From the crater rim
to the medina walls.

Africa in this journal means very different trips. Two of our hotels are about animals. Singita Lebombo holds a private concession on the eastern side of the Kruger, near the Mozambique border, where guides can leave the road and only a handful of vehicles share the area. &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge is built on the rim of a collapsed volcano in Tanzania, about 600 meters above a crater floor crowded with grazing herds.

The other two are about place and history. The Mount Nelson, painted pink and known locally as the Pink Lady, opened in 1899 at the top of Cape Town's Gardens district. La Mamounia dates from 1923 and sits just inside Marrakech's old ramparts, around gardens of orange trees and olives that are older than the hotel itself.

For readers in Spain, Marrakech is the easy one: under two hours from Madrid, perfect for a long weekend. South Africa is a single overnight flight. Tanzania takes a little more effort, and rewards it.

Best for: a first safari, photographers with long lenses, honeymoons, people who plan trips around meals, and families whose children are old enough for early starts.

1. 1

   Before dawn · around 5:00 to 6:00

   Wake-up knock

   Coffee, tea and a rusk or muffin by lamplight, then out while the air is still cold.

2. 2

   Morning drive · three to four hours

   Ranger at the wheel, tracker up front

   The hours when cats are moving and birds are loudest. Somewhere along the way the vehicle stops for coffee in the open.

3. 3

   Late morning

   Brunch at the lodge

   A proper sit-down meal, then the hot middle of the day is yours: sleep, read, swim, or book a massage.

4. 4

   Mid-afternoon

   Tea and a briefing

   Something light to eat while the guides compare notes on tracks and sightings.

5. 5

   Afternoon drive

   Into the evening

   Drinks are poured at sunset wherever you happen to be; the drive back is by spotlight, looking for eyes in the dark.

6. 6

   Dinner

   Around a fire

   Often outdoors in a boma or on the deck, with the day's stories retold.

At the Ngorongoro the pattern is different: one long descent into the crater, with breakfast or lunch packed, and the afternoon back on the rim. Park rules limit how long vehicles may stay on the crater floor.

Hunters coined the term 'Big Five' for the animals most dangerous to pursue on foot. Now it is a wish list for cameras, and it is a useful starting point, not the whole story.

• Lion: both areas are known for them. In the Ngorongoro they often rest in the open near the swamps; in the Kruger they are easiest to find early and late.
• Leopard: the hardest of the five. Look up into riverine trees, and trust your tracker.
• Elephant: breeding herds in the Kruger, especially near water in the dry months; in the crater, mostly old bulls with heavy tusks.
• Buffalo: big herds on open ground, and old males, called dagga boys, wallowing alone in mud.
• Rhino: under heavy poaching pressure across Africa. The Ngorongoro is one of the better places in East Africa to see black rhino, and guides everywhere keep locations quiet.

Beyond the five, watch for hippos and Nile crocodiles in the N'wanetsi and other rivers, wild dogs if you are lucky, spotted hyena, and the crater's wildebeest, zebra and flamingos on the soda lake. You will not see giraffe on the crater floor; they live outside on the gentler slopes. Birders can expect a long list in both places.

Kruger: dry season, roughly May to October

Winter in the south. The bush thins, water holes shrink and animals are easier to find. Mornings in an open vehicle can be close to freezing, so bring a warm layer, a hat and gloves. By late September the heat is building.

Kruger: green season, roughly November to April

Rain brings the bush back, impala and other antelope drop their young in early summer, and migrant birds return. Thicker cover makes sightings harder, but the landscape is lovely, storms are spectacular and rates are often lower.

Ngorongoro

June to October is dry and clear, and cold on the rim, which sits well over 2,000 meters; mist often fills the crater at dawn. The long rains fall around March to May, and shorter rains around November. The crater holds animals all year, since most of them do not migrate.

Cape Town and Marrakech

Cape Town has a Mediterranean pattern: warm, dry and windy from November to March, with green, rainy winters. Marrakech is best in spring and autumn; summer afternoons often pass 38°C, and winter brings sunny days, cold nights and snow on the High Atlas.

South Africa: Iberia flies Madrid to Johannesburg nonstop overnight, about ten hours, on several days a week; other carriers connect through European or Gulf hubs. From Johannesburg, scheduled flights reach Skukuza inside the park or Kruger Mpumalanga near Mbombela, and charters can land at the lodge's own airstrip. Cape Town is a two-hour domestic flight.

Tanzania: there is no nonstop from Spain. Most travelers reach Kilimanjaro via Doha, Istanbul, Addis Ababa or Amsterdam, then drive to the crater or hop on a light aircraft to Lake Manyara.

Morocco: several airlines fly Madrid to Marrakech nonstop in under two hours, and there are direct routes from other Spanish cities too.

Bags: light aircraft need soft bags and enforce weight limits, commonly about 15 to 20 kg each, hand luggage included. Ask your lodge for its exact rule.

1. 1

   Kruger · 4 nights at Singita Lebombo

   Overnight from Madrid to Johannesburg, then fly on to Skukuza or the airstrip

   Start with the bush while you are still on European time; dawn starts feel easier. Two drives a day and one walk with an armed guide.

2. 2

   Cape Town · 4 nights at Belmond Mount Nelson

   Fly to Cape Town · about 2h 30m

   Table Mountain on the first clear morning, Kirstenbosch, the drive to Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders Beach.

3. 3

   Winelands · 2 nights

   Drive about 1h

   Franschhoek or Stellenbosch for long lunches among the vineyards, then back to Cape Town for the flight home via Johannesburg or a European hub.

Prefer East Africa? Swap the Kruger for three nights on the Ngorongoro rim and add the Serengeti, which sits just beyond it. And Marrakech needs no route at all: three nights at La Mamounia make a complete trip from Spain.

In the vehicle

• Stay put: do not stand up or lean out at a sighting. Animals accept the vehicle as one large shape; a person stepping off breaks that.
• Low voices: whisper, switch phones to silent and do what your guide says, at once.
• Colors: khaki, green and brown blend in; white glares and dark blue attracts tsetse flies in parts of Tanzania.
• No drones: they are banned in national parks and conservation areas.

Tipping

Guides and trackers are usually tipped directly at the end of a stay, and a separate envelope goes to the wider staff. Lodges will tell you current norms if you ask; there is no shame in asking.

Health

• Malaria: the Kruger lowveld and much of northern Tanzania carry a risk. Book a travel clinic appointment six to eight weeks before departure.
• Yellow fever: Tanzania and South Africa may ask for a certificate if you arrive from, or have transited through, a country with risk. Check before you route via East Africa.
• Plastic bags: Tanzania bans them; leave plastic carrier bags at home and pack shopping and laundry in fabric bags.

Morocco

• Bargaining: part of shopping in the souks. Smile, take your time, and walk on politely if the price does not suit.
• Mosques: generally closed to non-Muslims, including the Koutoubia; enjoy them from the outside.
• Clothing: in the medina, covered shoulders and knees are respectful for everyone.
• Ramadan: hotels keep their usual service, though it is polite not to eat, drink or smoke in the street between dawn and sunset.