With everything in travel you pay more for a better experience. A larger room, better service, more leg room, finer food, better guides, less time wasted and less stress. This is also true of an African safari. As you would expect, from budget to luxury you see a big jump in quality and all those things that make up a budget or luxury experience – African safari costs increase as the experience improves.

But isn’t a lion a lion whether you’re paying $200 or $2000 a day? How are the zebra any different if your safari costs double? Go on safari and you’ll see wildlife, whether it’s the cheapest, the most expensive, or somewhere in between. But it’s also true that a lion is still a lion when you see it in a zoo, right? It’s how you experience that wildlife that makes all the difference. And with an authentic safari you experience that lion in its own habitat, living, prowling, hunting, quarreling with rivals and everything else.

The quality of a safari is not simply differentiated by human comfort levels. More expensive safaris provide a better wildlife experience. When an African safari costs more it almost always has a heightened connection with the wild.

An Indicative Guide to African Safari Tour Cost

This guide is written with reference to the premier four countries for an African safari: Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa and Botswana. Other countries tend to be cheaper but are unable to offer the diversity and abundance of wildlife that Africa is famous for. Instead, they provide a more varied program of activities at relatively inexpensive prices – African safari costs less in other African countries but the experience isn’t as good. Other than a handful of exceptions – Namibia’s Etosha, Zambia’s Luangwa, Zimbabwe’s Hwange – it’s the four famous countries that offer the animal-rich wildernesses that makes safari such a once in a lifetime.

How Much Does a Safari Cost for Families?

African safari costs for families will also fall into the categories listed above. However, traveling as a family enables you to enjoy more private and high-end luxury experiences for the same price. The larger the group or family the more sway we have in getting you higher levels of dedicated service, such as exclusive-use vehicles, private guides, special activities and flexible dining times. Most safari activities are organized for groups of four to eight people. As a couple you share with others but as a family you have enough people to make the activity private. Some camps and lodges will give your family a private guide, without you needing to pay private safari costs.

Speak to us about the costs for children going on safari. These vary enormously across different camps and lodges. In camps that allow younger children, cheaper rates usually apply for those aged under 12 that share with full paying adults.

Personalized Safaris at Small-Group Tour Rates

We appreciate that African safari costs a lot, if you want the true and authentic experience. If you are looking at a budget to mid-range safari then take a look at this Forbes article, which gives you questions to ask before booking a safari.

On this page we share costs in a completely unbiased way. At Heritage Africa we’ve spend 25 years customizing the best African safaris and we are sorry to say that some people find them too expensive. However, by skipping the middle men we can offer exceptional customized safaris, for the price of the small-group tours offered by international travel agents.

We are locally based Africa travel specialists, with 25 years skipping the middle men to speak directly with our customers. We don’t sell on your business to others and you would never pay more than if booking with a lodge directly. And we think value comes from the places and experiences we are able to give you.