Flexible Trips

Flexible Trips are truly our specialty and make up the majority of the work we do for our clients.

WHAT, WHERE, WHEN

A Flexible Trip combines your interests, desired destinations, travel dates and budget. Typically, first-time visitors to a country or region are interested in seeing a wide sampling of the different options possible. Guests returning on a second or subsequent visit may choose to see places they have not previously seen, or alternatively, they may wish to return to a favorite destination once again... either way, a flexible trip offers you versatility to make it the perfect trip for you.

PRICING

Our Flexible Trips can be tailored to suit your tastes and budget.

GROUP SIZE

Flexible Trips can be created for any number of guests from a single traveler to couples, families, groups or a combination of the above. 

EXCLUSIVITY

Flexible Trips can be enhanced further by including private activities, private transfers and private guides. An exclusive-use vehicle means that you have added flexibility in terms of activities and daily schedules. A private guide that travels with you throughout adds great value to your experience.

TRIP IDEAS

To assist you in planning your Flexible Trip, we have created sample itineraries that offer suggestions for what to see, what to do, and how much time to spend in a destination. These sample itineraries are helpful as a planning tool and we invite you to browse them. If one of our Flexible Trips appeals to you, we will then tailor it for your dates, group size and budget.

Our Specialty

Flexible African safaris are truly our specialty and make up the majority of trips that we assist our clients in planning. A flexible trip simply focuses on a combination of a guest's interests and desired destinations. Typically, guests who are first-time travelers to Africa are interested in seeing a wide sampling of the many different options possible. Those guests who are returning visitors may want to tailor their trip to places they have not previously seen, or alternatively, they may wish to return to a favorite destination once again.

Whatever the case, the flexible trip is our specialty and we make certain that your itinerary is perfectly suited to your interests and time frame. With the variety of safari camps, lodges, and hotels and the supporting infrastructure we have available through our various operators, we can organize any African adventure in any of the African countries we market. No two Africa trips are the same! Contact us with your needs and requirements and we will come up with an Africa vacation to suit your specifications.

Characteristics of an African Safari

The options and characteristics of a safari are varied and available depending upon your specific goals and budget.

Fly-In Safaris

Some African safaris have daily, weekly or set departures all year round, and many of the itineraries are flexible and can be adjusted to suit a guest's particular interests and time frame. Most of these African safaris are hosted by a different guide in each new camp or destination visited. The key ingredient in all these African safaris is that they involve flying from one camp's airstrip to the next. This flying can become one of the highlights of the African safari as one can experience a bird's eye view of the entire area.

Cross-Country, overland or boat safaris

Another, more traditional style of African safari includes some travel by road or boat, with a variety of accommodation in permanent and/or mobile tented camps, an experienced guide who accompanies the group from the start to the finish, and sometimes, set departure dates. Individuals and small parties can book onto a particular departure and get the benefit of group pricing. These African safaris are typically limited to a maximum of eight guests.

PRIVATE GUIDE

For special interest trips, or for travelers who just wish to be accompanied by an expert, we also offer privately guided custom African safaris. To enhance their experience, some guests request that we include the services of a naturalist, photographer, or birding expert to guide and accompany their group for all or part of the African safari. The real benefit of this service is that the guide soon gets to know the group's interests and needs and can then tailor the experience to meet those requirements. The private guide can influence the experience at each camp and as the group moves from area to area.

A good guide or naturalist can turn a good African safari into a great African safari through their exceptional all-round skills. Depending upon the group size, a light aircraft may be chartered for the entire African safari and the guide travels with the group throughout. There are even a handful of superb guides who are pilots and can guide and fly your party throughout the African safari.

PRIVATE VEHICLE

Most of the safari camps in Africa use 4x4 vehicles of varying passenger seating configurations for wildlife drives. The vehicles normally have two or three rows of seats, plus a front seat for the driver and sometimes a front passenger. Each of the rows typically has two or three seats.

For guests with a special interest such as photography or birding or specific species of wildlife or for those who simply wish to have a more private African safari experience, a private vehicle can be arranged at extra cost. The vehicle must be booked separately for each individual camp visited and its availability will depend on the number of vehicles in camp, the guest occupancy in the camp at that time, and whether or not a private vehicle has already been booked by another group at that time.

A private vehicle service can only be guaranteed if you book this in advance (when planning your safari), as some camps/lodges have vehicle restrictions, limiting them by regulation to a maximum number of guests on their land at any given time. We cannot guarantee that the camps will have a spare vehicle and guide/driver available if you wait until you arrive at the camp and try to book on site. If you wish to use a private vehicle, please let us know when we are booking your African safari.