A troop of new Intrepid trips and experiences for 2026 aim to sweep you off to the continent’s showstopper sights via all creatures great and small.
When you think of Africa, it’s the big things that grab your attention. The Lion King-like landscapes that harbour a cast of giant creatures, from wizened bamboo-chewing gorillas to towers of giddy giraffes gambolling home after one too many drinks at the watering hole. But the true lure of this blockbuster continent lies in the small things. Tiny tracks tracing along a mysterious trail. Knickerbocker-glory-esque termite mounds hiding a million busy creatures. The subtle smell of wild sage in the air on safari drives. So yes, of course, Intrepid’s new adventures for 2026 go big. But it’s the small things that’ll stay with you long after the backpack gets home.
1. Fall hard for offbeat Sierra Leone
In rom-com terms, Sierra Leone is the quirky best friend. Offbeat, but all the more intriguing for it. On the new Sierra Leone Adventure, you’ll travel by boat along the Moa River to UNESCO-crowned Tiwai Island to discover a conservation stronghold cut off from the mainland where cute-as-kittens pygmy hippos roam. You’ll also visit the village of Boma to meet trailblazing fourth-generation female chief, Kadie, who comes from a long line of matriarchs, and have your affections further swayed with beach time on the Banana Islands.
2. May the force be with you in Tunisia
Creative souls in search of new skills will find themselves spoilt for choice on the new nine-day Premium Tunisia trip. First, there’s a calligraphy class with a master in his Tunis studio. Then there’ll be a makroudh pastry-making demo in the inland desert city of Kairouan and a spot of date harvesting in the tree-plotted oasis of Tozeur. But the real clincher comes with a family lunch in a traditional troglodyte home in Matmata – famous for being the filming location of Luke Skywalker’s crib in Star Wars – where (in our imaginations at least) you’ll spend much time perfecting your lightsaber moves amid the village’s otherworldly streets.
Read more: Meet Sierra Leone’s trailblazing female chief
3. Bed down beneath the stars in Botswana
Camping is never going to be the same after the Botswana Family Safari Comfort trip – an eight-day adventure that’s sure to ruin all other nights under canvas as you head into the Makgadikgadi salt pans to bed down on plush roll-out mattresses. Sleep will no doubt come easily after a day spent meeting a resident meerkat colony before a guide-cooked BBQ dinner amid the crystalline surface of one of the world’s largest salt flats. Basket-weaving and boat cruises in the Okavango Delta promise to further up the ante for all future family holidays. You’ve been warned.
4. School them African-style in Kenya and Tanzania
Next time your kids willfully refuse to listen to you, maybe try talking to them in ‘clicks’. Naturally, they will have mastered the language in full having visited the Hadzabe community of Tanzania on the East Africa Family Safari Comfort trip. So why not add a novel spin to asking them to pick up their dirty socks for the 15th time? On this ten-day adventure which visits both Tanzania and Kenya, they’ll also meet Maasai warriors for a lesson in generational respect as well as tick off some of Africa’s all-star landscapes, including the Ngorongoro Crater and the Maasai Mara, hopefully leaving them speechless.
5. Hike to new heights in Morocco
Fan of hiking, but don’t want to compromise on creature comforts? Intrepid’s new Premium trekking trips take you to wild places, but throw in a few luxuries too. Such as the Premium Hiking and Trekking in Morocco adventure, where off-grid days spent assailing the Atlas peaks and meeting Amazigh locals in small mountain villages, are bookended with two nights at the Riad La Cle D’or – an atmospheric courtyard-hugging stay in the heart of Marrakech’s medina, with a spa, hammam, pool and rooftop breakfast terrace. (Your adventure friends need never know).
6. Go ape in Uganda’s great wildernesses
If you want to share nine days in Africa with a like-minded age group, then the new 18 to 35s Essential Uganda and Gorilla Trek is calling to you through the canopy. You’ll trek to meet chimpanzees in Kibale Forest National Park and stay in riverside tents in Jinja, where there’s a chance to go white-water rafting down the Nile. But it’s your time in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, hiking through rugged mountain terrain to meet rare gorillas, that’ll leave you bonded with your new travel troop for life. Spy silverbacks asserting their dominance, mothers grooming their young and juveniles feasting on bamboo-based picnics.
Read more: See the sights of Kenya by rail
7. Make tracks through Kenya’s national parks
See Africa’s wildlife ticker-tape past your window on the new Kenya by Rail trip. Travelling the local way, you’ll hop aboard railways such as the Madaraka Express ‘Safari Train’, which connects east and west Tsavo, and is steeped in local folklore after 2500 workers were eaten by lions and other wildlife during the line’s creation. Once you’ve given yourself a stern pep talk, you’ll disembark into the oldest and largest national park in Kenya, to plant trees at the Taita Hills Sanctuary and go stargazing by night. A sunrise safari by hot-air balloon in Amboseli marks another high point.
8. See the sunset in style in Botswana
Sundowners are the stuff of African legend and on the Essential Botswana trip, you’ll get to experience the sacred sub-Saharan ritual thanks to the addition of a new experience for 2026. As well as safari time in Chobe National Park, Khama Rhino Sanctuary and the Okavango Delta, this trip now includes time in Gweta in the Makgadikgadi salt pans. You’ll start off the afternoon with a bush walk in the bulbous baobab forest before catching the sunset by campfire, complete with requisite drinks and snacks.
Find out what else is new for 2026 with The Goods – a collection of new trips and experiences to inspire a year of adventure.
