The Ultimate Africa Trip-Seven Countries By Private Jet

Serengeti Great Wildebeest Migration.

Going on safari or doing a cultural exploration in Africa is usually done in several bites. Maybe a safari in Tanzania or South Africa the first time, followed by a trip to the other region later with another stop or two added in. For those who want to do the entire spread of essential sights in eastern and southern Africa in one go, however, Abercrombie & Kent put together a 19 day marathon by private jet leaving on February 20^th.

 Even with a price tag of $82,995 per person—“the price of a Tesla,” explains Phil Otterson, Abercrombie& Kent President–  the 40 slots in the two trips sold out within days. So, the company decided to offer another trip next year, the same time period, the same places, and, they assume, destined to sell out quickly as well.

That they chose Africa to do the first private jet/multi-country  trip like this was a no-brainer, apparently.  “We wanted to start this in Africa, which is where the company was founded in 1962, in Kenya,” explains Otterson. “So in plotting where to go, Geoffrey (co-founder Geoffrey Kent) sat down with our product team and decided what we could do. Some parts of the itinerary were determined by logistics, fuel options/range of the jet (a refitted 737 with all business class seats) but overall the selections were where you should be going: Ethiopia  because of the discovery there of Lucy  the 3.2 million year old ape considered the earliest human ancestor], which ties in with Uganda, another of the stops, to see a gorilla family in Bwindi Forest Impenetrable Park, Botswana for the wildlife viewing, Tanzania for the migration in the Serengeti, Namibia for the 700 foot desert dunes along the Skeleton Coast,  Zambia to see Victoria Falls by helicopter,  finishing in Cape Town.”

 Travel is eased, obviously, by flying private accompanied by a staff.  Accommodations range from a mobile tented safari in Tanzania to the tree house villas in Zambia’s Sanctuary Sussi & Chuma and Cape Town’s elegant Cape Grace. And aside from the expected Big Five sightings, special events are mixed in, from a bush picnic with Maasai tribesmen to meetings with local priests in Ethiopia—giving guests a more profound understanding of the countries.