Today I’ll interrupt my Morocco recap for a special post…

I recently concluded a 30-day overland tour from Nairobi to Johannesburg that was pretty spectacular. The journey took us through Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana; I’m still processing all that we saw and experienced in this jam-packed itinerary.

To say I am thrilled to share this post is an understatement. Without further ado, here is how I spent the past month traveling down the east coast of Africa with Nomad Tours.

This is Tommy, our overland vehicle. (Nomad names their trucks after dead rock stars.) Tommy has a maximum capacity of 24, but luckily we don’t exceed 17 people at any given leg of the trip so there’s extra space to spread out — I think any more people than that would be too crowded.

Here’s Norman, our tour guide for the first 3 weeks of the trip. He poses in front of our freshly prepared lunch station.

Our group enjoying lunch:

And a dinner shot, for good measure:

Day 1 of the tour is a drive from Nairobi, Kenya to Arusha, Tanzania. Since my sister and I are already very close to Arusha (having just finished climbing Kilimanjaro two days before) we’ve arranged to meet the group at that campsite.

My sister Bethany joins me for the first 10 days of this tour. To check out our Africa Instagram updates, look for #sistersonsafari.

Nomad Tours is different than the last overland trip I did with Acacia Africa in Kenya & Uganda because they offer an accommodated option as well as camping on the same tour. There’s a price difference, of course, but all guests travel on the same overland truck. This makes for more of a mix of travelers — backpackers on a budget or those with an adventurous streak pick the cheaper camping option, whereas couples honeymooning in Africa and senior citizens seeing the world generally opt for the more comfortable accommodated package. So you’re not necessarily with like-minded travelers, but it’s still a good mix of people, if that makes sense. It’s something to be aware of before you book. Some individuals on tour expressed a desire to travel with similar-aged passengers, like at a bar one night when we met another overland company’s truck of people in their 20’s dressed in funny costumes as part of a challenge within their group. It was a whole different energy. But the most beloved people on our tour — by far — was a sweet older German couple we all adore, and I can’t imagine the trip without them. So it worked out to be a nice mix of people.

By the way, the tents are totally comfortable. Sleeping mats are provided; just bring your own sleeping bag and pillow.

On Day 2, we visit a snake park near Arusha. Bethany is genuinely terrified of snakes and does not like this stop at all.

Next up: a three-day safari tour of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. This is considered the highlight of Tanzania and, for some, all of Africa. These two parks are known for their extensive game population, including the Big Five: elephants, buffalo, leopard, lions, and rhinos.

Simba eating Pumba…

We luck out on our first evening and spot a pride of lions posing in the savannah grasses at sunset.

We spend three nights camping here — two in the Serengeti and one in the Ngorongoro Crater. It’s not included so this entire package is an extra $700 on top of the overland tour price and almost everyone in our group opts to do it (although some do stay back to visit local sites around Arusha instead). These are the most expensive parks to visit in all of Africa.

Confession: I didn’t totally love the Serengeti. It had been over-hyped and I found its endless open fields (Serengeti actually translates to “endless” in Swahili) to be prohibitive to spotting wildlife, as there is nowhere for them to hide. I didn’t realize how lucky I’d been on my first few game drives in Kenya — the very first time out we saw rhinos fighting up close, elephants mere yards from our vehicle, and a lioness in a tree. So I was a little disappointed at how far away animals were in the Serengeti. However, the Ngorongoro Crater does have a higher concentration of wildlife and I was very pleased with our encounters there. (We only spent one morning inside the Crater before our return to Arusha — I wish our three days had been more evenly balanced between the Serengeti and the Crater.) If I had to do it all over again, I would skip the Serengeti — gasp! — and instead do a day-long trip to the Ngorongoro Crater from Arusha. It would save hundreds of dollars and focus more on the place that has the best wildlife. It’s a bold move since the Serengeti is so highly regarded by travelers, but I’d personally rank it as maybe 5th out of my favorite parks in Africa. When you consider the hefty price tag, I’m not sure it’s worth it for travelers on a budget. If you have the funds, by all means go for it.

Speaking of having funds, my favorite part of the Serengeti is the hot air balloon ride.

This is a VERY expensive activity — around $550, nearly the price of our entire 3-day package — and double what it costs to go hot air ballooning in other parts of the world. But Serengeti Balloon Safaris kindly sponsored my flight so I could take photos and I was blown away. If you’re looking to splurge on a one-time hot air balloon experience, this is a world-class place to do it. (Important note: you can take a similar balloon ride over the Masai Mara in Kenya for around $450, and depending on the Great Migration, you might have better wildlife viewing from that side. It all depends on what time of year you visit.)

But seriously? This is a stunning ride and the highlight of my visit in this park. When the time comes I have dozens of more photos to share, plus video from our flight over hippo pools, vulture nests, and buffalo on the move.

The hot air balloon ride is followed by a full-service, five-star breakfast on linen and china. The food and atmosphere are fabulous. My only suggestion: it’d be nice if they had an option to skip breakfast and pay a lower rate for just the balloon ride.

I join the rest of our group mid-morning for our all-day game drive in the Serengeti.

Our best encounter this day is with a male elephant who comes VERY close to our vehicle and then roars at us. Scary! But also magnificent to see him in close proximity.

The next day we find the lions! I’d been told to expect many lion encounters in the Serengeti and Crater (watch out for expectations…) but this is the first time we’ve seen them so close to the vehicles, literally walking between cars.

We then spot more lions in the Ngorongoro Crater — and this mama has two cubs with her! They are quite playful and don’t care about all the vehicles gathered around as tourists click away on cameras.

The light in the Crater is the best I’ve seen in Africa. Just a spectacular range of colors.

Most tourists love baboons, but I think they’re kind of ugly. However this group melts my heart.

After two full days of driving across Tanzania, we arrive at our next destination: the island of Zanzibar!

The first night we stay at a swanky place overlooking the ocean. Too bad we find a snake in our room… at midnight… remember how my sister hates snakes?

I’ll save that story for another time.

The next morning we tour Stone Town. It’s lovely — lots of details around every corner, very engaging to walk around and photograph.

In the afternoon we do a Spice Tour, which may be my favorite activity on Zanzibar. Here’s a few images…

We spend the next two nights at Nungwi, the tourist beach area. I find it underwhelming. Tourists are isolated inside the resort, but if they go out onto the beach then locals descend asking for money or hounding you to book tours. The area bills itself as a tropical island paradise but in reality it doesn’t play out like that (their happy hour cocktails are pretty decent though). It’s also worth noting this island is politically unstable as Zanzibar is 99% Muslim and wants independence from the rest of Tanzania. Elections will be held next year and friction tend to ramp up around ballot time.

I spend our one free day on a scuba diving trip with Spanish Dancer. Check out the color of that water…!

Fun time scuba diving:

And I see an octopus, which makes my day — these creatures are hard to spot because they blend in so well with their surroundings.

We spend the next three days driving all the way through Tanzania down towards Malawi. Such is life on an overland tour — sometimes you spend entire days driving. It’s part of the fun, and I find the downtime relaxing. I read books, listen to podcasts, and edit photos until my laptop battery dies.

The one notable stop during these three days is The Farm. Check out these cute stable rooms:

Our next country is Malawi, and I can’t wait to write more about it in detail. The people are the friendliest I’ve met in all of Africa. Genuine smiles and waves, and a lack of suspicious glances that locals sometimes (understandably) give tourists wielding big cameras. The three women below happily chat with members of our group and pose for photos; our guide even tries lifting one of the buckets onto his head. It’s a lovely exchange and welcome to this country.

We spend two nights at Kande Beach and wake up to this sunrise:

The (included) village tour is a little overwhelming at first — local guys (around 20 years old) immediately hang on to each tourist as we come out of the campground. They just want to practice English and chat during the parts of the tour where we walk (i.e. when the tour guide isn’t talking). It feels aggressive at first but they’re actually pretty great once you realize they’re harmless. At the end they’ll try to sell you artwork but I make it clear from the get-go I won’t purchase anything and it doesn’t deter them. We chat about our respective school systems and places to travel and career options.

Oh, and the little kids are out-of-this-world adorable. If you have a hand free, they’ll sweetly hold on and accompany you for the walk. There’s no begging involved, just nice interaction and a lot of high-fives.

These brick-makers (a common trade here) pose between preparing batches for the kilns.

We visit the local primary school (15 teachers for 1500 students). It’s Saturday so the school is quiet, but the principle / administrator comes to speak with us. There’s a donations box and we all contribute; some people in our group have brought pens and other items for the kids. We also visit the hospital and have the option of making a donation there as well. It’s low-pressure and feels good to give something (I gave the equivalent of just a few dollars in each place).

Hanging out at night around the campfire:

Lounging on Kande Beach at Lake Malawi during our free day:

Lake Malawi:

I go scuba diving again here. It’s a different underwater landscape than I’ve seen before. Not as many fish as I expected, but they did sink a jeep as a dive site which is fun to pose for photos like this:

Our tour elects to roast a pig for dinner that night. While I had a plate full of bacon that very morning, I can’t bring myself to participate after learning that this pig had specifically been killed that morning for our group. He was alive mere hours earlier! It smells fabulous but I can’t do it. #contemplatingvegetarianism #butilovebacon

We bid adieu to Malawi and move on to Zambia.

The village we visit in Zambia is slightly less receptive than the one in Malawi, but they put on a vibrant show of music and dance. The kids are curious and friendly.

Zambia wins my affection for having the best game park in Africa, in my opinion. South Luangwa National Park is vast, dense, and chock-full of wildlife. We camp on the river banks right near elephants, hippos, and crocs — we hear them making noise all night as they pass through camp. In the event we need to use a bathroom during the night, we are sternly warned to check the path with flashlights before leaving our tents as animals may charge. Yikes! Fortunately everyone makes it out alive, with some fun stories and photos.

The optional morning game drive is the best of my whole time in Africa (so far). Totally worth the extra $40.

Here’s our group on the morning drive:

We do another sunset game drive (included) that is also great. Our goal is to see a leopard, perhaps the hardest game to spot in Africa. But their population is higher in this park than others so our odds are good.

We split into two vehicles and by sunset our car still hasn’t seen a leopard… turns out the other car has spotted three! We finally find two baby leopards hiding behind a tree while their mama is out hunting.

Victoria Falls — which straddles the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe — is our next stop. And whoa, it’s an impressive one. Check out this view from my 12-minute Flight of Angels helicopter ride with Zambezi Helicopters:

This vantage point is the perfect place to appreciate the immense scale of the Falls.

But nothing compares to standing over them, feeling the vibration of the water below as mist sprays upwards. There’s no barrier — watch your step!

I do one other fun activity — the Flying Fox, offered by Wild Horizons. It’s like a zip-line but the harness is in the back so you fly out like superman over the gorge. SO MUCH FUN. Video to come when I post more about this activity in detail.

There is a big turn-over in Vic Falls and we get a new guide and driver for the Botswana leg of our trip. Guide Soliwe is fantastic.

Botswana earns high marks for its two top destinations — Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta.

While the optional morning game drive in Chobe is pathetic (not worth the $40), the included sunset boat cruise is a highlight of the trip. We spend several hours up close with animals on the river — elephants, hippos, crocs, and more. It is really worthwhile.

Here’s a baobab tree, one of thousands we pass during this 30 day trip. Doesn’t it look like something out of Tim Burton’s imagination?

Our two nights in the Okavango Delta are spectacular. We luck out because Nomad Tours is considering upgrading from the basic camping to a budget camping option, and we are the guinea pigs! We stay at Elephant Bush Camp located on the perimeter of the Delta (there’s an option to upgrade to luxury camping for around $300 per person which includes a flight deeper into the Delta where you can see more wildlife).

Even though we aren’t in the heart of the Delta, it still takes about two hours by truck and then a 45-minute ride in a mekoro (dugout canoe) to reach our camp. The journey is quite scenic:

These mekoros are made of fiberglass instead of the traditional wood of a tree trunk.

My private tent — with beds. BEDS!

During our two days here, we enjoy nature walks, crocodile-free swimming holes, and multiple mekoro rides.

I’ll conclude with my favorite nighttime shots of the trip, taken at our camp in the Okavango Delta:

Whew! Thanks for reading all that. Lots of adventure this month, and so many more photos to share when the time comes.

Does anyone want to plan a trip to Africa after browsing all those photos? Which countries or landmarks would be at the top of your list?

Many thanks to Nomad Tours for discounting my Nairobi to Johannesburg trip in exchange for photography and blogging services. Opinions are my own.