Holiday types · Safari
Safari holidays
The most expensive week most people ever book, and the one they talk about for the rest of their lives. Understanding where the money goes makes it far easier to spend well.
The most expensive week most people ever book, and the one they talk about for the rest of their lives. Understanding where the money goes makes it far easier to spend well.
This is the thing that surprises people most about safari pricing.
Tanzania's park fees alone run to around $70 per person per day before anything else. Camps inside the reserves are supplied by road or air, run on generators, and host twenty guests rather than two hundred. That's why a modest tented camp in the Serengeti costs more than a smart hotel in Cape Town. Where paying up genuinely changes the experience is the type of reserve: private concessions allow off-road driving and cap vehicle numbers, which is why the sightings are better. Luxury linen doesn't move an animal.
Ordered by what people usually want from a first safari.
City, wine and Big Five with almost no jet lag. The best first safari.
The migration, then an island to recover on. The most memorable combination.
Kruger, private reserves, and malaria-free options in the Eastern Cape.
Serengeti, Ngorongoro and Tarangire. The classic northern circuit.
Leopards at Yala and elephants at Minneriya, at a fraction of African prices.
Ranthambore for tigers, two nights between Agra and Jaipur.
Add Ranthambore to the classic north India route.
Not a safari — but the natural beach half if you're adding one.
Leopards, tea hills and ruins, with a Gulf stopover.
July to September for the Mara River crossings in the northern Serengeti; January and February for calving in the south. Both are extraordinary and neither is guaranteed.
From about six at many camps, and the Eastern Cape's malaria-free reserves are the easiest option. Under that, most camps won't take them.
Park fees, remote logistics and very low guest numbers. It isn't hotel luxury you're paying for, which is why upgrading the lodge matters less than choosing the right reserve.
That's how we book most of them. Zanzibar after Tanzania, or Mauritius after South Africa. Safari is tiring and the beach half is the recovery.
The conservancy matters more than the lodge. Spend there first.
Elephants under Kilimanjaro, then five nights in the Mara.
Mara and Serengeti as one ecosystem, timed to the migration.
Safari first, beach second. Never the reverse.
No jet lag, and the best-value safari continent-wide.
Private concessions, so a leopard sighting is your vehicle alone.
One hour with mountain gorillas. Buy the second permit.
Guide prices, per person, based on two sharing, including return flights, accommodation and transfers where stated. They indicate what a holiday of this type has typically cost and are not an offer or a quotation. Your price depends on dates, party, board basis, departure airport and availability, and is confirmed in writing before any payment is taken.
Ready-built and fully reshapeable around your dates.
11 nights · Jun–Aug, Dec–Feb · from £4,899pp
14 nights · May–Oct · from £3,299pp
13 nights · Jul–Oct, Jan–Feb · from £4,299pp
10 nights · Jun–Oct, Jan–Feb · from £2,899pp
12 nights · May–Oct · from £6,499pp
12 nights · Jun–Oct, Jan–Feb · from £3,399pp
12 nights · Jul–Oct · from £3,099pp
11 nights · Apr, Oct · from £2,699pp
No forms with twenty fields. Send us the rough shape and we'll come back within one working day with real options and real prices.