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Introducing East Africa

The great gamelands of East Africa have a firm hold on our imaginations, perhaps because so many of us have been exposed to African motifs since earliest childhood, perhaps because of something even deeper.

In The Tree Where Man Was Born, the great Peter Matthiessen wrote about the profound effect Africa can have on us:

“The wild creatures I had come to Africa to see are exhilarating in their multitudes and colors, and I imagined for a time that this glimpse of the earth’s morning might account for the anticipation that I felt, the sense of origins, of innocence and mystery, like a marvelous childhood faculty restored. Perhaps it is the consciousness that here in Africa, south of the Sahara, our kind was born.”

 

One of Micato’s Safari Directors puts it this way: “At the airport, before the flights home, it’s common to see tears in people’s eyes. They feel so deeply touched by Africa. Many of them say they feel as if they’ve finally come home.”

Whatever the source of their allure, the gamelands are dramatically, heart-stirringly unique, the greatest display of star-quality wildlife on planet Earth. The most famous of East Africa’s wildlife kingdoms is the Serengeti-Maasai Mara Ecosystem. The size of Vermont, the Serengeti-Maasai Mara has two names because it straddles two countries. In Kenya, it’s the Maasai Mara, somewhat greener and more riverine than Tanzania’s Serengeti, the “warm sea of life” so beloved of travellers. Almost all of Micato’s guaranteed departure, small-group Classic Safaris, and many–if not most–of our Custom-Designed Safaris visit either or both the Serengeti and the Maasai Mara.

We introduce safariers to famed treasures like Amboseli and Tarangire National Parks, to the Laikipia Plateau, presided over by lordly Mount Kenya, to flamingo-thronged Lake Manyara, and to the great Lost World of the Ngorongoro Crater, one of the most amazing places imaginable. Proudly dedicated to displaying Africa’s best–you aren’t named the world’s #1 Best Safari Operator an unprecedented nine times by Travel+Leisure if you swerve from your commitments–we carry our unstinting commitment to excellence to all our East African destinations, staying in intelligently luxurious camps and lodges tucked away on lush river banks or set high on rocky escarpments overlooking the golden infinity of the African plain. Every Micato safari, Custom or Classic, is escorted from beginning to end by a highly credentialed Safari Director. In short, it’s in Micato’s very genetic code to celebrate East Africa in all its exhilarating majesty.

East Africa Map
Giraffes at Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

East Africa, Tanzania

An earthly masterpiece, something of a miracle, the Ngorongoro Crater is thronged by enrapturing African beasts, protected and blessed by nature.

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Wildlife at Serengeti national park

Serengeti National Park

East Africa, Tanzania

When we think of Africa, many of us–old Africa hands and armchair dreamers alike–think of the Serengeti. For excellent, accurate reasons.

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The Laikipia Plateau

The Laikipia Plateau

East Africa, Kenya

The lofty Laikipia Plateau combines vast sceneries, abundant and fascinating wildlife, and unfailingly gracious people. In two words: Classic Africa.

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Amboseli National Park, southern Kenya

Amboseli National Park

East Africa, Kenya

Amboseli’s animals are legendary, its situation beneath Mount Kilimanjaro is sublime, and its lodges and camps are extraordinarily hospitable and reposeful.

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Samburu

​Samburu National Reserve

East Africa, Kenya

Forced to choose one beautiful, animal- and people-blessed place for a first introduction to Africa, the Samburu would come immediately to our minds.

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Family picnic dinner in nature at Tarangire African Safari

Tarangire National Park

East Africa, Tanzania

Tarangire is a landscape lover’s Eden, an animal fancier’s Nirvana, and a balm for lovers of quietude in the midst of great natural exuberance.

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Giraffe at The Chyulu Hills

The Chyulu Hills

East Africa, Kenya

Ambling in lush cloud forests, looking out at gargantuan Mount Kilimanjaro, enjoying African-Italian fusion cuisine, are just a few of the Chyulu Hills’enchantments.

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Lake Manyara itself is the main attraction of the Park, and attracts a variety of waterbirds, including huge flocks of pink flamingos as well as pelicans, storks and cormorants.

Lake Manyara National Park

East Africa, Tanzania

Lake Manyara is the beautiful home of mega-throngs of flamingos, as viewers of Out of Africa will know, and want to see for themselves.

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Enjoying champagne while watching sunset at Meru National Park, Kenya

Meru National Park

East Africa, Kenya

Meru National Park, in the shadow of regal Mount Kenya, is sublimely peaceful, less-visited, and graced with the full panoply of African wildlife.

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Flamingos on Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha

Lake Nakuru and Lake Naivasha

East Africa, Kenya

These two flamingo-haven rift lakes bear witness to Africa’s slow geologic upheavals–and to the continent’s flair for large, heart-pumping loveliness.

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Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya

East Africa, Kenya

Kenya takes its name, and thousands of years of inspiration, from lordly Mount Kenya, Africa’s second highest, but most spectacular peak.

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Zanzibar

Zanzibar

East Africa, Tanzania

Zanzibar, the legendary Spice Island entrepôt, politely lures us with its white sand beaches, quietly jazzy resorts, and its historic Stone Town.

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Nairobi Skyline

Nairobi

East Africa, Kenya

Nairobi is where Micato was born, and our–and our guests’–affection for the city continues to grow as it becomes ever more cosmopolitan and ambitious.

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Arusha Beautiful View

Arusha

East Africa, Tanzania

A charming gateway to some of East Africa’s greatest gamelands.

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significant concentrations” of elephants

Selous and Ruaha Game Reserves

East Africa, Tanzania

An undisturbed playground of beauty reserved solely for the enrichment of its bountiful and truly wild wildlife, The Selous is one of Africa’s natural wonders.

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Mount Kilimanjaro

Mount Kilimanjaro

East Africa, Tanzania

A compelling icon, bursting with regal personality, Africa’s highest peak is the colossal backdrop for many Micato safaris.

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Kigali, Rwanda

Kigali​

East Africa, Rwanda

Rwanda’s capital city “pulses with African charm,” says the New York Times…and us.

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Gorilla eating grass at ​Parc Nacional des Volcans

​Parc Nacional des Volcans

East Africa, Rwanda

The lushly beautiful, compact nation of Rwanda is in turn the home of an even tinier protected patch that figures among the most beloved of wildlife admirers everywhere.

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When you have caught the rhythm of Africa, you find it is the same in all her music.

Isak DinesenOut of Africa

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