16 days from the Giza pyramids to Victoria Falls by private jet. Twelve guests, a chartered aircraft, an Ongeri tour leader, and not one departure gate between Cairo and Johannesburg.
Legends of Africa is a 16 day, 15 night private jet journey through Egypt, Kenya, Zambia and South Africa for 12 guests, carried on a chartered private aircraft with an Ongeri tour leader. Guests spend 3 nights at the Four Seasons Cairo with the Giza pyramids and a private Egyptologist, 4 nights aboard Soleil cruising the Nile from Luxor to Aswan, 1 night at Hemingways Nairobi, 4 nights at Angama Mara above the Mara Triangle, and 3 nights at the Royal Livingstone at Victoria Falls, ending in Johannesburg. Four legs are flown by private jet, visas for Egypt, Kenya and Zambia are arranged and paid by Ongeri, and hot air balloons over Luxor and the Maasai Mara are both included. The journey is USD 42,000 per person sharing and is limited to 12 guests. Two departures are open for sale, 16 February to 2 March 2028 and 5 to 20 November 2028, and the whole aircraft can be chartered privately on a date of your own.
Most people see the pyramids on one trip and the Maasai Mara on another, 10 years apart. This puts them 8 days apart, with 4 nights on the Nile and Victoria Falls in between, and removes every airport queue that would normally make that impossible.
Egypt comes first, while you are fresh, because Cairo and the temples are the busiest half of the journey. Then the Nile, which is deliberately slow. Then Kenya and the Maasai Mara, and then the Zambezi, which is where a journey of this length should end rather than begin.
The leg that makes the whole thing work is Aswan to Nairobi. On a commercial routing that is a day of connections through Cairo or Addis Ababa, with an overnight somewhere nobody wants to spend one. By private jet it is an afternoon. You have dinner in Karen and you are over the Mara Triangle the next morning.
Twelve guests is a deliberate expense rather than an oversight. You board at the pace of a car, your luggage goes on with you, and an Ongeri tour leader travels with the journey from the Cairo arrival to the Johannesburg departure. A larger charter would be cheaper and it would feel like an airline.
Why we love this journey: it is the only one on our list where a guest stands under the Great Pyramid on a Monday, watches the sun come up over the Valley of the Kings from a balloon on a Thursday, and hears Victoria Falls from a hotel lawn 10 days later. Those belong to completely different Africas, and 15 nights is enough to hold all of them without rushing any.
Four of the great sights, inside one journey · The Giza pyramids, 4 nights on the Nile, the Mara Triangle from the escarpment, and the Zambezi going over the edge. Most people see 2 of those in a lifetime, 10 years apart.
Twelve guests, and nobody else · A chartered aircraft is the difference between a flight and a transfer. Boarding, luggage and arrival happen at the pace of a car rather than an airline, and an Ongeri tour leader travels with you from Cairo to Johannesburg.
The leg that makes it possible · Aswan to Nairobi is a day of connections through Cairo or Addis Ababa on a commercial routing. Here it is an afternoon, which is the single reason this is 16 days rather than 22.
Two balloons, both at dawn · One over the Valley of the Kings and the Colossi at Luxor, one over the Mara Triangle with breakfast on the plain where you land. Neither is an optional extra.
A glass wall above the Mara Triangle · Four nights at Angama Mara on the lip of the Oloololo Escarpment, with all meals and all drinks inside the rate and a picnic on the Out of Africa kopje written into the journey.
A private Egyptologist at Giza · Not a guide with a flag. We are at the Sphinx before the coaches and at Saqqara when it is quiet, at the pace of 12 people.
Arrive into Cairo, where you are met before immigration and driven to the Four Seasons in Garden City, on the east bank of the Nile. Your Ongeri tour leader is at the hotel and will have already checked both aircraft, both groups and the week ahead. Dinner is on the terrace over the river, because nobody wants a programme on the first night. The rest of the evening is yours.
An early start to Giza, which is the only way to see it properly. A private Egyptologist rather than a guide with a flag, the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx before the coaches arrive, and Saqqara and the step pyramid afterwards with lunch between them. The afternoon is unhurried and the drive back takes about 40 minutes. Dinner at the hotel.
The Grand Egyptian Museum in the morning, with the same Egyptologist, at the pace of 12 people rather than a tour group. The afternoon is open. Some guests take Coptic Cairo and the Khan el Khalili, some take the pool. We leave it alone deliberately, because tomorrow is a travel day and the Nile begins.
The first jet leg, Cairo to Luxor, which is about an hour in the air and no airport queue at either end. Karnak in the late morning and the Valley of the Kings after lunch, then aboard Soleil in the afternoon. The ship casts off in the evening and you are on the Nile by dinner.
Up before light for a hot air balloon over the west bank, across the Valley of the Kings, the Colossi of Memnon and the Ramesseum as the sun comes up over the eastern cliffs. It is the most photographed hour of the whole journey. Back aboard for a late breakfast, and the ship moves south through the afternoon.
Edfu in the morning, the best preserved temple in Egypt, then back aboard as the ship moves on to Kom Ombo for the late afternoon, which is at its best in that light. Between them, the deck. This is the one day of the journey where nothing is scheduled between breakfast and the afternoon.
The ship reaches Aswan, and Philae on its island is the last temple of the Egyptian half. The afternoon is free, with a felucca on the river for anyone who wants it. A last dinner aboard before the flight south in the morning.
The jet from Aswan to Nairobi, which is the leg that makes this journey possible. On a commercial routing it is a day of connections through Cairo or Addis Ababa. Here it is an afternoon. You are met at Jomo Kenyatta and driven to Hemingways in Karen, 20 minutes from Wilson, which is where the Maasai Mara flight leaves from in the morning.
A light aircraft from Wilson into the Mara Triangle, about 45 minutes, then 20 minutes by road up the Oloololo Escarpment. Angama sits on the lip of it, about 300 metres above the floor of the Triangle, and the first thing anyone does is stand at the glass. An afternoon game drive, then dinner on the deck.
A full day in the Mara Triangle, which is the western third of the Reserve and carries far fewer vehicles than the eastern side. Lunch is a picnic on the Out of Africa kopje, where the film was shot, set up before you arrive. Back on the escarpment for sundowners.
The second balloon of the journey, at first light over the Mara Triangle, with breakfast laid out on the plain where you land. A game drive in the afternoon, and the evening is yours. Angama arranges a Maasai blessing on the escarpment for anyone who would like one.
A long morning drive while the light is good, down into the Triangle and along the Mara river. The afternoon is open, which after 11 days is the point. The photographic studio is there if you want your pictures looked at properly before you leave.
A light aircraft back to Nairobi Wilson, then the jet to Livingstone, crossing Tanzania and Zambia in an afternoon. The Royal Livingstone stands directly on the Zambezi a few minutes walk from the falls, and the spray is visible from the terrace. A sunset cruise on the river if the timing allows it.
Through the hotel gate and along the edge before the day visitors arrive from town. The Zambian side gives you the Knife Edge Bridge and, when the river is low, Livingstone Island and the Devil’s Pool. The afternoon is free for a helicopter flight, the Zimbabwean side, or the terrace.
A day that belongs to the group rather than the schedule. Canoeing above the falls, a game drive in the Mosi oa Tunya park, the Victoria Falls Bridge, or nothing at all. A final dinner on the river in the evening.
The last jet leg, Livingstone to Johannesburg, where both groups land together and the journey ends. Onward flights home from Johannesburg are the strongest on the continent, and we hold the connections for you until everyone is through.
The calmest address in a loud city, on the east bank of the Nile, 40 minutes from the pyramids and 10 from the museum.
Cairo rewards a base you are glad to come back to. The rooms look either at the river or across the rooftops to Giza, the pool is on the terrace rather than the roof, and the staff handle the city for you.
Three nights is right. One day at Giza and Saqqara with a private Egyptologist, one for the museum and the old city, and one that belongs to you before the jet leaves for Luxor.
Nile view and pyramid view rooms and suites, with a butler on the club floors.
About 40 minutes each way. We go early, with a private Egyptologist rather than a guide with a flag, and we are at the Sphinx before the coaches.
Dinner on the terrace over the river on the first night, because nobody wants a programme after a long haul flight.
Four nights from Luxor to Aswan aboard a small ship rather than a floating hotel, with a sun deck, a pool and a dining room that seats everyone at once.
The Nile is the only part of this journey that is deliberately slow. Temples in the morning while it is cool, the deck through the afternoon as the bank slides past, and a different mooring every evening.
Karnak and the Valley of the Kings before you board, then Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae on the way south, and Aswan at the end of it.
Outward facing cabins and suites with windows to the river, and a sun deck with a pool above.
A dawn flight over the west bank at Luxor, over the Valley of the Kings and the Colossi, which is the most photographed hour of the journey.
Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philae, with guides and entrance fees inside your price.
A 45 suite hotel in Karen, 20 minutes from Wilson airport, and the easiest possible night between a jet from Aswan and a light aircraft to the Mara.
Every room is a suite, every suite has a butler, and the Ngong Hills sit in the window. After a long flight down the continent that matters more than the address does.
One night only, and it is a hinge rather than a stop. Dinner, a bath and an early start for the Maasai Mara.
Junior and deluxe suites with a butler on call and a bath that looks at the Ngong Hills.
Twenty minutes to Wilson, which is where the Mara flight leaves from. A hotel in town would cost you an hour in the morning.
The Giraffe Centre and the Karen Blixen Museum are both a few minutes away.
Thirty tented suites on the lip of the Oloololo Escarpment, each one a glass wall facing the drop, with the Mara Triangle laid out below.
The view is the one people mean when they talk about Africa, and it is the reason this journey gives the Mara 4 nights rather than 3. All meals and all drinks are inside the rate here, which is rare at this level.
Game drives run in the Mara Triangle, the western third of the Reserve, which is managed separately and carries a fraction of the vehicles of the eastern side.
A full glass wall to the Triangle, a daybed in the window and a writing desk, in 2 camps of 15.
A picnic on the Out of Africa kopje, where the film was shot, which is written into this journey rather than offered as an extra.
A dawn flight over the Triangle, included. Breakfast on the plain when you land.
The Mara Triangle is National Reserve, so there is no off road driving and no night drive. What you get instead is far fewer vehicles than the eastern Reserve.
The closest hotel to Victoria Falls on the Zambian side, directly on the Zambezi, with its own gate into the falls and zebra on the lawn.
You hear the falls from the terrace before you see them. The walk to the edge takes a few minutes and you can do it at dawn, before the day visitors arrive from the town.
Three nights is right for the falls, a sunset on the river and a day that is yours. The last morning is the jet to Johannesburg.
River facing rooms along the Zambezi, in a colonial building that has not been modernised into anonymity.
Your own gate, so you walk in rather than drive. The spray reaches the lawn when the river is high.
A sunset cruise on the Zambezi, and the activities and transfers at the falls are inside your price.
Livingstone to Johannesburg by jet on the last morning, where the onward flights home are the strongest on the continent.
Two departures are open for sale, each carrying 12 guests. The price does not move between them, because the aircraft rather than the lodges sets it. What moves is availability, and a family or a group of friends taking a block of 6 or 8 closes a departure quickly.
| Departure | From |
|---|---|
16 February to 2 March 2028 Egypt at its coolest, and the Maasai Mara green and quiet
12 seats, open for sale First Departure |
USD 42,000per person sharing |
5 to 20 November 2028 The short rains in the Maasai Mara, and the Nile at its best
12 seats, open for sale |
USD 42,000per person sharing |
The price is per person sharing in United States dollars and includes 15 nights, every meal, a private jet on 4 legs, the light aircraft to the Maasai Mara, visas for Egypt, Kenya and Zambia, both hot air balloons, all sightseeing and game drives, every transfer and an Ongeri tour leader. A deposit of 30 percent is payable on confirmation and the balance 120 days before departure. The single supplement is waived for the first 6 solo travellers. Children occupy a full jet seat and are quoted on request. International flights into Cairo and home from Johannesburg are not included.
A private jet journey is quoted as one figure, which makes it hard to see what the money is doing and how the booking works. This is the price, the payment structure and the 2 things that sit outside it.
| What | 2028 figure | Who sets it, and when it applies |
|---|---|---|
| The journey price | USD 42,000 per person sharing | Sixteen days, 15 nights, all meals, both jets, both balloons, all sightseeing and game drives, every transfer and 2 tour leaders. |
| Deposit | 30 percent, USD 12,600 per person | Payable on confirmation. The aircraft is chartered for this departure rather than seats bought on one, which is why the deposit is taken at charter level. |
| Balance | Due 120 days before departure | A single payment. We send a reminder at 150 days with the final documents in draft. |
| Single supplement | Waived for the first 6 solo travellers | Beyond those 6 places a supplement applies. A solo traveller who comes forward early is taking the best value on the departure. |
| Group size | Twelve guests | The aircraft is chartered for the journey and the journey is sold for 12. When the seats are gone the departure is closed. |
| Children | On request | A child occupies a full jet seat, so the structure differs from a land only journey. We confirm it in writing before you commit. |
| International flights | Not included | Into Cairo and home from Johannesburg. We advise on routings and timings, and hold the Johannesburg connections until everyone is through. |
The price does not move with the season, because the aircraft rather than the lodges set it. What moves is availability. There are 12 seats, and a family or a group of friends taking a block of 6 or 8 closes a departure quickly.
This is the largest journey we sell, and the 2 below it are the only others at anything like its level. The addresses are of the same order throughout. What changes is how far you travel, and how you get between one place and the next.
| Journey | Shape | From, per person | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legends of Africa, by private jet | 15 nights, 4 countries | USD 42,000 | Egypt, Kenya and Victoria Falls, with no departure gate between them |
| Tanzania Grand Circuit, Ngorongoro, Grumeti and Mwiba | 7 nights, Tanzania | USD 30,100 | The 3 finest addresses in Tanzania, and nothing in between them |
| Ultra Luxury Rwanda, the Maasai Mara and Zanzibar | 12 nights, 3 countries | USD 29,900 | Gorillas at Bisate, Mara Plains, then Mnemba Island |
| Our private jet journeys | Built to order | On request | A jet for your own party, on your own route |
Each of these can be reshaped around your own dates and your own party. The full set sits on our multi country safaris and private jet journeys pages.
Egypt, Kenya and Zambia are arranged and paid by Ongeri before you travel, so there is nothing to do on arrival in any of the 3. A South African transit visa is not included, and some nationalities need one for the Johannesburg finish. We check every passport at the time of booking and tell you in writing.
A certificate is required for entry to Kenya and Zambia if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present, and this journey arrives in both from Egypt. Carry it.
The private jets are generous. The light aircraft to the Maasai Mara are not, at a limited soft sided allowance per person. Anything you do not need in the Mara is held in Nairobi and returned to you before the Livingstone leg, which we organise rather than leaving to you.
Four travel days out of 16, and none of them is a full day. The Nile and the Maasai Mara are both 4 nights, which is what stops this feeling like a tour.
Egypt is hot and dry and best in the cooler half of the year. The Maasai Mara runs between about 12 and 28 degrees all year. Victoria Falls is at its fullest between February and June and at its clearest between September and November, when you see more rock and less spray.
Antimalarials are advised for Kenya and Zambia and are not needed in Egypt. Nowhere on this journey is at altitude in a way that affects anybody.
An Ongeri tour leader, from the Cairo arrival to the Johannesburg departure. Local guides and a private Egyptologist join in each country.
Personal travel insurance is a condition of travel and must cover medical repatriation. Rescue.co medical evacuation cover is included and does not replace it.
From USD 42,000 per person sharing for the full 16 days. That carries 15 nights, every meal, a private jet on 4 legs, the light aircraft to the Maasai Mara, visas for Egypt, Kenya and Zambia, both hot air balloons, all sightseeing and game drives, every transfer and an Ongeri tour leader. International flights into Cairo and home from Johannesburg are not included.
There are 2 departures open for sale. The first runs 16 February to 2 March 2028, when Egypt is at its coolest and the Maasai Mara is green and quiet. The second runs 5 to 20 November 2028, during the short rains in the Maasai Mara and the finest stretch of the year on the Nile. Both carry 12 guests at USD 42,000 per person sharing, and a private charter can be arranged on any date you choose.
Sixteen days and 15 nights across 4 countries. Egypt for 7 nights, between Cairo and the Nile. Kenya for 5 nights, 1 in Nairobi and 4 in the Maasai Mara. Zambia for 3 nights at Victoria Falls. The journey then ends in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Twelve. The aircraft is chartered for the journey and the journey is sold for 12 guests, so it never becomes a coach party and nobody waits on a bus.
Four. Cairo to Luxor, Aswan to Nairobi, Nairobi to Livingstone, and Livingstone to Johannesburg. Light aircraft also carry guests from Nairobi Wilson to the Maasai Mara and back, which replaces a road transfer of about 6 hours each way. About 7,090 kilometres are flown in total.
Because a chartered aircraft is the difference between a flight and a transfer, and 12 is the number at which it stays one. Boarding, luggage and arrival all run at the pace of a car rather than an airline, every vehicle and every table seats the whole party, and no morning is spent waiting for anybody.
A deposit of 30 percent on confirmation, which is USD 12,600 per person, with the balance due 120 days before departure. The aircraft is chartered for the departure rather than seats bought on one, which is why the deposit sits at charter level.
The single supplement is waived for the first 6 solo travellers on the departure. Beyond those 6 places a supplement applies, so a solo traveller who comes forward early is taking the best value on the journey.
Four Seasons Cairo for 3 nights, the Soleil on the Nile from Luxor to Aswan for 4 nights, Hemingways Nairobi for 1 night, Angama Mara above the Mara Triangle for 4 nights, and the Royal Livingstone at Victoria Falls for 3 nights.
Yes. Visas for Egypt, Kenya and Zambia are arranged and paid for by Ongeri before you travel. A South African transit visa is not included, and some nationalities need one for the Johannesburg finish. We check every passport at the time of booking.
Both of them. A dawn flight over the west bank at Luxor, across the Valley of the Kings and the Colossi, and a dawn flight over the Mara Triangle with breakfast on the plain where you land. Neither is an optional extra.
Yes. The departure is sold by the seat rather than by the aircraft, so couples, families and solo travellers all travel on the same departure of 12. If a family or a group of friends wants the whole journey to itself, that is exactly 12 seats and we arrange it on request.
That depends entirely on the departure month. The herds are in the Maasai Mara between roughly July and October, and the Mara Triangle carries river crossings on its eastern boundary in those months. Outside them the resident lion, leopard and cheetah of the Triangle are all still there. Tell us which matters more and we will advise on the date.
Very little, and nothing is compulsory. Giza, the temples and the falls each involve some walking on uneven ground, and the Knife Edge Bridge at Victoria Falls gets wet when the river is high. Everything else is from a vehicle, a boat or a balloon basket.
October to April suits Egypt best, when Cairo and Luxor are comfortable rather than hot. The Maasai Mara is good all year. Victoria Falls is at its fullest between February and June and at its clearest between September and November. If we are choosing, late October or February balances all 3.
Yes, and it is the version we most enjoy arranging. Twelve seats is exactly one family, one set of friends or one company, so the journey can be chartered for a single party on a date of your own rather than one of the 2 scheduled departures. The route, the properties and the pace all move to suit you. Tell us the number of travellers and the month and we will quote it.
Two departures are open, 16 February 2028 and 5 November 2028, each carrying 12 guests. Tell us which one suits and how many of you there are, and your Safari Advisor will reply within 24 hours with availability, a hold on the seats and the full booking terms. If you would rather have the aircraft to yourselves on a date of your own, say so and we will quote the charter instead.
Our largest journeys, in the same order of camp and the same order of service. None of them charters an aircraft, and each can be reshaped around your own dates.
