10 Reasons for Private African Safari vs Group Travel

African safari can be on a bucket list of many people, but when the time comes to plan it, you may be overwhelmed with choices. There are group and private guided safaris, self-drives, and combinations of each.

We already have a blog on South vs East Africa and the best season for African safaris, so in this blog, I’ll focus on the benefits of going on private African safaris as opposed to group travel. Here I’m talking about private safari game drives vs shared ones and also nongame drive trips, like overland tours.

In some destinations, however, having your private guide will still not allow you to self-drive in the park, but in many other places, you will. Usually, if you are in a private reserve, you have to take their game drives and cannot drive your own car.

Let’s start the list:

1.

Choose precisely what you want to see. This is probably the most obvious benefit of traveling privately. If you don’t have a group, you create a trip as flexible as you are. I personally find it very hard to find a fitting group tour. Often I will make a list of places I want to see and then I spend hours looking for fitting tours. A lot of the time I cannot find a perfect trip if it’s a group tour.

2.

Spend as much or as little time at your destination. Don’t want to see the capital and prefer to go to the safari as soon as possible? Or maybe you want to pamper yourself and want to stay in the wine region more than in the national park. My partner doesn’t like museums and a lot of tours have them. I don’t like visiting capital cities as I rather go to nature as soon as possible. You can do it as you please when you travel on a private tour.

3.

Receive the guide’s undivided attention. When we talk about safari itself, safari trucks usually have 9 seats. Depending on the size of your group you may be in a car full of strangers (a good way to make friends though). But if you have questions this may be harder for you to get answers and full experience.

4.

Focus on your favorite animal. This is following the previous benefit. Recently we went on safari with a group in a private game reserve and they didn’t allow self-driving. There was a full truck and everyone had different interests. For most people, it was their first safari and they were inexperienced. But the worst part for us was when we were looking for giraffes and zebras instead of spending time with lions. People just were bored of them and were excited about a game, while we were more shocked by this priority.

5.

Be better protected. What I mean by that is when you have group travel, especially for bigger groups, you often see “free time” on the itinerary. This will mean you can stay at the hotel or go and explore the area by yourself. And I always believe having a local by your side is a good idea, whether you’re in Italy or South Africa. Even shopping with a guide will be easier as they know real prices, places, and customs. But there are also myriad other little things you want to know, like how to pay for parking or are the people truly friendly or just want something. I can continue the list of these little things forever, but the bottom line is: that your guide is your friend while you’re abroad.

6.

Get the best seats every time. This is funny and may not even come to anyone’s mind, but in reality, I see a lot of times people get assigned seats or when they are in a group they tend to keep their seats for the whole duration of the tour. I find it slightly annoying, as I like to change places as every seat offers different perspectives. This is true about big buses and trucks. I don’t want to be stuck in the back row just because the first time someone came early and took all the good seats. But when you are on a private African safari you will get the best seat every time.

7.

Private African safaris are safer. Here I’m talking about health (and already talked about cultural safety). You will be only with your group and with your guide. This is it. No more coughing people in your space! After the Covid pandemic, this is very important. Many diseases, including Covid, are all around us. You can have the same car for the whole trip (some group tours do it too, but a lot of time you change everything at each location).

8.

Private African safaris are relaxed. Yes, you do have a schedule but you made it yourself. Also, you can alter it. Want to sleep in? Go for it. You don’t have to wait for people loading and unloading from the bus, waiting for people who are late, stressed out from those who talk loudly on the phone on the bus, or screaming children (unless they are yours). When you already paying money for the safari you rather have a truly good time.

9.

You will see more local hidden gems. Those are not for everyone, otherwise, they wouldn’t be hidden gems. Local watering holes, markets, or just cool sunset points. All of it will be available for those who go private. You can also go to some uncrowded places where group tours usually cover the highlights. With private African safaris, you can dive deeper into the country’s culture and see way more great little things.

10.

Private African safaris are exclusive. These trips are yours and only yours. It was tailored to you, with all the important details. It’s one of a kind and will be remembered differently. In our world where it is busy and crowded everywhere, where people are often moving in masses, having schedules and places to be, it is very nice to have a break from it all and just focus on yourself. And private tours will truly be custom fit to you and flow with your preferences.

 We traveled far and wide and this is one of the reasons we would never choose group tours. We love to do self-drives and private tours and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Self-drive will offer the same benefits as a private tour and will be cheaper than a guided tour. Our agency focus is on private guided tours that don’t come at the price of an arm and a leg. While we do offer some exclusive packages, we mainly focus on those who want to be comfortable at a reasonable price.

Check our private guided tours and packages and contact us if you have any questions or need help building your perfect package.