We should say our bias up front: every safari we run is private, so we are not neutral. But group departures are a genuinely good answer for some travellers, and pretending otherwise would not help you decide.
What does a private safari actually change?
It changes who decides. On a private trip the vehicle is yours, so when the leopard is asleep in the tree and you want to wait an hour, you wait an hour. Nobody else in the car is hungry, or bored, or filming. You set the wake-up time, you choose whether to push on or stop, and the guide is talking to you rather than to twelve people.
When is a group departure the better choice?
Three situations, in our experience.
- You are travelling alone and cost matters most. A shared vehicle splits the biggest fixed cost between more people.
- You want company. Some people travel to meet other travellers, and a group makes that easy in a way a private vehicle does not.
- You would rather not make decisions. A fixed departure is a fixed plan, and for some trips that is restful.
We do not sell scheduled group departures, so if that is what you want, we will say so rather than talk you out of it.
Is a private safari only for large budgets?
No, and this is the part people get wrong. Private describes who is in the vehicle, not how expensive the beds are. A private trip staying in simple mid-range lodges is a normal thing to book. The comfort level and the privacy are two separate dials, and you can turn them independently.
What about a family or a group of friends?
If there are four or six of you, private is usually both nicer and not much different in cost per head, because you are filling the vehicle anyway. This is the case where the decision more or less makes itself.
Tell us who is coming and what matters most to you, and we will be straight about whether what we sell is the right fit. If it is not, we would rather say so now.
