Book a tailor-made safari
For Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, the gorillas and any trip with light-aircraft hops, a specialist earns their fee several times over. Here is how to use one well.
A tailor-made safari is not a package off a shelf. You tell a consultant your dates, your budget, who is travelling and what you most want to see; they come back with an itinerary of camps, the flights between them and the transfers, and they hold it all under one booking. If a camp floods or a flight moves, they fix it. The price is usually the same as booking the camps direct, because the camps pay the operator's commission, not you.
The good operators have consultants who have slept in the camps they sell. The bad ones have a call centre and a brochure. The questions below tell them apart.
What to check before you book
- Have they been there? Ask the consultant which of the camps they are proposing they have personally stayed in. A good one will tell you honestly, including the ones they have not.
- What is the money protection? Look for membership of a bonding scheme (ATOL or ABTA in the UK, SATSA in South Africa, ASTA or USTOA in the US) so your deposit is protected if the operator fails.
- What is included? Park fees, conservation levies, internal flights, transfers, drinks and laundry vary by camp. Ask for a line-by-line list and compare like with like.
- Group size and vehicle policy. Private vehicle or shared? How many guests per vehicle? In the Mara and Serengeti this changes the whole experience.
- Cancellation terms. Camps often take a 30 percent deposit and go non-refundable 60 days out. Know the dates before you pay, and insure the deposit.
- Pace. Two nights per camp is the minimum; three is better. If the itinerary moves you every night, push back.
Who we recommend
Go2Africa is a Cape Town-based specialist with consultants who travel the circuit every year, strong money protection and a reputation for honest advice on which camps suit which months. They cover the whole region we write about.
Related reading
Checked October 2026. Entry rules, fees and seasons change; confirm with official sources before you book.
