One-Month Africa (+Dubai) Itinerary
As promised (and due to popular demand!), here is our one-month Africa (+Dubai) Itinerary!
Cape Town, South Africa: 5 Nights
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe: 3 Nights
Nairobi, Kenya: 2 Nights
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: 5 Nights
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania: 4 Nights
Kilimanjaro, Tanzania: 1 Night
Mahe Island, Seychelles: 5 Nights
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: 5 Nights
Total: 30 Nights
Usually, when we embark on a trip, I plan and book all the travel myself. I can’t help but enjoy the giant puzzle that itinerary planning provides (it must be the professional organizer in me!). However, planning our Africa trip felt daunting, with so many logistics to consider. After much research, we opted to utilize the expertise of Go2Africa, where, together with our dedicated travel agent, Maureen, we pieced together an amazing itinerary using her help, guidance, and suggestions. After paying our deposit, she took care of everything, and all we had to do was show up!
Throughout our trip, Maureen was always available for anything we could possibly need, including when we almost got stranded at the Victoria Falls airport due to an incomplete Visa for traveling to Kenya (our fault)! She was immediately available to walk us through everything and then stayed up until nearly midnight in constant communication with us until we had safely arrived in Kenya as scheduled! Not having to worry about how we were getting from each accommodation to the next, but just knowing that Go2Africa had everything under control, is what truly made this a trip of a lifetime.
I think it is safe to say that this was just our first of many future trips with Go2Africa, and we can’t wait to plan the next adventure! Also, Go2Africa is NOT paying for this review, nor did they comp any portion of our trip - I am just genuinely a very satisfied customer of theirs! They do have a referral program, though, and you can get a $500 travel credit towards your next trip with them (and I can earn a $500 credit, too!).
Cape Town, South Africa
We opted to start our trip in Cape Town and work our way north, eventually ending in Dubai (which I recognize is not part of Africa, but we snagged a great return flight deal on Air France using air miles). Being in the Southern Hemisphere, July is winter for Cape Town, but that did not deter us from visiting! Winters in Cape Town can be mild, rainy, sunny, and warm, all in 24 hours. And yes, we experienced it all!
We stayed five nights at the Lawhill Luxury Apartments on the Victoria & Alfred waterfront. Having a full-size kitchen came in handy for making dinners during the first couple of days when we were too jet-lagged to stay awake to go out to eat. The V&A waterfront is touristy, which we normally try to avoid, but I actually didn’t mind the location, as it felt safe, walkable, and had plenty of great dining options.
Go2Africa booked us three full-day tours with a guide and a driver through Jarat Tours.
Day 1: Cape Town City Tour Highlights
Castle of Good Hope
District Six Museum
Coffee at Truth Coffee
Tour of Bo-Kaap
Lunch at Kloof Street House
Drive to Camps, Clifton, and Seapoint
Day 2: Cape Point Highlights:
Boulders Beach Penguins
Cape of Good Hope
Cape Point Ostrich Farm
Lunch at The Foodbarn Cafe
Constantia Winery Tour
Day 3: Winelands Tour Highlights:
Lunch and farm tour at Babylonstoren
On our own in Cape Town, we explored the aquarium, took the Hop on Hop Off tour bus, which took us to the incredible views from Signal Hill, and had an amazing dinner at Gold Restaurant (Note: Make reservations early! They book out!).
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
We took a three-hour flight from Cape Town to Victoria Falls and spent three nights at the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. Here, we had a two-bedroom suite with amazing views of the surrounding wildlife. The lodge had a beautiful (but very cold) pool on a terrace overlooking a waterhole where wildlife would gather. They also have daily vulture feeding and lectures to educate people on the importance of vultures in African biodiversity. Go2Africa arranged a tour of the Falls for us through Wild Horizons, the primary adventure/tour operator in the area. Nothing can prepare you for the powerful Victoria Falls. You have to see it in person to experience its grandness. Independently, we booked a Canopy Zipline Adventure, Sunset River Cruise, and Boma Dinner & Drum Show (Tip: Book the Boma Dinner show directly through the restaurant linked here to avoid the upcharge Wild Horizons charges). We visited the local library, the oldest tree in Africa, and had our first safari wildlife sightings.
Dining Highlights Included:
Nairobi, Kenya
From Victoria Falls, it was another 3-hour flight to Nairobi. We almost didn’t make the trip because we had not completed our ETA visa application in time. Thankfully, as I mentioned, Maureen at Go2Africa walked us through everything to get on the plane. I don’t know what we would have done without that on-demand support! Well, actually, I do. We would have been stranded for 48 hours because that’s when the next plane to Nairobi was!
We only had two nights in Nairobi, which was not nearly enough, especially since we got in late and left early, giving us only one full day to explore. We stayed at the beautiful Emara Ole-Sereni Hotel in a two-bedroom suite. If I were to redo the trip, I would have added at least one additional night in Nairobi. Two nights just wasn’t enough!
Our one full day in Nairobi was spent with a guide touring these highlights:
Tour of the Karen Blixen Museum (The original home and location of the Out of Africa movie)
Tour of a local craft market
Dinner at Talisman
Serengeti, Tanzania
Getting to the Serengeti required multiple flights and multiple stops on remote airstrips to drop off and pick up passengers. We took off and landed six times to reach our final destination! But boy, was it worth it! For our return, we drove the same distance, and I can tell you that flying is much quicker, easier, and more comfortable (and that’s coming from someone who fears small planes)!
We split our stay in the Serengeti between three nights at TAASA Lodge and two nights at Lahia Tented Lodge before closing out our Safari near the Ngorongoro Crater. If I were to do it all over again, I would have omitted our stop in the central Serengeti at Lahia and instead stayed four or five nights at TAASA, then flown to the Ngorongoro Crater.
TAASA is located just outside a remote Northwestern corner of the Serengeti, across the border from Kenya. It’s not heavily trafficked, and the wildlife is out of this world! The staff and guides at TAASA make you feel right at home, and we instantly settled into our new Safari rhythms and routines.
Our mornings started with early game drives with our designated guide, Said, and wildlife tracker Sangida, who quickly became like family. We had the option to eat breakfast in the dining room before we left or take breakfast with us. I highly recommend opting to forgo breakfast as the wildlife viewing is much better the earlier you get out, and a picnic Safari breakfast just can’t be beaten!
Safari game drives are customizable, but 3-4 hours was the perfect amount of time to hold the kids’ interest and maintain our stamina. This also gave us time back at the lodge to swim, relax, have lunch, or partake in other lodge activities before heading out again for our evening game drive.
TAASA also offers a visit to a local Maasai village and school. We didn’t get the opportunity to fit it into our three nights, but all the more reason for us to return one day!
After our time at TAASA, we continued on to the Central Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. For this portion of the trip (seven nights), we were accompanied by a guide with Asilia Lodges. Our guide, Valence, quickly became part of our family. Again, this is where utilizing the knowledge and expertise of Go2Africa to plan and book our trip paid off. Every detail was handled by Valence; all we had to do was show up!
To break up the drive between TAASA and the Ngorongoro Crater, we stayed at Lahia Tented Lodge in the Central Serengeti. While the accommodations, food, and hospitality felt lacking after our stay at TAASA, the hilltop infinity pool with views of wildlife roaming the plains below easily made it all worth it!
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
We lodged at Gibb's Farm for our stay near the Ngorongoro Crater. A rainforest, farm-to-table retreat in Tanzania about 2 hours from the crater base, while a bit of a trek to do our game drives, offered amenities and hospitality that quickly made up for the distance! Gibb’s served up some of the best food of our trip, and the coffee we had during our stay was easily the best I’ve ever had! We got to tour the expansive gardens where 90% of all the produce served to guests is grown. They even grow and roast their own coffee right there on the property.
We enjoyed our time at Gibb’s so much that we opted to skip one day of game drives in favor of experiencing some of the many activities offered at the lodge. From guided hikes, bird-watching tours, farm tours, coffee roasting, bike rides, and village tours, you can really spend a whole day here just soaking up all the offerings.
Our trip into the Ngorongoro Crater was a bit terrifying as you ascend and descend the crater walls in a fog of clouds before sunrise, but once inside, Lucas quickly got his rhino sighting, and all was well!
After spending time in the remote regions of the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater felt crowded and touristy, not unlike Yellowstone Park. Don’t get me wrong, the views were incredible, and it’s such a unique experience, but if I were to do it all over again, I would have started our Safari experience in the crater and ended with the incredible scenery of TAASA last. This was also the suggestion of Go2Africa, but we were limited due to the availability at TAASA, which unfortunately required us to book in this order.
For our final night in Tanzania, we traveled by car for about four hours to Kilimanjaro, where we stayed at Airport Planet Lodge. We were all a bit concerned about what to expect with a hotel named Airport Planet Lodge, especially after leaving the tranquility of Gibb’s, but I have to say, we were all pleasantly surprised! The staff was incredible, the pool was wonderful, and the food was great! It was the perfect spot to rest before heading to our next destination!
Mahe Island, Seychelles
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but Safaris are exhausting! Early mornings, lots of uncomfortable driving on rough roads, followed by late-night game drives - we were all feeling the effects of too little sleep. The Seychelles was the perfect respite for our weary bodies! We stayed at the luxurious Constance Ephelia in a two-bedroom villa for our five nights on Mahe Island. It was easily the fanciest place we’ve ever stayed at, and a total splurge, but we have no regrets!
Initially, we planned to do some Island hopping, but two of our four family members don’t enjoy boat rides, so we stayed put. Mahe Island had plenty to offer to keep us busy while also encouraging us to slow down and relax! We mostly made our home base at the resort, but since we had a rental car, we also took time to drive the island, stopping in various towns and beaches along the way.
Our highlights in Mahe included:
Hiking the Copolia Trail
Dinner at Trader Vics
Bike Riding all the paths around the sprawling resort property
Sunsets on Port Launay Beach
Ice cream at Saveurs Des Iles
Feeding the giant tortoises at the resort
And swimming in our private pool!
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Our time with Go2Africa might have ended, but our trip wasn’t over yet! Thanks to an awesome flight deal out of Dubai using Air Miles, we concluded our trip with five nights in the 105-degree heat of the United Arab Emirates! Getting to Dubai from the Seychelles is supposed to take just a quick four-hour flight, but our departure was significantly delayed due to a heavy rainstorm in the islands. It was our first Emirates flight, and once we were finally onboard, we were all huge fans of the amazing amenities, food, and space in our economy seats!
Our time in Dubai was split between staying in the desert and the city to get a taste of both scenes!
We stayed at Bab Al Shams for the first two nights, about an hour outside of downtown Dubai. This resort was expertly renovated in 2022 and was a highlight of our trip. Everything, from the food to the staff to the grounds, was impeccable. The resort also offers a complimentary camel and falcon experience on the property, and the pools were amazing. If it had not been summer (and over 100 degrees), we could have easily stayed several more nights here enjoying all the resort's desert amenities.
For our last three nights in Dubai, we stayed in downtown close to the Dubai Mall at Hotel Indigo. It was centrally located but more affordable than many other options in that area. We felt safe walking everywhere, but taxis were readily available when the day's heat was unbearable! We also utilized a guide and driver with Sahara Adventure for two full days to explore the highlights of Abu Dhabi (About 2 hours from Dubai) and Dubai city.
Dubai Highlights:
Day trip to Abu Dhabi to visit the Grand Mosque
Visiting the Dubai Frame and Museum of the Future (Tip: Book your museum tickets far in advance; places like the Museum of the Future will often book out months in advance during high season)
Nightly fountain shows outside of the Dubai Mall
Visiting the top of the Burj Khalifa (Even as someone terrified of heights, this was still a highlight for me!)
Spending hours walking the world’s largest mall (Dubai Mall)
We enjoyed the Cacio e Pepe parmesan wheel pasta at Public, veggie burgers at Salt, and drinks at the Taphouse (Tip: No restaurants within the Dubai Mall serve alcohol, and to offer alcohol, restaurants must obtain special permitting).
Orderly Africa!
Final Thoughts
Africa captures a piece of your heart and leaves you longing for more. It’s calming and chaotic all at once. It’s humbling, grounding, and immersive in all the best ways. Our visit forever changed us, and we left with a greater appreciation for our incredible planet and the amazing people that inhabit it. Thank you, Africa. Until next time!
For more travel content, you can view all my Instagram Story Highlights for each location through these links:
