Affordable African Safaris

A safari is nearly always more than you want to spend. Faced with this reality, sometimes you may decide to increase your budget but that may not be possible. Here are some of our more affordable safaris and less expensive safari lodges and camps…

Scroll for more

Overview

What on earth do we mean by “Affordable African Safaris”? Elsewhere we’ve talked about how a safari is often more than you want to spend. And that's true. So on this page, we focus on lodges and areas which are on the affordable side of this spectrum.

PRO TIP: Make sure you budget considerably more for your nights on safari within a trip. You may want to economize in other ways - See our page on Africa Safari Pricing for some rough per night prices - in order to know what to budget for good private game reserves.

Below are some of our more affordable African safaris and less expensive game lodges and camps.

These tend to be - though not exclusively - in South Africa or Namibia, Here the Rand is relatively weak versus the world currencies giving you better value for your money. Also our sample South Africa safari tours usually include non-safari areas such as Cape Town or the Garden Route. This naturally brings down the overall cost.

(Plus you can easily opt to self-drive in the Cape which brings down the cost still more.)

What do you get at OUR affordable game lodges?

In this world of online travel sites, it’s easy to get confused as to why a game lodge is comparatively inexpensive. All game reserves are NOT created equal. So if a game lodge seems very reasonable, you need to ask why? When choosing an affordable African safari, we steer clear of the lesser game reserves. (They may say they are Big Five reserves but how many of each species do they really have? And are they free-roaming?)

You are looking for a proper safari and not a zoo experience.

Instead we focus on the affordable game lodges which are in good game-viewing areas. The accommodation will be simpler, the food not so elegant. Yes, the guiding may be a little less refined. But you will be on safari in the same terrain as much more expensive lodges, tracking the same wildlife.

Similarly some of the lesser known game reserves in remote areas offer a fantastic safari experience. That's why you need to talk to the safari experts! (End of small rant.)

As long as you have the correct expectations, these affordable lodges can be every bit as good as their pricier cousins.

Note: Below we highlight affordable game lodges for their area.

Cedarberg was very thorough
"Cedarberg was very thorough , helpful and easy to deal with. Very comprehensive information pack. " - Mrs Pamela Bailey
Hope to return for a third visit
"Helpful, patient, understanding. Did not meet anyone face to face but seemed friendly over the email. Although the trip was basically our design, it was good to work with Peter in deciding the actu ..." - Mr & Mrs Harrison, UK
Great itenerary
"The service that Cedarberg provided for us was outstanding. The itinerary that they put together worked seamlessly, all the pick ups were as they had stated and whenever we had a query about any a ..." - Mr Kevin Wilson
Clearly experts on South Africa!
"Very helpful on the phone and by email. Lots of detailed advice and clearly experts on South Africa! Would definitely use again and have already recommended to friends. " - Ms Abrahams, UK
Special memories
"I would like to thank you for the very full and comprehensive travel documents you put together for us – it made our trip so easy! The organisation was perfect and it was so helpful to have c ..." - Mr Mo Hemsley, UK
 
Find me the best in for
Namibia was as wonderful as ever and didn't fail to impress third time around !
"Namibia was as wonderful as ever and didn’t fail to impress third time around ! Thank you for arranging it and for your patience and understanding. It can’t have been easy to kee ..." - Mr Andy
Great to deal with
"Cedarberg were really great to deal with. The Drakensberg mountains were spectacular. We most enjoyed Victoria Falls that literally took your breath away.  The river boat cruises at Livingstone we ..." - Mr Martin Butler, UK
The trip was amazing
"I will write in detail about all the places. In the meantime, I just wanted to write you a quick note to say THANK YOU so much for putting a wonderful trip together for our family. From the beginni ..." - Mr Gord Dubey, USA
Ginny's advice was spot on
"Ginny’s advice was spot on – the locations, pace of trip and quality of accommodation was superb. The 2 slightly different safari areas also worked out well and it was great that our be ..." - Mr Matthew Campbell
We honestly had the trip of a life time and it was a magical time for our whole family.
"We honestly had the trip of a life time and it was a magical time for our whole family. From the animals in the Serengeti to the palm fringed perfect beaches of Zanzibar it was two weeks we will ne ..." - Jos Palmer
 
staff image

Kate Bergh

AFRICAN TRAVEL SPECIALIST

Hi I'm Kate, I'm here to help you plan your ideal holiday experience GET IN TOUCH