Planning Your First Safari: An Honest Guide

If you’ve never been on safari, almost everything you’ve read is written for people who have. Here’s what actually matters the first time.

Who this is for

You’ve wanted to do this for years. You’re not sure how much it costs, how hard it is, whether it’s safe, or how many days you need. You’d rather ask someone honest than guess from a brochure.

That was us in early 2025.

The four things first-timers get wrong

Trying to see too much. The most common mistake is cramming four countries into ten days. You end up spending your safari in a vehicle on a road. Two countries in eleven days is comfortable. Three is pushing it. One country done properly beats three done badly.

Underestimating transfer time. East African parks are far apart and the roads are slow. A drive that looks like three hours on a map is often seven. This is why we’ll sometimes tell you to fly between parks — not to upsell you, but because a $300 flight can buy back an entire day of game viewing.

Assuming private costs dramatically more. It costs more than a seat on a minibus. It costs far less than most Americans assume, because the largest expenses on a safari — lodges, park fees, permits — are the same whether you share a vehicle or not.

Booking the wrong month. Timing changes what you see more than any other single decision. Our month-by-month guide covers it properly.

How hard is it, physically?

Game drives are easy. You sit in a vehicle. If you can manage a long car journey on rough roads, you can do a safari.

Gorilla trekking is different and people routinely underestimate it. You’re at altitude, on steep ground, often in mud, for anywhere from one to six hours depending on where the family has moved. It isn’t technical and you don’t need to be an athlete — but you need to be able to walk uphill on uneven ground for a few hours. Porters are available and worth every dollar.

We’ll give you a straight assessment based on your fitness, not a sales answer.

Is it safe?

The parts of Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, and Tanzania we operate in are safe for travelers, and you’re with a guide who knows the ground the entire time. We don’t sell the Democratic Republic of Congo — that’s a deliberate decision based on instability, and we’d rather lose that booking than take a chance with someone’s family.

You’ll want travel insurance that covers medical evacuation. We’ll tell you what to look for.

How many days do you need?

Eight days is a realistic minimum for a trip worth the airfare. Ten to twelve is the sweet spot. Under a week, you’ll spend a large fraction of your trip in transit.

Our own first safari was eleven days across Uganda and Kenya — chimpanzees, gorillas, rhinos, and the Great Migration.

What it costs

The honest answer is that it depends on lodge standard, how many parks you’re visiting, whether gorilla permits are involved, and whether you fly or drive between parks. Gorilla permits alone are a significant fixed cost, and they differ substantially between Uganda and Rwanda.

We’ll give you a real number for your actual trip, and we’ll show you where the money goes. If your budget doesn’t match your itinerary, we’ll say so and suggest what to change — fewer parks, a different month, or a different lodge tier.

How planning works

1. Tell us what you have in mind — dates, rough budget, what you most want to see.
2. We talk. A call, not a form letter. Fifteen minutes usually settles most of it.
3. We build an itinerary and price it, and revise it until it’s right.
4. We secure permits and lodges — permits first, since everything else is built around them.
5. Nicholas and his team run the trip on the ground. Barton stays reachable throughout.

No obligation to any of it, and no pressure from us. You’ll hear back within one business day.

Ask us anything