We do not publish a price list, and this article will not give you one. Every trip we run is private and built around your dates, so a number here would be a guess. What we can do is explain honestly what your quote is made of, so that when you compare two operators you know what you are comparing.
What are you actually paying for on a Tanzania safari?
Most of a safari quote is not profit, it is fixed cost. The largest single item is usually park fees, charged per person for every day you are inside a national park, and set by the government rather than by us. On top of that come the vehicle and its fuel, your guide, your accommodation and your meals. Two operators quoting the same parks on the same dates are paying the same fees. The difference between them sits in the vehicle, the guide and the beds.
Why do quotes differ so much between operators?
Four things move the number more than anything else.
- Season. The dry months are the busiest and the most expensive. The green season costs less for the same parks.
- Comfort level. Public campsites, mid-range lodges and luxury tented camps are three very different budgets for an identical route.
- Group size. The vehicle and the guide cost the same whether one person or five are in it. A solo traveller carries that alone, which is why a private trip for one looks expensive per head.
- How many parks. Every additional park is another set of fees and another driving day.
Is the cheapest quote the one to take?
Not usually, and here is where to look. If one quote is far below the others, ask what has been removed. Common answers: a cheaper campsite outside the park, so you lose an hour of driving at each end of the day; an older vehicle; a guide paid less; or fewer days inside the gate than the itinerary implies. None of that is fraud, but it is not the same trip.
What should a quote always tell you?
Ask for it in writing, with park fees, accommodation, meals, transfers and guiding listed separately, and with what is excluded stated plainly. Ours says what it says. If something is not in it, we tell you before you pay rather than after you land.
Send us your dates, how long you have and roughly what standard of bed you want, and we will come back with a real number for a real trip. It costs nothing to ask, and we would rather talk you into the right trip than the expensive one.
