Our Safari Travel Planner

Until now, we haven’t covered much of “safari Africa” because it’s not something you can approach like a list of favorite restaurants and hotels throughout Italy, routes for island-hopping in Greece, road trips across Spain, best ryokans in Japan, or other topics we’ve tackled in our previous Travel Planners. Safari travel requires expert knowledge—of landscapes, seasonality, flight routes, safety, guiding, lodge quality, and community relationships—and the kind of deep local contacts that don’t easily translate to a DIY menu. As our call for your questions confirmed, even very seasoned travelers often don’t know where to begin beyond the Serengeti and Masai Mara, now practically synonymous with the tourist-swarmed Great Migration.

So I’ve framed this more like a safari primer, built around your questions and ours, starting with the basics: the best trips for first timers? Ideal time of year to go? Best bush-to-beach pairings? How to witness the Migration or Big Five without the crowds? An actually affordable way to go? And then branching into safari trips for families, solo travelers, design and food lovers, birders, or nature-immersive types… all the way to: “What if you want to live off the map/experience the back of beyond?” (Me!)

To help answer these, I’ve hand-picked a group of safari travel specialists. Yes, you can plan your own safari (and we have some tips on how to do so), but I don’t recommend it. A good advisor/fixer/tour operator will interpret the kind of experience you want—wildlife, culture, adventure, city or beach add-ons—while factoring in budget (safaris can get very expensive, though we have advice on how to save), timing, number of travelers, and countless logistics to design a successful journey, incorporating places and experiences you’d never find on your own.

So that is also my aim here: to pull your curiosity beyond the usual suspects and toward other extraordinary ecosystems across sub-Saharan Africa: Namibia’s wild coastline with its desert-adapted giraffes; the Zambezi River in Zambia teeming with elephants, hippos and birdlife; Botswana’s Makgadikgadi pans, home to famously curious meerkats; forest elephants of the Republic of Congo; Madagascar’s rainforests and their peeping lemurs; community run-conservancies that preserve wild spaces and empower Indigenous cultures. These places offer experiences every bit as magical as the big names, and your visit genuinely helps protect landscapes under real pressure of vanishing (or turning into avocado farms) and supporting local livelihoods and human/wildlife coexistence. Also, we have recs that I hope will persuade you to stay longer in cities like Cape Town and Nairobi, as well as others that are often overlooked by international travelers, from Johannesburg, SA to Arusha, TZ.  

Every specialist below can deliver an amazing trip. Some have particular geographical expertise; others excel with families, ultra-luxury, or daring and raw adventures. I’ve traveled with a few (or sent writers to do so) and known others for years; I’d climb into a bush plane or helicopter with any of them. Use the list below the way you’d go about choosing a therapist, considering philosophy, background, specialization, chemistry. (Credit for the answers goes to their entire teams; these trips are never a one-person operation.) I also asked a handful of writer/photographer/PR friends who are extremely seasoned safari travelers for their honest intel as well.

Apologies for the length of it all! But I want to arm you with as much info as possible to shape the trip of a lifetime. That said, I know from experience that once you’ve been, you’ll wonder why you’ve been waiting until a milestone birthday/anniversary/fill-in-the-blank special occasion, and you’ll inevitably want to go back. —Alex Postman, YOLO Deputy Editor 

THE SAFARI TRAVEL SPECIALISTS

Cherri Briggs, founder and owner of Explore, Inc.
When we decided to do an Africa issue at Conde Nast Traveler but had, at that point, little on-staff expertise, Cherri came in to save the day, unfolding a giant map of the entire continent and regaling us with story ideas, from tracking lemurs in Madagascar to canoeing and walking across the Okavango Delta in Botswana (which she later organized for me, one of my favorite trips!). Adventure is deeply embedded in Cherri’s DNA, as she comes from a family of pioneers who founded the town of Twin Falls, Idaho, after dropping off the wagon train. Africa captured her imagination in girlhood, and in 1992 she founded Explore to share her love of the continent’s wild places, wildlife, and indigenous cultures. She spends part of the year at her homes in Cape Town and Southern Zambia, where Explore founded and supports several women’s cooperatives and girls’ education initiatives. Her executive director of custom travel and fellow wild-woman adventurer, Katie McDonough, based in Steamboat Springs, CO, has worked with Cherri for 21 years and contributed to the answers below.

Deborah Calmeyer, founder and CEO, ROAR Africa
An 11^th generation African born in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Deb brings a personal understanding of the continent’s landscapes, cultures and wildlife. (Fun fact: she was raised alongside her family’s pet lion!) In that vein, she approaches her ultra-luxe journeys—bespoke and group departures—with a fierce conviction to support local community, ecological preservation, and women’s empowerment; she’s known for her Women’s Empowerment Retreats, which highlight women in the industry overturning cultural barriers in roles like guiding and antipoaching. She’s also found a niche in private jet travel, and her Greatest Safari on Earth explores Africa’s iconic wildlife destinations: Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda over 12 days aboard the Emirates Private Jet (indeed, not for the bargain-hunter!). She spends 5 months of the year in Africa with her team of 40 on the ground. I’ve traveled twice with Deb, and hers are seamlessly luxe journeys in which airport lines are skipped and helicopters whisk you to lunch, but also all soulfully and thoughtfully crafted.

Henrietta Loyd, founder and director, Cazenove + Loyd
I first met Hen over lunch at CN Traveler and was struck by the spirit of this most polished Brit in pearl earrings and silk scarf who recounted wild tales of living in Botswana and running a lodge during the 1980s. That’s where she launched Cazenove+Loyd, now based in London, before deepening her expertise and ties to guides and luxury lodge owners across East and Southern Africa. In 1997 she was joined by her terrifically knowledgeable colleague Christopher Wilmot-Sitwell, and together C+L, based in London, specialize in 68 destinations across the Americas, Africa, The Arctic and Scandinavia, Asia and the Middle East, Australasia and The Pacific Islands, conducting both small group trips and bespoke itineraries.

Jenna Coiley, Africa travel specialist, Timbuktu Travel
A few years ago, I took a memorable trip to Akagera National Park in Rwanda (where rhinos had just been returned for the first time since the genocide) organized by Timbuktu, Cape Town-based tour operators who work across Africa, Asia and Latin America. While my guide is no longer with them, I know the company is able to deliver both high-end bush-and-beach excursions as well as a more rugged exploration of an emerging place like the Republic of Congo. US-based travel specialist Jenna Coiley, who knew safari was her calling after first visiting Kenya in 2014, says, “The few destinations that I could sell over and over again without hesitation are Lower Zambezi, Zambia; Masai Mara, Kenya; Chem Chem Concession, Tanzania; and Sabi Sands, South Africa.” One unique aspect is how they’ve introduced tech to the planning process, with an online trip planner lets you explore new destinations, play with budgets and hotels, then the team personalizes the details.

Julian Carter-Manning, director and founder, Yellow Zebra
I recently met Julian and immediately appreciated both his emotional intelligence and depth of knowledge. Although he has never lived in Africa, he started working for a UK-based safari specialist in London right after college and has been traveling there extensively for 25 years. He launched Yellow Zebra in 2012, specializing in luxury African safaris, and has designed and overseen approximately 5,000 trips to the continent, with clients across the US and UK—first-timers, honeymooners, and solo travelers.

Lisa Lindblad, founder, Lisa Lindblad Travel Design
While Lisa presents as an impeccably dressed, ultra-elegant Upper East Side travel agent, she quickly blew my mind with wild tales of her initiation into travel: an overland journey from London to Nairobi more than 50 years ago, and subsequent time spent in the Serengeti and the Masai Mara, working on films and living with the Maasai. She has returned to Africa every year and developed (alongside her team) expertise in most corners of the world, designing custom itineraries for individuals, families and groups. Her philosophy on safari travel has changed over time, she says. “Understanding that many people still only desire game viewing, I would like to try to reintroduce the diversity of what one can experience in each country, which means traveling slower, digging deeper, understanding what each individual traveler is passionate about, and working harder to present a more interesting and representative picture.”

Michael Lorentz, co-founder, Safarious
I was introduced to Michael by the deeply authoritative travel journalist Sophy Roberts (also a contributor to this Planner), who tended to turn to him for some of her trickier logistical assignments and in transitional landscapes managed by African Parks, most recently journeying together to witness the giant antelope migration of South Sudan. From an early age, Michael has followed his naturalist’s heart and restless curiosity into some of the wildest corners of Africa. Over 40+ years, he has guided safaris through landscapes as varied as the floodplains of Chad, the Namib Desert, and the forests of Central Africa, drawing on the depth of knowledge and relationships he has built across the continent. (And beyond: he also does Antarctica and the Galápagos.) Whether in the ice or the desert, the Safarious approach brings a quiet respect for the natural world and a gift for helping others see and feel the wonder in front of them. Michael is also a wonderful photographer!

Shaun Stanley, founder, Stanley Safaris
I met Shaun through Gabi Sappock at Imagine PR, who represents some of Africa’s top safari brands including Singita and Natural Selection (she also contributed to this Planner), and I completely trust her very discerning taste in clients! A South Africa native based in Johannesburg, Shaun has been exploring Africa his whole life, first with his parents and then as a safari guide in Zambia and Zimbabwe and a wildlife-focused tour operator (he also drove 22,000 km from South Africa across the continent). He started Stanley Safaris in 2020 with a focus on luxury, bespoke safaris, and partnering with boutique, privately owned camps and lodges with a strong commitment to local conservation and community initiatives in the areas where they operate.

Teresa Sullivan, co-founder, Mango African Safaris
An Oregon native, Teresa is a lifelong adventurer turned boutique luxury tour operator, creating personalized journeys across Africa. She travels to the continent many times each year—going on safari, exploring Cape Town and other cities, and discovering unique independent hotels and lodges from Madagascar to Marrakech. Often traveling with her husband and their two daughters, now 15 and 18, Teresa has a terrific instinct for designing elevated family safaris—I’ll never forget meeting her for the first time and marveling at photos of her girls looking so at home in the bush and wishing for some of that freedom and familiarity for my own kids. Those values and her knowledge shape the experience-driven itineraries she curates for her clients.

Will Bolsover, founder & CEO, Natural World Safaris
Will’s passion for primates led him in 2005 to launch World Primate Safaris, which then led to World Big Cat Safaris and World Bear Safaris, before becoming what is now Natural World Safaris (NWS) across 40+ destinations. That career is defined by firsts: He led the first-ever gorilla treks in Gabon and was the first to place a guest in front of a Siberian tiger. He and his team of experts collaborate on their journeys with conservationists, photographers, historians, and scientists, who often share their skills and insights with guests, in destinations from the Arctic to Argentina. I love meeting with Will, as he is always alight with excitement over one new adventure or another and spectacular wildlife sightings. He is also a father of three young boys who he loves to explore the world with, so he knows from experience what can make or break a family trip. (You can see our Navigator Q&A with him here.)

Will Jones, CEO and Founder, Journeys By Design
Raised in six African countries, Will Jones—who in person, come to think of it, embodies some of the wild expeditionary spirit of his namesake Indiana—has spent over 30 years exploring the continent, from founding Ethiopia’s first ecotourism camp to guiding guests across East Africa. He set up Journeys by Design in 1999, and designs trips that aim to balance adventure with connection, whether leading paleontologists to Lucy’s discovery site or arranging helicopter-accessed camps in Kenya’s most remote corners. (He is also part of African Parks’ elite private guide network.) Although his trips do cover classic safari destinations such as Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Botswana, you definitely want to call Will if you want a privately guided expedition that is adventurous, exclusive, high-impact, and off-the-tourist-map, be it South Sudan or camels in Laikipia.

Go2Africa Africa Safari Experts
Contributors: Lauren Barnard, Justin Chapman, Monique Wilson, Arista Vollgraaff, and Managing Director, Maija de Rijk-Uys.
Based in Cape Town, Go2Africa is a tour operator with more than 130 safari experts and expertise across 15 countries. Though I’ve never worked with the team, they are represented by a PR friend with a very selective client list, and I suspect their services may come at a more approachable price point than some of the others on this list. They are also a B Corp, so you can be assured that each adventure contributes to conservation and local communities.

OUR OTHER EXPERTS!

Brooke Berlin is the founder of Karoo Consulting, a biz dev and marketing company focused on promoting low-footprint, high-impact luxury travel to Africa and supporting conservation and community non-profits. Brooke has been exploring the continent for 20 years and has been to 25 of Africa’s 54 countries, most multiple times. She lived in Cape Town before meeting her South African husband, brings a love of the modern, urban elements of African cities to her work, and likes to showcase artists, designers, musicians and more alongside the wildlife opportunities in the various corners of the continent. Some of her favorite experiences in Africa: participating in a rhino notching and elephant rescue; working with designers in Lusaka, Accra and Nairobi; visiting with tribes in the Omo Valley, Nubian Desert and West Africa; and gorilla trekking in Uganda, Rwanda and Congo!

Chris Wallace is a writer and photographer whose biography of the late photographer and conservationist Peter Beard, Twentieth-Century Man (Ecco Press), was published in 2023. He has made several trips to Africa over the last few years, including a Cape-to-Cairo sojourn over three months in 2024. 

Gabriele Sappok is the co-founder of Imagine, a travel and lifestyle PR agency based in New York. The company’s first clients were African safari companies and hotels across the continent, including Singita, one of the leading luxury safari brands—and she’s been hooked ever since. For the past 20 years, Gabi has been traveling throughout Africa, still being inspired by its beauty, people, and wild places

Jessica Antola is a photographer and writer whose travels have always informed and inspired her work, from West Papua to Antarctica, Tibet to Myanmar, and Sub-Saharan Africa, which was the focus of her monograph, Circadian Landscape (Damiani). She has traveled through 21 African countries, several of them more than once, returning to landscapes and communities that continue to inspire her. 

Mary Holland is a South African writer based in New York. Born in the Eastern Cape, she grew up between there and Cape Town, and her family also spent time living in Eswatini. As a child she frequently traveled to the bush with her family, and over the years she has explored widely across southern and eastern Africa, and visited parts of north, west and central Africa, too. She has written for the Financial Times, Condé Nast Traveler, WSJ and more. Mary is also the New York correspondent for Monocle magazine.

Michelle Faucheux is a travel writer, photographer, and a devotee of refined wanderlust. She recently launched her boutique travel company, The Curated Passenger, which curates tailored experiences with a focus on East Africa and Egypt. After more than a decade exploring Kenya and Tanzania from top to bottom, she is also involved in local conservation projects and believes in giving back to the community with every safari dollar spent. Stay tuned for immersive artist and writing retreats launching in 2026.

Sophy Roberts is a celebrated British journalist and author with a passion for uncovering untold stories in overlooked places. I credit Sophy with teaching me most of what I know about sub-Saharan Africa, as I had the privilege of being her editor at CN Traveler, where she wrote the most vivid and penetrating dispatches from everywhere from Madagascar and Chad to Laikipia, Kenya (a story she finished reporting on a satellite phone from a Siberian jail, but that is a story for another time). Sophy’s first book, The Lost Pianos of Siberia, received critical acclaim for its compelling blend of travel narrative and historical exploration. Her second, A Training School for Elephants, was just published, and retraces a long-forgotten expedition through Africa while delving into the complexities of colonial history and its enduring impacts.

…And now, on to your questions!