African Safari Costs

seeing a rhino on a Namibia safari — Safari experiences are hard to quantify

getting close to a lion on the best luxury African safari — It’s how close you get

Guide to African safari costs told by elephants — Don’t see it all from behind

an elephant leans over the vehicle on a Ngorongoro Crater safari — Stare the giants in the face

Like most travel experiences an African safari costs as much as you are willing to pay. There is the relatively cheap and slightly cheerful, all the way through to a private vacation in the heart of Africa’s wildlife theater.

The best African safari for you will be dictated by budget. Just remember that Africa is Africa – there is nowhere else in the world like it, chance to go eye to eye with the greatest mammals to occupy our planet. And not just one or a few. Many many thousands of wild animals in a theater that never ends. Safari is an unfiltered connection with the greatest wildernesses on earth – how much is that worth to you?

BUDGET

Indicative cost – From $150 per person per day, excluding just about everything.
Destination – small and fenced private game reserves or national parks.
Program – group itinerary, typically with every seat in a large vehicle taken. Sometimes in a bus with 24+ seats. Daytime game drives on the main trails only.
Camps / Lodges – the cheapest available, located outside a national park or wildlife area. Or public camp sites.
Guiding – one guide per vehicle; this guide is also the driver.
Extras – none.

Understanding African Safari Costs

No travel experience rivals a safari. Of course we are a little biased, after being in the safari business for 25 years. In that time we can count on one hand the number of times somebody has said that safari isn’t the best travel experience they have ever had. We’re talking about luxury safari here, the kind that gives you immersive access to the wildernesses that baffle the imagination. Not luxury in terms of opulence and decadence, but premium locations offering truly authentic experiences.

Exploring the wilderness and enjoying such a once in a lifetime experience is never going to be cheap, even if the idea of Africa can conjure images of economical travel. Many people gawk at African safari costs, especially when comparing the vacation with other adventurous destinations in Asia or Latin America.

While you can easily compare hotel rooms and find one that matches your comfort level and budget, it’s much harder to realize the differences in quality between safaris of vastly disparate costs.

Four factors are an essential starting point in understanding why an African safari is never a budget-price experience. These are also a starting point to answering how much does an African safari cost.

COST OF AFRICAN SAFARI – FOUR ESSENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS

The inimitability of the experience – there’s nowhere else in the world you can experience wildlife like this, and this wildlife world is vanishing. You may be part of the last generation that ever gets the chance to go on safari.
The accessibility of the destinations – you’re traveling to our planet’s final frontiers, those vestiges of wilderness where wild animals still dominate and people are merely visitors; just think of the infrastructure required to make this happen.
The scale of the experience – this is not an oversized zoo or Western safari park. These wild lands dwarf many European countries and US states in size; the animals are sometimes counted in hundreds of thousands.
The world you help to preserve – a huge proportion of the money you pay goes directly towards making the preservation of Africa’s wilderness and wildlife possible. Safari has been the greatest success story for sustainable conservation.

I am not prepared to be part of a generation that lets these iconic species disappear from the wild.

-Prince William

Luxury is in the Wildlife Experience

7 TIPS FOR GETTING THE BEST VALUE SAFARI TOUR

Think about the value of the experience, not just the price.
Stay longer – With more days on safari a tour operator has more flexibility over price.
Avoid middle men – they take a commission.
Think local – African tour operators can provide better prices than tour operators in your home country.
It’s usually cheaper to book with an operator – they have access to discounted rates at lodges and camps.
Think very carefully about group tours – the experience will be worth more to you if it’s customized.
Carefully check the inclusions and exclusions – with good safaris you won’t need to pay anything else once on the ground.

With everything in travel you pay more for a better experience. A larger room, better service, more leg room, finer food, better guides, less time wasted and less stress. This is also true of an African safari. As you would expect, from budget to luxury you see a big jump in quality and all those things that make up a budget or luxury experience – African safari costs increase as the experience improves.

But isn’t a lion a lion whether you’re paying $200 or $2000 a day? How are the zebra any different if your safari costs double? Go on safari and you’ll see wildlife, whether it’s the cheapest, the most expensive, or somewhere in between. But it’s also true that a lion is still a lion when you see it in a zoo, right? It’s how you experience that wildlife that makes all the difference. And with an authentic safari you experience that lion in its own habitat, living, prowling, hunting, quarreling with rivals and everything else.

The quality of a safari is not simply differentiated by human comfort levels. More expensive safaris provide a better wildlife experience. When an African safari costs more it almost always has a heightened connection with the wild.

EIGHT FACTORS DICTATE HOW MUCH AN AFRICAN SAFARI COSTS

Location –the best camps and lodges are located in areas with the greatest wildlife abundance. That means the safari continues 24 hours a day. Cheaper safaris tend to use camps that are positioned outside national parks and desirable concessions.
Intimacy – you’re able to get closer to the animals in private concessions as these permit off-road driving and extras like game walks. This makes a huge difference when encountering elusive species like leopard, and when getting close to dramatic battles between predator and prey.
Customization – the best safaris include a wide variety of activities, not just game drives. Each activity provides a fresh impression, engrossing you in details and subtleties. Tailoring the program to your aspitations and preferences creates a wildlife experience most suited to you.
Exclusivity – it’s not a good safari when 15 safari vehicles crowd around one lion pride. The best safaris explore restricted areas that limit both the number of visitors and the number of vehicles per sighting (usually a maximum of two at one time). The wilderness can become your own safari playground.
Understanding – the quality of the guiding is an important consideration anywhere you travel; it’s imperative when exploring a wild and unscripted landscape. The better the guides the more you will get to see, from sought-after species to revered scenes. And like any profession, the best professionals move up the ranks to work at the best paying companies.
Abundance – A lion is a lion but it’s better to see two. And not just lions but two prides, stalking their prey and devouring carcasses. More expensive safaris transport you to the places of greatest wildlife abundance. Then they keep you there.
Wildness – there are two categories of wild wildlife. The best destinations are those where the wildlife world is completely uninhibited by human involvement. So no fences and no artificial influence, just the wilderness as it always has been, with animals coming and going as they please. Cheap game reserves are very different to this; the wildlife is in what looks like its natural habitat but wildlife movement and behavior and numbers are managed. For example, animals are sold and lions are hand fed.
Privacy – safaris can only be at a budget price when the experience is shared with a group. Like many travel experiences, paying more will elevate the privacy you are able to enjoy.

An Indicative Guide to African Safari Tour Cost

This guide is written with reference to the premier four countries for an African safari: Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa and Botswana. Other countries tend to be cheaper but are unable to offer the diversity and abundance of wildlife that Africa is famous for. Instead, they provide a more varied program of activities at relatively inexpensive prices – African safari costs less in other African countries but the experience isn’t as good. Other than a handful of exceptions – Namibia’s Etosha, Zambia’s Luangwa, Zimbabwe’s Hwange – it’s the four famous countries that offer the animal-rich wildernesses that makes safari such a once in a lifetime.

MID-RANGE

Indicative cost – From $300 per person per day (check carefully for what is and isn’t included)
Destination – national parks and national reserves.
Program – group itinerary and fixed program. Revolves around daytime game drives but could have another short activity as well. Large safari vehicles, 8 – 15 in a vehicle. All drives on the road. No walking safaris or other activities.
Camps / Lodges – basic camps and lodges not in prime wildlife zones, marginal areas on the fringes of where wildlife lives.
Guiding – one guide and driver per vehicle.
Extras – none.

AFFORDABLE LUXURY

Indicative cost – From $800 per person per day, excluding flights (some cheaper deals in green season).
Destination – private concessions with excursions to national parks. Drives go off the trail and take you closer to the wildlife. Very few restrictions about what you can do.
Program – could be a personalized program of activities or a set safari program that incorporates a variety of activities. Each activity shared with other guests. Starting to go off road on game drives.
Camps / Lodges – comfortable accommodation in wildlife-rich areas. Or classically luxurious accommodation in locations with less animals.
Guiding – usually two guides, or a guide plus driver for each activity.
Extras – There’s always something to enhance the experience.

HIGH-END LUXURY

Indicative cost – From $1200 per person per day, excluding flights.
Destination – the best private concessions, with flexible access to national parks and neighboring concessions. Off-trail driving, nighttime exploration, customized walks, complete possibility.
Program – highly customizable, choosing from a variety of options. Activities shared with other guests but strict limit on numbers (typically four or six).
Camps / Lodges – luxurious accommodation in wildlife-rich locations.
Guiding – usually two guides for each activity, plus dedicated staff to help tailor your experience.
Extras – A luxury high-end safari is all about the little surprises and extras. There’s an option to have an exclusive-use vehicle.

PRIVATE SAFARI

Indicative cost – From $1200 per person per day, excluding flights (dependent on group size)
Destination – the best private concessions, with flexible access to national parks and neighboring concessions.
Program – Completely private activities. Not just the choice of activities but every moment of every activity, incorporating where you go and the animals you focus on. Your own guide and vehicle. Widest choice of what to do.
Camps / Lodges – Luxurious accommodation in wildlife-rich locations. Exclusive-use camps in Africa’s ultimate locations.
Guiding – Your own private guide plus specific guides to lead you on different activities.
Extras – Just about anything you can wish for or imagine.

How Much Does a Safari Cost for Families?

African safari costs for families will also fall into the categories listed above. However, traveling as a family enables you to enjoy more private and high-end luxury experiences for the same price. The larger the group or family the more sway we have in getting you higher levels of dedicated service, such as exclusive-use vehicles, private guides, special activities and flexible dining times. Most safari activities are organized for groups of four to eight people. As a couple you share with others but as a family you have enough people to make the activity private. Some camps and lodges will give your family a private guide, without you needing to pay private safari costs.

Speak to us about the costs for children going on safari. These vary enormously across different camps and lodges. In camps that allow younger children, cheaper rates usually apply for those aged under 12 that share with full paying adults.

Personalized Safaris at Small-Group Tour Rates

We appreciate that African safari costs a lot, if you want the true and authentic experience. If you are looking at a budget to mid-range safari then take a look at this Forbes article, which gives you questions to ask before booking a safari.

On this page we share costs in a completely unbiased way. At Heritage Africa we’ve spend 25 years customizing the best African safaris and we are sorry to say that some people find them too expensive. However, by skipping the middle men we can offer exceptional customized safaris, for the price of the small-group tours offered by international travel agents.

We are locally based Africa travel specialists, with 25 years skipping the middle men to speak directly with our customers. We don’t sell on your business to others and you would never pay more than if booking with a lodge directly. And we think value comes from the places and experiences we are able to give you.