The Multi-Country Grand Tour

Nights

16

Party

4–6 guests

Countries

South Africa · Botswana · Kenya

From

Price on application

Best season

May–October

This is the long one. Three countries, five stops, four very different kinds of Africa, all by private aircraft. Families usually come to us for it with an occasion in mind: an 80th birthday, a 50th anniversary, a retirement, the last summer before the eldest goes to university.

It is built for families of four to six, up to three generations, and the smaller party is what makes it work. You have a private villa in Cape Town, your own villa in the Sabi Sand and a house on Borana, so the grandparents can take a morning off without holding anyone up. Cheetah Plains lets each villa whole, to one party of up to eight, with its own vehicle, guide and team; over the festive season, 20 December to 4 January, it takes a minimum of six guests. Laragai is let to one party only and priced on a minimum of six guests, which is why the house is yours alone even with four. Jao's villa takes children from six, so this one suits families whose youngest is six or older. One aircraft in the south, one jet across the continent, and the same family-sized vehicle and guide at every stop, with a second on request.

Highlights

• A private villa at Ellerman House above Bantry Bay
• Your own villa at Cheetah Plains in the Sabi Sand, with its own vehicle and chef
• Mokoro and motorboat from Jao's island in the Okavango
• Five nights at Laragai House on Borana: rhino tracking on foot, horses, a helicopter to Mount Kenya
• Two last nights at Angama Mara above the Maasai Mara, and the picnic where Out of Africa was filmed

1. Day 1–2

   Cape Town · Ellerman House

   One of Ellerman House's two private villas, with its own pool and the Atlantic below. Day one: a long family dinner in the villa garden. Day two: Table Mountain by cable car early, before the queues, then the Two Oceans Aquarium for the children.

2. Day 3

   Cape Town → Sabi Sand

   Pilatus PC-12 class turboprop to the Arathusa strip. From here until Nairobi you are in malaria areas.

3. Day 3–5

   Cheetah Plains · 3 nights

   One of the three villas: four suites, a pool, a chef and your own electric vehicle and guide. Leopard, lion and the rest of the Big Five on drives timed to suit the family. A tasting in the villa cellar for the adults.

4. Day 6

   Sabi Sand → Okavango

   Clear out of South Africa and fly to Maun, then a light aircraft to Jao. Soft bags only.

5. Day 6–8

   Wilderness Jao · 3 nights

   Jao Villa, two bedrooms for four guests, on a private island in the northern Delta. Families of five or six add a family suite in the main camp alongside. Mokoro through the lily channels for anyone 13 and over; younger children go out by motorboat and vehicle. A day by motorboat, drives on the island.

6. Day 9

   Maun → Nairobi

   Light jet north to Nairobi, the one leg on this journey that calls for a jet. One night in a family suite at Giraffe Manor and breakfast with the giraffe.

7. Day 10

   Nairobi → Borana

   Charter north to Borana on the Laikipia Plateau. Laragai House is a private family house on the edge of an escarpment, with Mount Kenya on the skyline.

8. Day 10–14

   Laragai House · 5 nights

   Black rhino tracking on foot, horse riding, a helicopter flight up to Mount Kenya, dinners from the farm next door, and one night at a long table on the escarpment edge.

9. Day 15

   Borana → Maasai Mara

   Charter south to Angama's airstrip. Interconnecting suites on the Oloololo Escarpment, 1,000 feet above the Mara Triangle, with a private vehicle and guide for your family. Angama asks for one when children under seven are travelling.

10. Day 15–16

    Angama Mara · 2 nights

    A last dawn drive, and a picnic with white linen at the spot where Out of Africa was filmed.

11. Day 17

    Home

    Charter from Angama to Nairobi for your international flights.

Flown by turboprop, light and super-light jet and helicopter. How we choose the aircraft