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Custom safari planning

Tailor-made African safaris, planned by people who go there

No fixed departures and no seats to fill. You tell us who is travelling and what would be a shame to miss; a specialist designs the route, the reserves and the stays around that, then stays with the trip until you are home.

Start your safari brief See sample journeys

Guide prices before you enquire

The sample journeys below carry nights per stop and a land-only guide price, so you can judge the budget before you send a brief.

Reserve first, then the room

Traversing rights, vehicle limits and guiding decide the safari, so we choose the land before we choose the lodge.

Nothing off the shelf

Every route, camp and vehicle on your itinerary is chosen for your party and your dates.

One team, start to finish

The specialist who designs the route is the person who answers while you are travelling.

What tailor-made actually means

A specialist designs it. Not a search box.

A tailor-made safari starts from a blank page and four facts:

  1. 01Your datesFixed or flexible. Both are workable.
  2. 02Who is travellingAges, pace and what the party needs from a day.
  3. 03How you like to moveRoad, light aircraft or water, and how much of each.
  4. 04What you would regret missingThe one sighting or place the route is built around.

Every decision after that is made for you rather than inherited from a brochure: country, reserve, camp, vehicle and the order you see them in.

The land decides.

Two nearby lodges can differ in traversing rights, vehicle limits and guiding culture. We plan from the land outward, then fit the stay to your party.

We will talk you out of things.

A fourteen-night itinerary with six stops looks generous on paper and reads as an airport schedule by day nine.

How the planning works

Five steps, and a person at every one of them.

Nothing here is automated. The sequence below is what happens between your first message and your first game drive.

  1. 01

    Send a safari brief

    Ten minutes on dates, travellers, pace and budget. It goes straight to a specialist who plans African travel full-time.

  2. 02

    A conversation, not a quote

    We test the brief before we design anything: how far you will fly internally, whether the youngest traveller changes the reserve, and what you would rather spend the money on.

  3. 03

    Itinerary design

    You receive a routed itinerary of reserves, camps, nights per stop, internal flights and transfers, with the reasoning behind each choice and honest alternatives at other price points.

  4. 04

    Refine, then confirm

    We revise until the route is right, hold space while you decide, and confirm every inclusion in writing before anything is paid.

  5. 05

    Support while you travel

    Documents, briefing notes and a contactable team throughout. Missed connections and shifted transfers are our problem to solve, not yours.

Sample journeys

Three routes we design often.

Starting shapes rather than products. Each one has been booked in some form, and each one changes once we know your dates and your party.

None of these exact?

Start with what matters to you.

Tell us your dates, party and the one thing the journey must deliver.

Plan your safari

Package prices appear only where published and are reconfirmed for your dates and party before booking.

Budget

Where safari budgets usually land.

Safari rates are quoted per person per night far more often than per trip, and the same suite can change price by a third between seasons. These are the bands we plan against: useful for a first conversation, not a quotation.

Considered
from about US$450 per person per night
Smaller owner-run camps, and shoulder-season dates in excellent reserves. The compromise is the room finish and the extras, not the game viewing.
Classic
about US$700 to US$1,200 per person per night
The heart of the market: established private-reserve lodges with two guided activities a day, all meals, and house drinks at most properties.
Premium
about US$1,300 to US$2,000 per person per night
Blue-chip camps in the strongest traversing areas, frequently with a private vehicle and guide added to the rate.
Exclusive-use
quoted per villa or per camp
A staffed private house, or a whole camp taken for one party. Expensive for two people, and often good value from about six travellers upward.

Every band excludes international flights. Internal flights, conservation levies, premium wines and private vehicles differ by property and are confirmed in writing before you commit.

Inclusions

What a tailor-made price covers, and what it does not.

A costed itinerary is only comparable once the inclusion list is on the table. This is the split every route we design is priced on.

Included in a costed itinerary

  • All accommodation along the route, at the room category quoted
  • Full board at safari camps and lodges, with house drinks at most properties
  • Two guided game activities a day on safari, in a shared vehicle unless a private one is quoted
  • Internal flights, light-aircraft hops and road transfers between every stop
  • Park, reserve and conservation fees
  • Arrival and departure transfers, and a documented itinerary with contact numbers

Not included

  • International flights to and from Africa, always quoted separately
  • Visas, travel insurance, vaccinations and antimalarials
  • Meals outside the safari camps, such as lunch and dinner in Cape Town
  • Premium wines and spirits, spa treatments and boutique purchases
  • Private vehicles and private guiding, unless specified in your itinerary
  • Optional extras such as helicopter flights, balloon safaris and gorilla permits
  • Staff gratuities

City hotels are normally quoted room-only or with breakfast; safari camps are all-inclusive. The exact list for every property in your itinerary is confirmed in writing before you commit.

Why this is safe to hand over

The credentials behind the itinerary.

A tailor-made trip asks you to pay for something you cannot inspect first. These are the things that should make that reasonable.

IATA accreditation

Agency number 96097083, the accreditation airlines require before an agency may issue tickets in its own right.

Booking terms you can read first

Our terms and conditions are published on this site, so the payment schedule and cancellation rules are readable before you commit to anything.

Read our terms and conditions

Direct relationships with camps

We contract with lodges and reserves directly, which is how we get straight answers on refurbishments, guiding changes and what a rate genuinely includes.

Everything in writing

Inclusions, exclusions, cancellation terms and the full routing are confirmed on paper before a deposit is taken.

Plan your safari WhatsApp a specialist

Private and exclusive-use

The stays a private brief usually starts from.

Not a catalogue to shop from, but a sense of the standard we plan to when a party wants the vehicle, the guide and the house to themselves. Your shortlist is built after the brief, against your dates.

Before you enquire

Questions we are asked every week.

What is the difference between a tailor-made safari and a package?

A package is built before you arrive and sold to whoever fits it. A tailor-made safari is designed after your brief: the reserve, the camp, the number of nights and the internal flights are chosen for your party, and any of them can still change while the plan is on paper.

Are you a travel agency?

Yes. Africa Luxury Escapes is an IATA-accredited travel agency, number 96097083, specialising in African travel. We plan and book the whole journey, flights, transfers, stays and experiences included, rather than selling a single lodge night.

How quickly will someone reply?

A specialist responds to every safari brief within one working day. If your dates are tight, say so in the brief and we will treat it accordingly.

How far ahead should I start planning?

For June to October, the festive weeks, or anything with an exclusive-use villa attached, nine to twelve months ahead is realistic: the best camps hold six to twenty rooms and fill early. Green-season plans are far more forgiving.

Can you arrange the international flights as well?

Yes. Internal flights and transfers are part of every itinerary we design, and our IATA accreditation lets us ticket international flights too. We quote them separately from the land arrangements so you can compare routes and cabins properly.

What do you need from me to start?

Approximate dates, the number of travellers and the ages of any children, a rough per-person budget, and anything that is genuinely non-negotiable. Everything else we can shape together.

Keep reading

Related safari planning pages

African safari packages South Africa safari packages The complete luxury safari guide Best time to travel, region by region Villa or lodge?

Designed around you

Tell us who is travelling, and we will design the rest.

The safari brief takes about ten minutes. A specialist reads it and replies within one working day, with questions rather than a template.

Plan your safari
Plan your safari