Be inspired
Planning is a really exciting part of your trip, there’s lots to consider and we love being part of your journey right from the start.
We are a team of fun and personable travel designers who make the process easy and enjoyable – working closely with you to understand your every wish so that we can design your ultimate trip. We fell in love with Africa during our own travels and are passionate about sharing this connection with you, helping to make the world a better place through friendships between cultures.
We’ll suggest a customized itinerary that we revise and tweak with you until we have got it just right. We involve you throughout, keeping you on-track with visas, making dinner reservations, and meticulously pre-trip planning until you head off on your adventure. We have a detailed pre-departure call for any last-minute questions, and prepare you so that you can sit back and enjoy the journey. We check-in after the trip to hear all about it, and begin to dream with you about your next trip!
Our Values
How pricing works
There are a handful of factors that determine what your package could cost, and we take spending your money very seriously.
After an inspiration conversation, finding out what you are looking for and learning who you are, we consider the variables to craft your custom itinerary. These variables mean the same 12-day trip could cost $10,000 per person or $40,000 per person. We want you to feel in control of the ultimate cost, so your input is critical to our planning success, and designing the perfect trip for you…here are a few of the variables to consider:
Luxury
Africa has incredible properties offering some of the best hospitality and design in the world. From lovely to top luxury, we have you covered – with a focus on the intangibles, like experience and location. Our team visits all of these properties so we know which are worth every penny, where you will savor every moment, and where a moderately-priced gem delivers well above its price point. One of our strengths is having an itinerary build, so if your budget does not stretch to include luxury at every turn, we have you covered, and we can layer luxury as your journey develops, so you end on a high note.
The greatest luxury of Africa is being in a prime wildlife area with few other tourists around, traversing the wilderness with your guide in an open-air, decked-out vehicle. Typically, the better-placed the lodge, the higher the pricing. Good food and comfortable beds come standard, with the true opulence being the wildlife at your doorstep. Location is the real differentiator in rates: bordering the park gate for gorilla trekking, being within walking distance of all the best sites in a city, or at heart of the richest game area on a private conservancy. At seaside destinations, luxury is measured by distance to the water, snorkelling off the beach, swimmable quality, powdery white sand, west-facing for the best sunsets – all affecting resort charges and the experience of staying there. Exclusivity and sharing your environment with few to no other tourists is another layer to consider when budgeting.
Seasonality
Properties charge more during “peak demand” times like summer months of July-August and the festive season in December through New Year. As possible, we advise you on options beyond these limited travel windows. Non-peak times can offer a more exclusive experience and greater value. Spring break and Thanksgiving holidays are great times to travel. If your family needs to travel over peak periods, we suggest countries and areas that aren’t overrun, like sticking to private conservancies instead of staying in some national parks.
We love what people call “shoulder season” or “green season” itineraries… rich in silence, space, flocks of butterflies, lush green grass, wildflowers, and lots of baby animals. Our in-depth knowledge lets us match your interests to suggestions that give you the most value out of your trip.
Transportation
How you travel from place to place is a big factor, and is about striking a balance between saving money and saving time. We know when and where using scheduled flights is easy, where a charter buys you an extra half a day. Flight schedules are the first piece of the puzzle when weaving together destinations to create a multi-dimensional itinerary. Ways to cut costs include taking scheduled flights with stops versus private charters, or driving to a destination instead of flying.
We believe in making transportation part of the experience – we fell in love with Africa traveling by overland truck at 20 miles per hour over seven months! Some scenic drives are really worth your time: affording you close-up experiences of local villages, terraced gardens and school children in brightly colored uniforms.
Other drives mean big highways filled with long-haul truckers and add nothing. In these cases, a quick helicopter ride can save you 2 hours of dusty driving and become an aerial game spotting highlight. Added to this, wildlife safaris are driving-intensive and we need to save your energy and interest for safari drives.
Touring cities has a big impact on cost. Take wine-tasting outside Cape Town: you could independently use the hop-on-hop-off wine train, or we can arrange a private guide who takes you to exclusive vineyards to meet the vintners. In Morocco and Egypt, your walking guide is a separate person from your driver. You get dropped off on one side of the medina, explore the bustling souks and markets and, as you emerge from the other side, your driver is waiting with an air-conditioned car and cold drink – uplifting the entire feel of the day. At the ocean, a real highlight is a boat day! We love to take you to secret beaches, fishing holes and cliffs only reachable by boat.
One of our specialities is being careful about overspending on transportation, while allocating enough budget to experience and enjoy a place fully. Balancing money and time, particularly for limited budgets or short travel duration, and making sure transport options add to your trip.
Trip length
We can create great trips from 7 days, but our average is usually two weeks. Longer trips do cost more, but the flights over are considerable and there is so much to see and do that we wholeheartedly believe the longer you can explore the better. However long your trip, we make every day count. We are experts at knowing which experiences are worth the high impact on your budget, and where we mix in affordable stays that help extend your trip. For those on sabbatical or in retirement, we craft trips at a slower pace and include some off-the-beaten-path locations that are worth a visit.
We are masters at logistics, and have personally travelled to and experienced all the places we recommend. We look forward to working with you to get the most out of your time and budget, ultimately giving you an unforgettable trip and memories to last a lifetime.
