What influences a cost of a safari
WHAT INFLUENCES A COST OF SAFARI.
As tour operators, we always get feedback from travelers that request quotes, asking what influences a cost of safari that we shared with them. This is mostly because they are maybe above their budgets or they have compared with other companies or prices on Safari bookings or other booking engines.
There is always a safari that suits every budget. African safaris usually range from 150USD to 2000 USD per day per person. Most travelers generalize Africa as a whole but every country has a different economy, geography, and this costing is determined by several factors depending on the country one wants to travel to.
The factors include:
- Accommodation
Accommodation always ranges from budget camping¸ budget bandas or lodging, Mid-range lodges to Luxury rooms, or safari lodges. Therefore, where you choose to stay is a big impact on your cost. In Uganda, some budget camping offering just camping tents and breakfast can go for as low as 40USD and some luxury lodges to even 1500USD. In Rwanda, some luxury lodges go even beyond. But despite the price, our selection of lodges at African Rock Safaris, always offer value for money.
Destinations are different in size, geography, and economy. A big country may have features distributed unevenly which makes connecting to them expensive in terms of transport. For example, the small of Rwanda makes the connectivity by road easy because it is short to connect from park to park compared to Uganda. Also, the destinations you choose to add to your trip affect the price like choosing to visit Uganda and Rwanda may be expensive compared to maybe a 12 days safari in Uganda alone or a 9- days safari in Rwanda alone. And some destinations are just expensive because of the brand they are trying to build (Luxury destinations).
- Travel time/ Season
Uganda and Rwanda have two seasons, the dry/peak season which is from December to February and June to September, and the low/ green season which is from March to May and October to early December. The rates always alternate from season to season. Traveling during the low season helps you enjoy the discounted rates by lodges and tour operators because during the dry/peak season there are always numbers at the lodges and camps. Therefore the high the demand, the high the prices.
You can read the advantages of low season travel here.
- The number of days you want to do a safari.
Depending on the activities one would want to engage in, is where we start to determine the number of days a safari can take if you have not informed us of the period length. The activities are at different parks because different animals live in different environments for wildlife safaris so you will need to connect the parks. The number of activities and in which parks they take place will determine the days. The more the days, the more the costs.
- The kind of activities you want to engage in.
Activities on safari are rated differently. The activities include boat cruises, gorilla/chimpanzee tracking, and habituation, game drives (day and night), walks, and birding among others. Each has a rate determined by the government and most times we as operators don’t have any impact on how to reduce them. For example, gorilla tracking alone is 700 USD in Uganda and 1500 USD in Rwanda which can be equivalent to a wildlife safari to say Murchison falls national park for 3 days.
- Transport options
Road transport is the widely used means of transport for safaris in most African countries. Also, air and some train services are available but not so developed like in Europe, the United States, or Asia. Getting around Uganda, usually, 4WD vehicles are used and these are always Vans or Jeeps (Land cruisers). These have different capacities, the van can accommodate from 6 to 10 people, jeeps from 3 to 8 seaters. They each have a different price depending on the level of comfort (luxury).
Despite the less developed domestic air transport, visitors can fly to destinations. Flying safaris are always a bit more expensive than road drives.
So, as you do your research before your trip down to Uganda, Rwanda, or Africa, but the above factors into consideration to get a proper budget range for your safari.
Let us plan your safari to Uganda or Rwanda today.
