, or big cats.

Grasslands in the Serengeti Zebras and wildebeests in Safari Trips to Kenya climbed up
Three to four hours of exploring the bush, plains, and woods will make you appreciate our natural world even more, and it will also make you hungry.

Game Camp in Sarova Mara Side eating under a tent on a scale of 3 Breakfast Time
We’ll have a big safari meal when we get back to our tent camp or lodge. We deserve it! You can sit outside in the woods and listen to the whoops, calls, and chirps of birds, monkeys, and other animals in the area if you want to.

Now you have some free time to rest, write, or go for a walk with your guide and learn about the plants in the area.

After only a few hours, it’s already lunchtime, sometime between noon and two o’clock. You can eat a packed lunch in the field, though, if you choose to go on another game drive.

When you go to camp, you can expect a hot meal that is well-made and uses local tastes and ingredients. You can either go back out on the safari walk after lunch, or you can rest in your tent or lodge for a while. You could also go swimming.

We’ll take another game drive in the 4×4 Jeep in the middle or late afternoon, when the sun starts to go down, the shadows get longer, and the air gets cooler (if you haven’t been out exploring all day already).

Your guide will be able to give you ideas on where to go to see certain animals, like lions or cheetahs. You might also want to go back to a favorite place, like a forest area or a watering hole where you saw elephants or a group of gazelles before. Just talk to your guide about what you’d like to do in the afternoon.

Then, when the sun goes down and turns a bright orange color, your guide might stop at a beautiful spot and pull out a kit with drinks and snacks, which is called a “African sundowner.” Enjoy this peaceful moment as the soft light of the evening plays on the fields and acacia tree leaves.

Dinner and More?

Now we’ll go back to our stay for a well-prepared dinner with several courses that will be lit by candles or maybe a campfire nearby. As the drinks are brought out, thoughts turn to a busy day filled with many animal sightings.

By the time we go to sleep, the animals will be chirping and the sky will be so full of stars that you’ll think you’ve been taken to a fantasy land… It’s all been true, though.