What’s Your Safari Style?
Finding the Right Way to Experience Africa

Africa can be experienced in more ways than most travellers realise, and choosing your safari style shapes everything about your trip. It influences which destinations suit you best, what budget you’ll need, and ultimately the kind of experience you come home talking about. It’s worth thinking about early.

Here are the main safari styles I work with, and what makes each one a great fit for the right traveller.

Lodge-Based with Resident Guides

This safari style is the backbone of most of my itineraries, and for good reason. You travel between lodges and camps (by road, by light aircraft, or a combination), and at each property, the resident guides take you out into the bush.

A resident guide knows their patch in a way no visiting guide can replicate:

• The individual animals, their habits and their territories
• The seasonal rhythms of the landscape
• The hidden spots that don’t appear on any map

Those are the key reasons I prefer this style over a road safari with a single guide travelling with you across multiple regions.

Private Guided

A private vehicle and guide for the duration of your trip. This is the most flexible and personalised option short of self-drive.

• Your guide gets to know exactly what you’re interested in and adjusts each day accordingly
• Ideal for travellers who want full control over pace and focus
• Best suited to longer itineraries where the guide-traveller relationship has time to develop properly
• It is the most expensive option, but for many people, absolutely worth it.

Personally Hosted Adventures

A few times a year, I personally lead small-group trips. Usually six to eight people, always to destinations I know well and love sharing with my guests.

These aren’t fixed-departure tours run by an operator. They’re trips I design and lead myself, travelling with the group throughout.

These trips are worth a look if:

• You’ve been wanting to go to Africa, but would feel more comfortable going with someone who knows exactly what they’re doing
• You like the idea of travelling with a small group of like-minded people
• You want a deeply personal experience without the cost of a fully private itinerary.

   Check out the website for details of upcoming departures.

Scheduled Small Group Tours

Fixed-date departures with other travellers (typically 6–12 people), following a set itinerary, operated by my trusted partners in Africa. These are genuine small groups, and often excellent value.

• Guides can tailor the itinerary, pace, and focus to the specific interests of a small group.
• A small group safari offers an intimate, high-quality wildlife experience.
• Shared experiences with a small group of like-minded travellers often lead to lifelong friendships.

Check out the website for details of upcoming departures.

Guided Self-Drive

For the right traveller, a guided self-drive is one of the most rewarding ways to experience Africa. You get the thrill of driving your own vehicle and setting your own pace, but with the security and camaraderie of travelling in a small convoy with local expert guides.

This is the sweet spot between independence and support:

• You drive your own 4×4, stopping when something catches your eye and developing a real relationship with the landscape
• Local expert guides lead the way, giving you an insider’s perspective on the places you visit
• Small groups keep the experience personal, never the “fifty people on a coach” variety
• Itineraries are designed to get you off the beaten track, including hidden gems that most visitors never see

Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar are all on the roster, with options ranging from lodge-based comfort to full camping adventures. Trips run to 21, 31 or 32 days depending on the route, so this suits travellers who want to go deep rather than skim the surface.

I work with Self Drive Adventures, Australia’s leading guided overland safari specialist, whose handpicked network of local operators runs most of these itineraries exclusively for their guests.

If you love the idea of driving through wild landscapes on your own terms, but want experienced guides, a reliable vehicle, and a like-minded group alongside you, this style of travel is genuinely hard to beat.

So Which Safari Style is Right for You?

The right choice depends on your budget, your confidence, your travel party, and your personality. There’s no single best answer, just the best fit for you.

Get in touch and we’ll work it out together.