Planning your African Safari

Planning an African Safari can seem like a daunting task. It's relatively expensive, almost halfway around the globe (for most of us in the Western Hemisphere), and there are a lot of potential countries and lodging/touring options to research. Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

Step 1 - Set your budget. Your budget will help set ranges for several key planning choices. The two biggest planning variables are: 1) length of trip, and 2) choice of accommodation(s). You can make lodging choices on a scale from rustic tent camps to well appointed villas to high-end, luxury wildlife resorts. In the end, you mix and match the length of trip with the number of destinations, and individual lodging choices to build the initial framework for your safari.

The Great Migration in the Serengeti (Tanzania) and Masai Mara (Kenya)

Step 2 - Decide what you want to see. This may sound to some like a silly or obvious question. But it is actually quite important. Does your vision of the quintessential African Safari include watching an epic river crossing by the wildebeest and zebra herds? Maybe you have always dreamt of seeing mountain gorillas or chimpanzees in their diminishing natural habitat. Where are the best places to maximize your odds of spotting (and/or photographing) the Big Five?

Beyond wildlife, perhaps you want to see where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 28 years, or visit Victoria Falls, or tour the Stellenbosch wine region. These choices will significantly impact your trip routing, duration and choice of countries visited.

The highly endangered Black Rhino - one of the Big Five

Step 3 - Determine when you can travel. After you set your budget, and decide what you want to see and do, the final key piece of the puzzle is incorporating when you want to travel. Understand this can also become an iterative part of the planning process - for example, if you absolutely must see the Great Migration you will need to be flexible (and available) to travel during a specific time period.

Step 4 - Select the right travel planner. Invariably, when you ultimately decide to plan your African Safari there will be no shortage of options available to you - from your friends or family who went a few years back, to any number of travel professionals and companies popping up after a basic Google search. My greatest piece of advice is to make this trip your own. It is a big investment, and can truly be the trip of a lifetime, so don't rush into your selection when it comes to finding the perfect travel planner for you and your family. My wife and I chose a planner who specializes in custom safaris when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in Africa, and it was one of the best travel choices we ever made!

Luxurious tent camp accommodations in the Serengeti

Budget versus Custom Safaris

A budget safari is traditionally one with a pre-set itinerary, typically shorter in duration, and may offer very few choices or options to meet your specific needs. Budget options obviously tend to be less expensive, but can also lock the traveler into a fixed itinerary with little to no opportunity to deviate from a rigid schedule.

A custom safari is just that - a flexible itinerary allowing anywhere from several options for customization to a trip built completely from the ground up to meet individual budget, itinerary, lodging and other travel needs.

Majestic herds of Elephant along the Zambezi river in Botswana

Custom is the Key to Customer Satisfaction!

One of our guiding principals at Your Own Daily Adventure is to maximize client input into the trip planning and customization process. A trip to the African continent is life changing in many ways. I hope this BLOG proves helpful as you begin to navigate the plethora of choices to make. Check out our African Safari with optional Stellenbosch wine tour here, and don't hesitate to contact us to customize your very own African Safari.

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