Six nights at one Mara conservancy. Tibro had insisted, against my instinct to camp-hop. And on the morning of day five we saw a leopard kill, a cheetah hunt, and the first wildebeest crossing of the season in a single drive. Five days in, the lead guide knew which pride we had not yet seen and routed accordingly. Then four nights in Lamu on a dhow that brought breakfast. The trip we will be remembering for years.

We were not migration-trip people; Hilary routed us through Laikipia instead. Two nights at Ol Pejeta seeing the last two northern white rhinos. Two nights at Lewa's first runner. Three nights at Amboseli for the elephants. No checklist, no rush. The lodge in Amboseli had a hammock that faced Kilimanjaro and we did very little for two days.

Tibro and Hilary moved heaven and earth to get us on a balloon the morning of the second-largest crossing of the season. The balloon was over the Mara River when 4,000 wildebeest came across; the pilot held altitude and told us to be quiet. Five minutes that paid for the trip three times over.