For many travellers, an African safari is a once in a lifetime experience. You want wonderful wildlife viewing, knowledgeable guides, comfortable camps and lodges, and enough time in the bush to really experience the destination.
A private safari can provide all of this, but it can also come at a considerable cost, particularly for solo travellers and couples.
This is where a small group set-departure safaris can be such a good option.
Small group safaris offer many of the benefits of travelling privately, while allowing the cost of the safari vehicle, guide and other arrangements to be shared between a small number of travellers.
For the right person, it really can offer the best of both worlds.
Good value without compromising the safari experience
One of the biggest advantages of joining a small group safari is value.
Many of the costs involved in operating a safari are fixed. A safari vehicle, professional guide and driver are required whether there are two guests travelling or six. When these costs are shared between a small number of people, the price per person can be considerably less than arranging the same journey privately.
You can still stay in lovely camps and lodges, travel with experienced safari guides and spend your days exploring some of Africa’s wonderful national parks, game reserves and wilderness areas.
A small group safari is not the same as a traditional tour
The words safari and tour are often used interchangeably, but we see them as quite different experiences.
A traditional tour usually includes a mixture of sightseeing, scenery, culture and perhaps some wildlife viewing. Groups can be larger and more time is generally spent travelling by road between destinations.
A safari is much more focused on wildlife and time in the bush. Days often revolve around morning and afternoon game viewing, with several consecutive days spent in national parks and game reserves.
A small group safari keeps that wildlife focus, but spreads the cost between a handful of guests rather than one couple or family travelling privately.
Small enough to still feel personal
When people hear the words “group safari”, they sometimes imagine a large coach filled with travellers.
A genuinely small safari group feels very different.
With perhaps 6 or 7 guests travelling together, there is plenty of opportunity to get to know your guide, ask questions and learn more about what you are seeing.
A good safari guide does far more than simply find animals. They interpret behaviour, identify tracks and calls, explain the relationships between species and notice the smaller details of the bush that most of us would otherwise miss.
Over several days, your guide also begins to understand what particularly interests the group, whether that is big cats, elephants, birds, photography or simply spending time quietly watching animal behaviour unfold.
More eyes looking for wildlife
There is also a wonderfully practical advantage to having a few travelling companions.
You have more pairs of eyes looking into the bush.
Sometimes it is the guide who spots the leopard hidden in a tree. Other times, it might be the person sitting beside you who notices movement in the grass or sees an elephant appearing from behind the trees.
Those little discoveries become part of the fun of travelling together.
Sharing unforgettable moments
Some wildlife experiences are simply wonderful to share.
There is something very special about the excitement in a safari vehicle when a lion suddenly appears, a herd of elephants surrounds a waterhole, wild dogs begin to hunt or a leopard emerges from the bush.
Over several days, guests often get to know one another remarkably well.
There are conversations over meals, stories exchanged after game drives and plenty of discussion about the day’s sightings.
For many travellers, the friendships and camaraderie that develop become an unexpected part of the safari experience.
An excellent option for solo travellers
Small group safaris can be particularly appealing to solo travellers.
Travelling privately as one person can be expensive because the cost of the vehicle and guide is not being shared. Joining a scheduled departure makes the safari considerably more accessible, while also providing the companionship of a small group.
You have people to share meals, game drives and those extraordinary wildlife encounters with, while still enjoying a much more intimate experience than you would in a large tour group.
Couples and friends can enjoy the same benefits, particularly if they like the idea of meeting other travellers along the way.
Everything has already been organised
An African safari involves a surprising amount of planning behind the scenes.
There are accommodation bookings, road transfers, light aircraft flights, park fees, activities, permits, guides and countless logistical details that need to come together.
On a scheduled small group safari, this planning has already been done for you.
The route has been carefully designed, accommodation selected and arrangements coordinated so that you can concentrate on enjoying Africa rather than worrying about the logistics.
Small group safaris across Africa
Small group safaris work beautifully across many different African destinations.
You might be exploring the wildlife rich waterways and wilderness areas of Botswana, travelling through the vast landscapes of Namibia, searching for elephants and lions in Zimbabwe, experiencing the private game reserves of South Africa, watching enormous herds across the plains of Tanzania, or trekking through the forests of Uganda in search of mountain gorillas.
Each country offers something completely different, but the advantage of travelling with a small number of like minded people remains the same.
Is a small group safari right for you?
If you want complete flexibility over every aspect of your itinerary, including where you stay, how long you spend in each area and exactly how your days unfold, a private safari may still be the best choice.
But if you are happy to travel on a pre-planned itinerary and enjoy the idea of sharing your experience with a handful of other travellers, a small group safari is well worth considering.
You can enjoy specialist guiding, wonderful wildlife areas, carefully selected accommodation and plenty of time in the bush, without carrying the full cost of a private departure.
For solo travellers, couples and friends alike, it can be a wonderfully sociable, personal and more affordable way to experience Africa.
And sometimes, sharing those extraordinary safari moments with a few new travelling companions makes the experience even more memorable.
