PRACTICAL & PROVEN
The questions you should ask
When to go. What to pack. What flying between lodges actually involves. Visa rules, malaria realities, packing weights. Useful answers, written without the marketing voice.
Read these before you book anything
HOW WE THINK ABOUT THESE
We answer the question, then the next one
Most safari planning advice online is written to rank on Google. It hedges. It never tells you what is actually true. We write the opposite. If a region is worse in March, we say so. If a lodge is overpriced for what it offers, we say so. If a transfer route is bumpy and four hours long, we put that in the first paragraph.
Some of these are short answers, the kind you read on your phone in a queue. Others are longer because the question deserves it. Cost. Season. Comparison. Logistics. Health. The pieces that turn a vague idea into a confirmed booking.
45 pieces
Browse the guides
Guides
How to read a safari quote: what all-inclusive really covers
Two quotes for the same week can sit a long way apart and both be honest. Here is what each line covers, what all-inclusive really means, and where the differences hide.
Guides
Safari specialist or big operator: who should plan your safari?
A fair look at when a large safari operator is the better call, when a small specialist is, when to book direct, and what to ask any of them before you pay.
Guides
Kruger park fees are going up: what it means for your safari quote
New Kruger fees start on 1 November. Here is who actually pays them, and why most Greater Kruger guests pay a reserve levy instead.
Guides
Greater Kruger in summer: is a hot, dry season still worth it?
A hotter, drier summer is on the cards. Here is what that means for your days in the bush, from people who live here.
Guides
Gay travel in South Africa: an honest safari and city guide
Cape Town, Johannesburg and the bush: an honest guide for gay and lesbian couples planning South Africa.
Guides
Where the herds are: the Great Migration month by month
The migration moves all year. Here is where the herds tend to be in each season, and how we plan a trip around them.
Guides
Walking safari: why you see Africa differently on foot
You cover less ground on foot, and somehow you see much more.
Guides
Planning your first safari? Start with the people who can hear the hyenas
What we would tell you about your first safari if you sat down at our kitchen table. There is usually gin.
Guides
Is a safari safe for gay and lesbian couples?
An honest, country-by-country answer for same-sex couples planning a safari.
Guides
Botswana has water again. Here is what that means for your safari.
Botswana is having a stronger water year. Here is what that changes, and why the right lodge and the right week still matter more than a brochure month.
Guides
Sandringham Private Game Reserve: should you go early, or wait?
Greater Kruger's newest reserve opens in August 2026. Our honest take on who should book Sandringham early, and who should give it a few seasons.
Guides
South Africa's online traveller declaration: what it means for your safari (and what it doesn't)
A five-minute customs form now stands between you and the arrivals hall. Here's what it is, who needs it, and what nothing to declare actually means for a normal safari guest.
WHEN YOU HAVE READ ENOUGH
We will plan the rest
A good guide saves an hour. A planner saves a week. Once you have a sense of where and when, send us what you are thinking. We will pressure-test it and come back with the version that works.
Start with a conversation