FASTKAT (Family Safari To Kenya And Tanzania) is designed for grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles & kids to join up and share a profoundly memorable experience in Kenya's Masai-Mara National Reserve and Tanzania's Mt. Meru National Park. Every August, driven by their search for nutritious forage, Planet Earth's largest migration of wild animals masses in the northern reaches of the Serengeti along the Kenya-Tanzania border. Tens of thousands of wildebeest and zebra pour across the Mara River, running a gauntlet of crocodilian predators. Elsewhere in the Reserve elephants amble through the bush, leopards loll on tree branches and other members of Africa's Big Five (Cape buffalo, lion and rhino) conduct their daily routines. Group members rendezvous in Nairobi and head overland to "Little Governor's", our comfortable safari camp close to the Mara River in Kenya's Masai-Mara Reserve, a perfect venue for the greatest animal show on earth. After a hot-air balloon ride over the vast herds, FASTKAT (Trip Leg #1) finishes up with several splendid days on the flanks of Mt. Meru in northern Tanzania. Here, guided day hikes with armed ranger offer views of Mt. Kikimanjaro and abundant wildlife.

Leg #2 group members rendezvous in Maun, Botswana's safari center and jumping off place for adventures in the Okavango Delta. Rising in the mountains of Angola to the north, the Okavango River swells in the summer (January-February) rains and floods into Botswana, peaking during the winter months of July and August and eventually disappearing into the sands of the Kalahari Desert. We base at a safari camp deep in the Delta and make day trips by pirogue, 4WDs and on foot through the maze of wildlife-rich channels and islands. Hippos, lechwe, hyena, the Big Five, giraffe, wild dogs and Nile crocs populate the Delta. Continue on to Capetown to explore one of the world's most beautiful cities, the great Cape Province wine estates in the surrounding countryside, and the pristine natural attractions of the Cederberg Reserve 300 km north of Capetown. Accommodations are in 4-star safari camps and picturesque lodges.

• The teeming herds of wildebeest that surge across the Serengeti;
  
  
• The Big Five and their dramatic presence in the Masai-Mara Reserve;
  
  
• The wildlife spectacle as seen from above in a hot-air balloon;
  
  
• The probable stroll of an elephant through the middle of Little Governor's camp;
  
  
• Sundowner libations around a blazing campfire, and the stories told by the native guides;
  
  
• Jump-dancing Masai men and brightly-beaded Masai women chanting accompaniment;
  
  
• Wildlife observed in the darkness of night, illuminated by beams of powerful light;
  
  
• The extraordinary habitats that constitute the Okavango Delta;
  
  
• Paddling a piroque past hippos in the Okavango Delta;
  
  
• Capetown and its waterfront and mountain aesthetics;
  
  
• Centuries-old Cape Province wine estates and their superb wines;
  
  
• The unspoiled nature of South Africa's Cederberg Reserve