I've spent 15 years guiding both group safaris and private trips. And I'm going to be honest: they are fundamentally different. Not better or worse per se — but different enough that making the wrong choice really matters.
What is a group safari actually?
On a group tour you join a fixed group of travellers you don't know. You drive together in one vehicle, follow the same programme at the same times, and eat together. There's one guide for the whole group.
Advantage: it's cheaper. A typical group safari of 6 days costs €1,400–€1,800 per person. That's significantly less than a private trip.
Disadvantage: everything is fixed. The route. The times. The pace. If someone in the group isn't interested in birds but you're a birding enthusiast — tough luck. If you want to enter the park at 05:00 and the rest of the group wants 07:00 — tough luck.
What makes a private safari different?
On a private trip you hire a vehicle with a driver-guide for yourself, your partner, family or friends. You decide the programme, times and route yourself — in consultation with the guide.
This might sound like a luxury extra, but the difference in wildlife experience is enormous.
An example: last year I drove with a couple — avid photographers — through the Serengeti. Suddenly we spotted a cheetah with cubs on a termite mound. On a group tour we would have stopped for 10 minutes and moved on. Instead we stayed two hours. We saw the cheetah hunt. We saw her return to her cubs. We got shots that nobody on a group tour would ever have.
The cost: how much difference is there really?
A private safari costs on average €2,200–€3,500 per person for two people. With a group of four the price difference per person is significantly smaller — sometimes less than €200 p.p. difference.
With three or four people a private safari is almost always the better choice — in price and experience.
My honest recommendation
If your budget is really tight and you just want to experience what a safari feels like: choose a good group tour. But if you want quality time in nature, if you're a photographer, if you have children, if you really want the guide to respond to you — choose private.
At Simba Tours we only do private. Not because we can't organise group tours. But because we believe the richest safari experiences happen when the guide is completely focused on you.