Luxury safaris

Perhaps the ultimate luxury in a safari is to have plenty of time and take it slow.

Most people are limited by time and/or money, but if you can push it out a little further, you will be rewarded by an enhanced safari experience.

The minimum combination for a quality safari in most countries is two lodges.

More experienced safari travellers often ask us to build trips with four, five, six or more camps, sometimes over a period of a month or more.

We tend to think of those longer trips represent the ultimate luxury. They don’t get boring, they just get better and better.

longer trips are the ultimate luxury

The usual stay duration in most lodges is 2-3 nights, but we find that it is nights 4-7 that can really transform and enrich a stay.

As one of our best friends in safari, Alex Walker, explains :

“The first day, guests are settling in. Days two and three they do the regular activities and start to relax. Day four the guide is having to think a little harder about what to get up to. Day five the guests start pro-actively planning their days. Days six and seven, the guests are starting to help plan the menus, explore the kitchen and back-of-house, play soccer with the staff, drive their own safari vehicle and generally feel right at home. After that they depart as life-long friends, certain to stay in touch and likely to return.”

Seven nights in a single lodge may be a jump too far for most people, but every night that you extend your time will enhance the experience and enrich the memories.

Of course, the longer you stay at a camp, the more wildlife sightings you will accumulate. Some events, like hunting sequences and rare sightings, only happen occasionally. Staying longer simply shortens the odds.

by day seven you become a part of the family

Let us start by saying that when we talk about luxury safari lodges in some countries, we need to tread carefully, mainly because the prices can really go through the roof.

In many locations there is a level of lodges that we describe as ‘super-luxury’, which are aimed at the very top-end.

These properties are mostly pleasantly-understated creations, designed with elegance and flair, beautifully finished. They certainly have the wow factor when you first walk in.

The service at these places should be impeccable, both in its elegance and in its intimacy. Lovely highly-professional staff members will know who you are and learn your preferences. You will be made to feel right at home from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave.

If you need to ask the price, then these places might not be for you. A safari trip at this level can easily cost in excess of USD 3000-4000 per person per night.

It is really important to realise that there are imposters in this category. Some of the best known super-luxury lodges surf on their reputation, but fail to deliver. In some, the quality of the safari guiding is questionable and the safari experience can be rather flaccid. Other lodges are simply cheap imitations by lesser safari operators, who are trying their best to muscle in on this rich seam, without having a true understanding of the many aspects of quality.

We will always make sure that you find the very best and most suitable super-luxury lodges for your group.

the ultimate in design and delivery

Leaving aside the super-luxury lodges, most countries have a category below that we can describe as regular luxury lodges.

For the vast majority of people on their first safari, this level of lodge will delight and astound. We are talking about comfortable and well-designed places, where the levels of service and food are usually really good.

If your general attitude is that you don’t need designer interiors and haute cuisine in the bush, then this level of lodge should suit you well.

On price, we are generally looking at a range somewhere around USD 500-2500 per person per night, depending on the location and season.

a delight for the vast majority of guests

This is where it starts to get a bit complicated.

There is no doubt that spending more money on a lodge does not guarantee you a better core safari experience. In fact, the opposite is more likely to be true.

The danger in a luxury safari lodge is that the whole operation becomes more focused on relaxation and comfort, than on the actual wildlife experience. In some lodges, the Food & Beverage Manager ranks higher on the pay scale than the Head Safari Guide. Clearly something has gone seriously wrong.

The underlying reason is that the type of guest who puts luxury first also tends to appreciate more relaxed and easy-going safari outings. If you are more active and wildlife-focused, then you need to tread very carefully.

We also find it ironic that many of the highest cost lodges are larger, less intimate and load more guests on their vehicles than camps under half their cost.

Another phenomenon that we have witnessed time and again is that the harder-hitting lodges tend to attract the younger and more energetic guides, whilst the more upmarket lodges serve as ‘retirement homes’ for guides who have lost their enthusiasm.

Here at ATR, we are all about the core safari experience. You will find that the lodges we rate the most highly are those which remain capable of delivering the most intense safari experience to those guests who want it.

price is definitely not an indicator of safari quality

In the safari world it is commonly said that : “First time guests come for the wildlife, but returning guests come for the people.”

There is certainly some truth in that. There is no doubt that meeting the wonderful local people is a very special treat.

In wilderness areas, your exposure to local people may be limited to the staff at the lodges. Nevertheless, this can be fabulous.

Your guide and the front-of-house staff will be the most educated amongst the group, familiar with the ways of guests from around the world and able to handle conversation with great style.

But we strongly recommend spending time with other members of the crew. A stroll to the back-of-house, through the kitchen, laundry and garage is always fun.

If you have kids with you, then bring a soccer ball and have a kick-about at every possible opportunity. We are yet to find a situation in Africa where this did not lead to endless fun.

A characteristic of good lodges, at all levels, is that they are able to facilitate this kind of delightfully casual interaction.

If you specifically want to visit towns and villages, then let us know, there are also ways to make this happen with elegance.

By the way, it’s definitely worth learning a few phrases of the local languages, if you can. Always be respectful when taking pictures and generous in conversation.

the luxury of spending time with local people

If you are travelling through an area with a private vehicle and guide (for example, in the Serengeti, Rajasthan or Salta areas), then the following paragraphs may not be relevant.

In most lodges in most locations, the usual arrangement is that each camp has a team of resident guides, who know their patches inside out and look after their guests from arrival to departure.

The camp manager will allocate a specific guide to your group, based upon their availability and the information that we have communicated to them in advance of your arrival.

If you are travelling in a group of 1-3 guests, then the chances are you will be asked to share a vehicle with another group. This arrangement suits the vast majority of our guests, since spending time with other people in this way so often turns out to be a delight.

However, for some people, having a private vehicle is a significant way to boost the quality of a safari, since it provides you with much greater freedom to plan your days. This can be particularly important if you want to spend an unusual amount of quality time with the wildlife.

If you are travelling in a group of 4-7 guests, then you will usually be allocated a private vehicle without any additional cost.

If there are 1-3 of you, then you would have to pre-book a private vehicle at considerable extra expense.

usually far less important than it might seem