WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SAFARI AND A TOUR?
The words ‘safari’ and ‘tour’ are often used synonymously. To understand the differences between the two, we define them as the following.
A ‘tour‘ is a small group adventure, similar to overland travel i.e., uses trucks and group sizes are 12 people+ . Unlike a ‘safari‘, which is primarily focused on wildlife observation, a tour can encompass a variety of activities and themes, such as cultural tours, historical tours, adventure and some wildlife viewing. Typically ‘tours‘ involved a lot more road travel, often 2,000+km.
What is a Safari?
A ‘safari’ is where you spend consecutive days (sometimes weeks) game-viewing – mornings and afternoons. It is the ultimate bush immersion and the closest you will get to Africa’s wildlife. Your very own David Attenborough experience.
A typical day on safari includes a morning game drive and an afternoon game drive. To do this, you need to be in a wildlife area, i.e. a national park, game reserve or private conservancy where you can observe, photograph and experience Africa’s wildlife.
Spending consecutive days (or weeks) on a safari is more expensive than a tour. National parks and game reserves all have entry fees. For example, entering the Masai Mara Game Reserve is US$ 100 per person daily in non-peak season. In peak season, this increases to US$ 200 per person, per so. So, if you spend three nights (four days) in the Masai Mara National Reserve in peak season, the entry fee alone is US$ 800 per person.
On top of park/reserve entry fees, you have your accommodation, transport, and guide costs. Examples of safaris are our 9-day Botswana Discover Fly-in Safari or our 12-day Classic Kenya Wilderness Safari.
Safaris are expensive. The main reasons are:
- Remote Locations
- National Park, Game Reserve and Conservation Levies
- All-Inclusive accommodation rates – means that you pay a set daily rate per person that includes your accommodation, meals, snacks, standard drinks, plus your game-viewing activities. This is usually what makes an African safari so expensive at first glance. However, the truth is, all-inclusive safaris offer excellent value for money.
What is a Tour?
A tour covers a lot more ground and is not 100% focused on game-viewing compared to a safari. For example, our 20-day TransKalahari Adventure or 21-day Cape Town to Victoria Falls are both more than 5,000km. This means there are some big days of driving, and some days will include 500 km to 600 km of driving
Tours are more affordable than a safari because of the following aspects, which are important to understand.
- You travel in a group of 12 to 16 people in a small truck
- A tour does not prioritise game viewing.
- You only have a handful of days of game viewing. Depending on the itinerary, you might do this in the truck or change to a 4WD.
- The trucks are 2WD, so most of the driving is on sealed roads, except in Namibia.
- Depending on the itinerary, a level of participation is usually required
Tours are an excellent option for first-time African travellers who would like a variety of landscape, culture and wildlife.
We have a variety of camping and accommodated tours in Southern Africa.
Adventure Camping
Fully-Assisted Camping
2-star to 3-star accommodation
3-star to 4-star accommodation
