Overland expeditions

The Serengeti region is widely recognised as being one of the top three locations for savanna safari in Africa. Yet, unlike almost all other areas, safari in this part of the world has remained relentlessly overland.

The main reason is that the area contains a number of contiguous reserves, which ideally need to be visited in combination.

On top of that, the massive volcanic landscapes of the central Ngorongoro region are incredibly scenic, providing a varied range of vistas that roll seamlessly one into the next. In other words, it’s a great road trip.

The fact that unpredictable weather conditions up by the Ngorongoro Crater make it impossible for light aircraft to operate regular services and we have the perfect storm. Overland safari is the only way.

These days, a road trip in the Serengeti region can be relatively easy. If you fly in or out of the furthest point, the overland section can be limited to as little as three days in a 6-12 nights safari, but this is still sufficient to completely change the character of the overall experience.

If you specifically want to turn this type of overland safari into a genuine expedition, there’s a host of remote and barely-used tracks that we know like the back of our hand. Just let us know how hard you want to push it.

safaris that can be as easy or hardcore as you want

When we talk about expeditions in Namibia, we really mean what we say. These are not adventurous safaris, they are genuine expeditions.

The northern part of the Skeleton Coast is about as remote as it is possible to get on safari. Only accessible by special government permit and completely devoid of people.

The experience of spending a week exploring these extraordinarily diverse landscapes in the company of an expert team is unsurpassable.

We are only able to operate a handful of trips here each year, but every single group of guests joins a kind of unspoken secret society, who know where they’ve been and know what it meant. It’s life-changing.

the ultimate safari expedition

We can’t tell you how excited we were to discover that there is a region in the heart of South America that can only be properly explored by means of a private-guided overland expedition.

In this region, we journey from the Spanish colonial city of Salta, through historic winelands, areas of deep indigenous culture, over vast flamingo-covered salt lakes and up to the extraordinary volcanic moonscapes of the high Andes mountains.

One might argue that this is not a true expedition, since there are places to stay every night and no need to camp out, but some of these places are very rudimentary.

For us, the overall diversity of experiences and the sense of remote adventure are sufficient to elevate these trips to expeditionary status.

extraordinary adventures in the high Andes

The Rajasthan province of central India is another region where private-guided overland travel remains resolutely the best way to visit.

These trips may not be expeditions in the true sense of the word, since the roads are well established and there are great places to stay at every turn.

But Rajasthan remains adventurous. The history and culture are off-the-scale exotic and the travel logistics are so impenetrable that self-drive would be a disaster.

Although it is the cities of Rajasthan that are best known (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur), most of the real pleasures lie in the rural areas in between. To connect the main locations by air would mean missing out on so much.

Also, if you want to turn up the heat, there are loads of tiny backtracks to explore and areas where there is significant wildlife, including leopards and tigers.

The problem with Rajasthan is that there are always far too many tempting places to include in a single trip.

a mesmerising blend of history, culture and wildlife