🦁 How Much Does a Safari Cost?
💡 A Detailed Break-down & Our Honest Advice
If you’re mulling over the possibility of booking a safari 🦓, one of the first questions that comes to mind will probably relate to cost. Safaris are usually seen as extravagantly exotic holidays that surely cost the earth 🌍 – dreamy, bucket list excursions that must remain just that – a dream – because of the enormous price.
While it’s not difficult to find safaris that cost the equivalent of a year’s worth of mortgage payments 💸, assuming that this is the case for all safaris means you could be missing out on one of the greatest experiences of your life.
Calculating a safari can be a little complicated 🧮, but rest assured, we have something for all budgets. Whether you’re looking for a specifically tailored experience that includes high-end hotels and campsites 🏕️, or a bare-bones budget option where you couldn’t care less where you’re staying as long as you see some of Africa’s greatest animals 🐘🦒, Green Origin Tour Safaris has you covered.
What are my safari options? 🤔
Before we dive into the complicated world of cost breakdown, let’s begin with two options, because whichever path you choose will generally have a huge bearing on the overall cost.
Option 1 – Set Departure Safaris 📆🧳
Our Set Departure Safaris are pre-planned, small group safaris that begin and end on certain dates. We can broadly refer to these as package deals because we give you a single price and an itinerary to accompany it.
This is an excellent option for those who want to share logistical costs with other like-minded travelers, which keeps overall prices lower than tailored options. If you’re leaning more towards the budget option and want to have a fixed price from the very get-go 💰, this will probably be the best option for you.
Set Departure Safaris are also great for those travelling alone 🧍 because there is always an excellent level of camaraderie between those on our safaris, and it’s a great way to make friends with people who share similar interests 🧭.
Option 2 – Tailor-Made Safaris ✍️🌄
As you’ll probably guess, our tailor-made safaris offer a much more flexible experience that can be personalized to your own wants and needs. We will work with you, either over email, Skype, or Zoom 💻, to create the perfect safari for you and your group, while also taking into account accommodation preferences, travel style, budget, expectations, previous travels, preferred dates of travel, and interests.
This option makes giving a single price a little more difficult because there are numerous factors at play, but once we’ve gone through your preferences and discussed what you want to do on safari, we’ll be able to crunch the numbers and come back to you with a figure 🔍.
What factors can influence the price? 📊
While your budget level and choice of tailored or set will affect the price of your safari, there are a few other factors that can influence the cost.
When do you want to travel? ☀️🌧️
This is probably the most significant factor that can affect the cost of a safari. While Africa enjoys excellent weather for much of the year, safari destinations are typically seasonal.
The rainy season is also described as the green season, off-season, and secret season 🌿, which probably gives you a good idea about visitor numbers. This period typically sees plenty of rain – though often at relatively set periods in the day – higher temperatures 🌡️, fewer people, and lower prices.
The dry season, often referred to as peak season, sees greater numbers and high prices to go along with the drier weather 🌤️.
It’s important to be realistic about why these two very different tourist periods exist. During the dry season, you are much more likely to have warm dry days where you can sit in the back of a vehicle 🚙 and watch the animals to your heart’s content. Whereas the rainy season can be a real mixed bag, and you can bet you’ll need your waterproofs at numerous points 🌧️.
But the trade-off for the wet weather usually means much lower prices in the rainy season.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that not all destinations are year-round and some locations become almost inaccessible during the rainy season due to the weather.
Where do you want to go? 🗺️
When you start planning a safari, something you’ll quickly learn is the differences in pricing depending on country or region. A Gorilla trekking safari at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park 🦍 is priced much differently than a safari in the Kidepo National Park, the Murchison Falls National Park 🌊, or Maasai Mara.
This can be down to popularity and general costs within certain countries, but may also reflect different tourist models. Most East African nations have chosen the opposite model, in which more tourists are welcomed but on a lower budget.
If you don’t know where you want to go, but you do have a set budget and period of travel – we will be able to advise you on the destination where your money will be best spent 💡.
What level of accommodation do you want? 🏨⛺
You probably won’t be shocked to hear that the cost of a small ground tent is in a different world to the presidential suite at a 5-star safari lodge 🌟.
There are several basic categories to go on:
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Camping safaris (small tents set up temporarily) ⛺
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Budget safari camps (you don’t care much where you stay) 💼
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Comfortable safari camps (decent accommodation) 😊
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Mid-range safari camps (good value) 👍
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Luxury safari camps 💎
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Top-end safari camps (best of the best) 👑
How many people are going on safari? 👨👩👧👦
You’ll notice that there is often quite a big price disparity between a single traveller, a couple, a family, and a group of friends. Generally speaking, prices become lower the more people are involved, as this means you can share logistical costs 🚐, such as transfers, vehicle, and driver/guide rates, which is particularly true in vehicle-based safaris in East Africa.
Your sleeping arrangements can also have a considerable impact on cost. For example, four friends travelling together who each need their own room will pay more than two couples with two rooms 🛏️. But conversely, if those four friends were to share a room, the cost would be lower 🧾.
