How it works

The quality and success of your trip will be very much dependent on the experts you choose to work with.

Virtually all quality safaris are booked through specialist safari agencies like our own. But even amongst these companies there is a vast range in tonality and quality.

There is such a vast raft of confusing and contradictory information out there on the internet and so many companies offering such a broad range of experiences, that it can be really tricky for you to pick out the real safari people.

We believe that we are amongst the best in the world at what we do. Our Safari Experts have an average of 12 years experience, both working safari on the ground and building tailor-made trips.

We share a passion for safari and conservation. That is who we are and why we do this. We believe that the best way to conserve the wild places of Africa is for them to pay for themselves.

We very much hope that you will give us a chance to show you what we can do.

your most important decision

The approach that our guests take towards researching their trips varies enormously.

These days, the vast majority of our guests choose the path of least resistance.

Even before you know what you want to do, you can simply get in touch (preferably on the phone), tell us a little bit about who you are and let one of our Safari Experts come up with some trip ideas.

We actually prefer to get involved in the very earliest stages, so that we can help you find the best and most appropriate options quickly and efficiently.

If you prefer the old fashioned, way, then please do feel free to do your own research and let us know more specifically what you would like to do. We can work that way too!

reach out sooner rather than later

The best way to get started is to click the big yellow Get in Touch button and quickly run through the form.

Your request will normally be received by Lenny or Jay, who are responsible for allocating your enquiry to a Safari Expert who is suitably knowledgeable and experienced in the areas to which you want to travel.

If you can also make yourself available for a phone call, then your Safari Expert will be able to reach out for a chat first, which will dramatically fast forward the process.

If you prefer, you can try us now on one of the phone numbers at the top of the page.

You will be amazed how quickly we can get close to a great trip.

an early phone call is so important

We help our guests to build trips for a very wide range of budgets. But safari can be a very expensive business, so we need to tread carefully.

In an ideal world, you will give us a target budget for us to work towards. Along the way we will suggest areas where you can cut back without adversely affecting the trip and other places where it might be worth splashing out.

Our guests typically spend between USD 5000 and 50,000 per person on a trip. We are more than happy to work anywhere in and above that range. Occasionally we can do lower cost trips, especially if there are quite a few people travelling together to a lower cost location.

Whatever your budget we will make sure that you get the best possible trip. You will never experience any pushy up-selling. It is essential to us that you feel comfortable with the amount of money that you are spending.

tell us how much you want to spend

Once one of our Safari Experts has your initial information, they will look to create a range of fully-priced and detailed tailor-made sample trips.

These trips will be designed to show you a range of options, varying in style, location and price, to give you an idea of the scope of possibilities.

The moment that you receive this first batch of sample trips is the most important and challenging part of the process.

At this point, you will need to do a little bit of work, going through the various itineraries and deciding which parts you like and dislike. That could take an hour or two, but you should find that you become quite literate with the options pretty quickly, enabling you to provide us with some really helpful feedback.

From there, your Safari Expert will be able to start fine tuning, usually creating a second set of more focused trips.

Occasionally we are able to create a perfect trip first time round, more often we go through several iterations. We will keep going as long as it takes to get it right.

Over the years we have developed a really elegant and efficient safari building system, so creating multiple trip options is never a problem.

The overriding priority is that we allow you to go at the pace at which you feel most comfortable and, of course, that we ultimately reach the perfect trip.

iteration to perfection

One of the biggest challenges of creating and booking a great safari can be getting availability at the first choice lodges and camps.

Booking as far in advance as possible is an enormous help. The usual lead time for a safari is 6-9 months, but we often book 1-3 years ahead of time, especially for groups of 4 for more guests.

During the early part of the sample trips process, we may not take the availability into account, but simply show you idealised trip shapes for various countries.

As you start to focus on a particular set of dates and locations, your Safari Expert will increasingly take account of the current availability situation at the various lodges.

Once you feel ready to green light a trip, we will try to get all the key elements on hold with the suppliers, ready for you to proceed with booking.

We actually have a specific department dedicated to getting trips on hold, which is a specialist job in its own right. There is quite an art to clearing space in apparently full lodges.

Getting a trip on hold typically gives us 2 to 7 days breathing space, during which time we can all relax and spend time fine tuning the trip, safe in the knowledge that it will actually be bookable if and when the time comes.

lodge availability can be a major issue

Once you have identified the perfect trip and we have managed to get all the key elements on hold, you will hopefully be in a position to proceed.

At this point, your Safari Expert will be looking to gather a few details from you, about your group, your connections at either end, special diets and requests, payment information, that kind of thing.

From this point you need to have your Travel Insurance in place.

Once the trip is complete and ready to roll, it is passed to Alix in our Customer Accounts department in Franschhoek (South Africa), who will help you to make the deposit payment of 25% (unless you are within 70 days of travel, in which case she will take full payment).

Don’t worry about the payment not clearing first time, your trip is secure for a period and Alix will work with you to get things sorted.

Simultaneously, the file is passed to Renee in our Purchasing Department, also in Franschhoek, who will get all the various elements (most of which are usually already on hold) locked down and confirmed with suppliers, a process which typically takes 1-5 days, depending on the connectivity and responsivity of our various suppliers.

Once both the payment has been received and the trip has been fully confirmed, the file is passed to Ida or Gemma in our Guest Experience department in Shere (UK), who will issue you with a new version of your trip itinerary in the form of an Interim Receipt.

From here, Ida and Gemma become your first point of contact for questions and support, whilst your Safari Expert remains available to chat at any time.

a deposit of 25%