‘Jambo’ means ‘hello’ in Swahili and you might soon be saying it automatically to everyone you meet as the spirit of Kenya overtakes you. After landing at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met and transferred to Nairobi Tented Camp, a charming set up in the heart of Nairobi National Park.

The park, which is home to all of the Big 5 except elephants, is one of the few places in the world where you can do an authentic game drive just miles from the modern city centre. If you are really fortunate, you may even get to take the iconic shot of reticulated giraffes with Nairobi’s high-rise buildings in the far-off distance.

A night at Nairobi Tented Camp is the perfect way to settle into safari. Depending on your schedule, you may have time for late afternoon or early morning game drives. Enjoy moments around the crackling campfire and get used to the nocturnal sounds of the bush – the singing of nightjars, the calling of hyenas, the roaring of distant lions – before the next part of your journey.

No safari to Kenya is complete without time in the Masai Mara, the traditional home of the Maasai tribe. These red-robed guides are your hosts for the next three nights at Porini Lion Camp, a down-to-earth tented camp in the Masai Mara National Reserve. It has an enviable position in the Olare Motorogi Conservancy on the Ntiakatiak River.

Your time here is spent on morning and afternoon game drives and spotting elephants is definitely in the offing! The Mara has some of the easiest game viewing in the world because its wide-open plains make the animals easy to find and see: it is not unusual to have a pride of lion resting in the shade to your right, a herd of elephants moving silently towards a waterhole on your left and various antelope like Thomson’s gazelle, topi, hartebeest and impala dotted all around you. Your experienced guides will be able to point out lucky finds like a leopard protecting her kill in a tree or an ostrich doing an elaborate dance to win the right to mate.

Guides in conservancies have more freedom than those in the national reserve and you may be fortunate to go off-road to get closer to interesting sightings or do a night game drive, a completely different experience that opens up a whole new wilderness, all under the velvety cape of the Milky Way.

It is back to Nairobi for a night in the Eka Hotel, a modern space with everything you need to rejuvenate for the next leg of your journey. Check your email, edit your photographs and repack your bags in preparation to touching down in Zambia after a good night’s sleep.

Bid Kenya farewell as you drive back to Jomo Kenyatta this morning for your journey onto Zambia and the mighty Victoria Falls. If the conditions are right, your pilot might even point out the colossal spray of Mosi-oa-Tunya – the traditional name of the Falls – as you come into land. After disembarking at Harry Mwanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone (named after Dr David Livingstone, the first European to see the Falls), you will be whisked away to Chundukwa River Lodge, your home-away-from-home for three nights.

Thanks to its peaceful setting on the banks of the Zambezi a short distance from the sleepy town of Livingstone, Chundukwa is perfectly placed to give you the best of both worlds. On one day, enjoy a full tour of the bustling Falls and surrounding markets before retreating to the serenity of the lodge. If you feel like getting your pulse racing, you can go micro lighting over the Falls, swing or jump from the bridge or – if the water levels allow – swim in Devil’s Pool or go white-water rafting on high-grade rapids.

Back at Chundukwa, you can saddle up a horse for riding, grab your binoculars for birding or stretch your legs on a nature walk. A highlight will no doubt be a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. This is another of those iconic African experiences that you will remember for ever… the balmy air, the snorting hippos, families of elephants guiding their babies through the water and the comforting glow of the last of the sun’s rays.