Straight answers

Six to nine months for migration season (July to October) and Christmas, because the best camps fill first. Three months is usually fine for the rest of the year. Last-minute trips are possible; ask and we will tell you what is open.

June to October is dry, cooler and the classic season, with the migration in the northern Serengeti from July. January to March is calving season in the south, green and quieter. April and May are the long rains: lower prices, fewer people, and some camps closed.

Five days is the shortest trip that does not feel rushed, and it covers Tarangire, Lake Manyara and the crater. Six or seven adds the Serengeti properly. Add four or more for Zanzibar. Anything under four days is mostly driving.

A lodge has solid walls, a pool and usually more space. A tented camp puts you closer to the sound of the park at night, with canvas, a proper bed and a bathroom. Both are comfortable. We often mix the two across a week so you get each.

The pace and the small decisions. Where comfort stops happen, how camps are briefed about you, how children are kept busy, how a solo traveller is met at the airport. Our guides are licensed and first-aid trained, and they notice the things that make a long day easy.

Every park has toilets at the gates and picnic sites, and your guide plans the route around them rather than waiting to be asked. Between those, she will find a discreet spot and keep watch. Nobody has to raise it as a problem.

A private 4x4 with a pop-up roof, a window seat for everyone and a cool box of water. Transfer days between parks run three to six hours on a mix of tar and rough road. Game drives are two to three hours at a time, more if you want them.

Most lodges and camps have wifi in the main area, and it is often slow. Mobile signal reaches parts of Tarangire, Manyara and the crater rim, and is patchy in the Serengeti. Your guide can carry a satellite communicator on remote routes; ask when booking.

We recommend six and up for a standard trip. Most lodges welcome children from six, some tented camps set a minimum of eight or twelve, and we plan around those. Younger children are possible on a private trip; tell us the ages and we will be honest about what works.

Each child gets binoculars and a spotting checklist of their own. Our guides run competitions between rows, hand over the radio, and stop for the small things: chameleons, dung beetles, a weaver bird building upside down. We also keep family drives shorter than adult ones.

Yes, at most lodges, and we book them first because there are only a few at each property. Some tented camps have family tents with two bedrooms under one roof. Tell us how you want to sleep and we will build the itinerary around the properties that can do it.

Park and conservation fees, a private 4x4 with a pop-up roof, your guide, all accommodation and meals on safari, airport transfers, drinking water and government taxes. International flights, visas, travel insurance, tips and optional activities such as ballooning are not included.

A deposit confirms your dates and the camps, and the balance is due before you travel. We send the exact amounts and dates in writing with your itinerary, and nothing is booked until you have seen them.

Bring US dollars in notes printed in 2009 or later; older notes are often refused. Lodges and larger shops take cards, usually with a fee. Tanzanian shillings are useful for markets and small purchases, and there are ATMs in Arusha, Karatu and Stone Town but not in the parks.

Tipping is customary and never obligatory. Most guests give their guide something at the end of the trip and leave a shared amount in the staff box at each camp. Ask us before you travel and we will give you the current range in writing rather than leaving you to guess.

Yellow fever is required only if you arrive from a country with a risk of transmission. Malaria prevention is recommended for all of Tanzania. Speak to a travel clinic six weeks before you fly; we send a health note with every itinerary.

Most visitors do. A single-entry tourist visa can be applied for online before you travel or, for many nationalities, bought on arrival at Kilimanjaro airport. Check the requirement for your own passport well ahead, and note that Zanzibar has its own immigration desk even on a domestic flight.

Neutral colours, layers for cold mornings and hot afternoons, a hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, binoculars and any medication in your hand luggage. Soft bags only if you are taking a light aircraft, where the limit is usually 15kg. Laundry is available at most camps, so pack less than you think.