How Do You Know if Your African Safari Is a Good Value?

With so many safari outfitters to choose from, here’s how to know that you’re getting the best bang for your buck.

So, you’ve taken the plunge and decided to go on safari to Africa. Fabulous. African safaris top the travel wish lists for many travelers, and whether you find yourself interested in the big banner spots like Kenya’s Maasai Mara or the slightly lesser traveled national parks of Botswana (one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries), you’ll return with memories to treasure.

But how do you go about choosing a safari outfitter, particularly if safari is a brand-new travel style for you? Specifically, how do you figure out what’s going to be a good value? Do you need to spend five figures on a safari trip, or can it be done for less money?

When I was a travel agent, a huge part of my job was figuring out these types of value comparisons for clients, so I dug in with two of the larger, most experienced safari outfitters in Africa—Tauck Tours and Abercrombie & Kent—to figure out exactly how their itineraries compared.

The Scenario

We decided to make a comparison between two package safaris for Botswana. We tried to get them as close as possible in comparison, but one of the things we learned is that although many of the packages are put together in advance, the companies don’t seem to replicate each other’s itineraries exactly, so you won’t typically be doing an apples-to-apples comparison.

It’s also worth noting that these are luxury operators. The accommodations are top-notch, and the groups are shepherded through the entire itinerary by expert local guides and everything, down to the gratuities for baggage handling, is included in the price. We also liked that both companies have extensive experience—Tauck has been in operation for over a century; A&K for over sixty years.

It’s important to explain that there are cheaper ways to visit these destinations, but some of the lessons we learned researching these packages can also be helpful to travelers booking on their own, or in lower accommodation categories.

The packages we chose to compare for departure in June 2025 (peak season for travel to the region) were Abercrombie & Kent’s 10-Night Botswana Safari in Style from $22,395 per person based on double occupancy, and Tauck’s 12-Night Botswana, South Africa, and Zambia from $16,690 per person based on double occupancy.

The Price Comparisons 

Now, you might immediately wonder, “Why is the A&K package so much more, even though it’s two nights shorter?”

The short answer is it’s important where those nights are spent. Wilderness lodges are exponentially more expensive than city hotels. Adding up the number of nights spent at remote lodges, the A&K package totals eight nights in Botswana’s Chobe National Park and the Okavango Delta. The Tauck package, while longer, includes six nights at remote lodges (the other five nights are spent in Livingstone, Zambia, and Cape Town, South Africa).

Both packages follow a roughly similar progression through the region. The Tauck package begins in Livingstone, Zambia, for Victoria Falls, before continuing to Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, before continuing to Cape Town, South Africa.

A&K’s package begins and ends in Johannesburg, South Africa. The A&K trip starts with an overnight in Johannesburg and flies the group to Livingstone, Zambia, for two nights, then crossing to the Zimbabwe side of the Zambezi River for Victoria Falls (country-counting travelers will get a total of four countries on this itinerary) before continuing to Botswana’s Chobe National Park, the Okavango Delta, and returning to Johannesburg for same-day flights onward or returning home. An optional post-tour is available for travelers wanting to visit Cape Town, and those opting for that can depart on a nonstop flight from Maun.

So, when we compare the packages, we find that a bigger chunk of the A&K package is spent in full-board (that is, meals and beverages—and oftentimes laundry services—included) safari lodges. But what about where those lodges are located? There are some slight geographic differences in the package that an A&K spokesperson noted also affected the cost, specifically the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan region compared to Chobe National Park.

Another big consideration for this part of Africa is considering the cost of internal flights. A&K values the internal flights included in their package at $2,400 per person upfront on their website, and that’s five flights: commercial airline flights from Johannesburg to Livingstone, Zambia, and from Maun, Botswana back to Johannesburg, plus two small aircraft charters from Chobe National Park to Okavango Delta, and onward to Maun, and a helicopter transfer between camps in the Okavango Delta.

The Tauck package includes five flights: a small aircraft from the Chobe River to the Okavango Delta, another within the Okavango Delta, another to Makgadikgadi Pans, a return flight to Maun, and an onward flight to Cape Town. There’s also a helicopter game-viewing trip while at Eagle Island Lodge in the Okavango Delta. A Tauck spokesperson valued the flights included in their package at $2,000.

The small aircraft charters are where the price comparison can vary significantly because the aircraft often transport travelers one way and then return to their base empty, which is factored into the cost. Group travelers often have an advantage here, as arranging the flights on an ad-hoc basis can be even more expensive, and large outfitters typically benefit from negotiated pricing.

As an extra check, I compared the cost of flights and accommodations on both itineraries to what it would cost travelers to book them individually. For both A&K and Tauck, the combined cost of the accommodations and flights came to around $1,000 less than their package price—a difference easily made up by the cost of the internal transport, park entrance fees, gratuities, meals, and other components included in the price of the package. In short, it’s virtually impossible to replicate the value of the package price by booking the components separately on your own.

In fact, there’s a kind of bliss in paying a single package price for the whole trip—perhaps it’s less sticker shock overall than seeing that two nights at Chief’s Camp runs $8,700 per person (I’ve been there; it’s worth it).

Both companies also generally pay lower bulk rates to the accommodations and charter operators than individual travelers would. In the case of A&K, they also own and operate each of the lodges. A&K will also tailor an itinerary for travelers who would prefer to swap out portions of the trip for other regions or accommodations that are of greater interest, but it’s generally at a higher cost.

The Experience Comparisons

Many of the differences in experience appear to be taste preferences—again, the packages are similar but quite different.

Abercrombie & Kent touted the value of starting and ending the journey in Johannesburg, which is a more accessible airport for travelers coming from North America and Europe without a forced overnight en route. Traveling as a group into Zambia and returning from Botswana can also take some of the shlep out of the itinerary as all the travel outside Johannesburg is then coordinated as a group. Another preferential difference on the A&K tour is the viewing of Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe side of the river, where the majority of the falls lie (only about a quarter of their total footprint is viewable from Zambia).

Another major difference is swapping Chobe National Park (A&K) for Makgadikgadi Salt Pan (Tauck). Aside from the price comparisons, travelers should consider their trip goals. Chobe National Park is known for its large concentration of elephants (there are also plenty of hippos, lions, giraffes, buffalo, and other wildlife), while Makgadikgadi Salt Pans are known for a large zebra migration between December and March and for pink flamingo populations during the wetter months.

The accommodation styles are also different. The Tauck accommodations lean more toward glamping experiences (they’re still quite luxe), but it’s also worth noting that Camp Kalahari in the Makgadikgadi Salt Pan is a bit more bush than the accommodations on the A&K tour. Air conditioning, internet, and cell service are not available, there’s also no electricity for charging devices in the tents. The A&K itinerary sticks to A&K Sanctuary accommodations, which are more “indoor” units with the creature comforts one might typically expect in a hotel, including WiFi and electrical outlets.

A&K also throws in a couple of other niceties to enhance their package, including a professional photographer at the first night’s dinner in Johannesburg to give travelers photo and camera tips, and airport lounge access in Johannesburg for a bit of relaxation before their flight home. A&K also sends travelers a safari duffel prior to travel that meets all the luggage restrictions of each of the small aircraft flights on the journey (there’s storage for larger luggage available at the airport in Johannesburg if guests are arriving from or continuing onward to other travels).

Tauck notes that all the components of their tour are part of the tour price, including a helicopter trip over the Okavango Delta. (A&K sells a limited number of premium extra experiences on some itineraries).

The Takeaway

Travelers on either trip are going to have a spectacular time, as both companies have done a great job laying out exactly what their itineraries include and what type of experience their travelers can expect (Tauck is quite upfront when facilities on the itinerary don’t include electricity or wi-fi).

Both companies also provide exhaustive detail prior to booking about luggage restrictions, entry requirements for each country on the itinerary, and specific (as possible, given that travel in Africa doesn’t always go exactly as planned) timings for each day on the trip.

With any of these itineraries, there are also great resources to contact. Both companies have well-trained reservationists available to answer questions during the booking phase, and as with any trip, an experienced travel consultant is invaluable during the planning process.