Ten steps to choosing the right safari for you

Establish what time of year you are looking to travel. If you are completely flexible, then choose either the country, region or activity which interests you (such as gorilla trekking, watching chimpanzees, seeing the wildebeest migration, horse riding, going on a camel trek, watching whales, wild flowers, vineyards etc). If you are not flexible and need to travel in certain months, then look at our where and when to go for guidance on what is best at that time of year.

Look at our calendar list on where and when to go and see what the highlights are for each month, which may determine your choice.

Let us know your interests, as an individual, as part of a group or a family. We can then discuss what will be most appropriate for you. Often, a good idea is that everyone writes down on a piece of paper exactly what they want to get out of their holiday, and we marry the ideas together. Walking/canoeing/sailing/riding/game viewing/hot air ballooning/swimming pool /relaxing/ fishing.

What sort of accommodation are you looking for? An authentic tented camp, perhaps just for you, or perhaps your family, complete with your own private guide, with bucket shower and flush or long drop loo, or a luxury permanent tented camp with ensuite facilities, fly camping beneath the stars with a bedroll and mosquito netting, or more basic camping with a Meru tent on a camel trek, or perhaps staying at a designer lodge or a beautifully designed private house? For further information on what each offers, look at accommodation guidance.

Are you looking for a relaxing holiday or an action packed, adventurous safari or something in between?

Would you like a diversity of areas, perhaps beginning somewhere with beautiful scenery, cultural interaction, walking, then onto the big game areas, and then culminating with a beach or a lake? Perhaps you might like to do some sailing either by spending the time on a catamaran, visiting islands, or by traditional Arab dhow? If in Botswana, we could arrange a mokoro safari, plying the waterways by wooden, dug out canoe, and camping on the islands? In Zimbabwe we can offer various canoe safaris led by the very best specialist guides. Or perhaps you might like to spend one week in one game rich area, followed by another week on a lake or a beach.

If in South Africa, you might like to visit the winelands? We could assemble a gastronomic retreat, as one of our staff members has their South Africa diploma in vini and viticulture and knows the all the best restaurants and vineyards. Walk in the Drakensberg Mountains, visit the Battlefields of Rorke’s Drift, perhaps ride at an Arab stud farm, game view and end up whale watching, swimming with dolphins and tracking the loggerhead and leatherback turtles on the border of Maputaland. Visit the wild coast in South Africa. Visit the non malarial areas of the Waterberg and Marakalele National Parks. We will arrange the most wonderful flying or self drive holidays imaginable for you. Have the ocean to yourself at Plettenberg Bay, which is the perfect place for children, offering so much to do!

We have some sample itineraries which you can click on which are meant purely as an idea as no two holidays are ever the same, as no two people are the same! Ie: Honeymoons/ Family Holidays/ Private House and Villas/Horse Riding Safaris/Designer Lodges/Private mobile safaris/Walking safaris/spa and yoga retreats as well as if you are interested in seeing the work we are doing at the charities that we support, then they would love to have you there as well, and it will be a more altruistic styled safari. We support many local cultural establishments where the proceeds directly benefit the communities, and we would be delighted to incorporate these lovely places into your itinerary, and one feels so much better staying somewhere which is part of a good cause!

Look at the geography of the country/ies you are wanting to travel, although we are here to advise you accordingly! We will ensure that you travel in a globular direction where possible, and where necessary, making the most of any one area although we mainly fly our guests from place to place, so distances become less of a concern.

Do not attempt to do too much – you will be doing both yourself and the country a disservice and only end up requiring a holiday at the end!

And ultimately – pick up the telephone and call us, or get us to call you! If you are part of a group, then we shall come and see you, if you prefer, or do come and see us. There is no substitute for first hand knowledge, and often a telephone call saves sifting through reams of information that one simply has to digest especially when time is short!