Custom vs Scheduled Safaris

Our Custom Safaris The vast majority of Timeless Africa's safaris are private tailor-made itineraries, customised according to your interests, timeframe, and budget. We feel that this offers the best possible value for money - the cost of a custom itinerary is often only marginally higher than that of an equivalent standardised itinerary. More important, you are spending your money on what matters to you, rather than on someone else's idea of the 'must-sees'.

It's very rare for anyone to look at a standardised itinerary in a brochure and say, 'That's exactly what I wanted!' There's almost always an element of compromise - you'd really prefer another day at Destination A (and would like to skip Destination B) or you'd much rather stay at Camp X than at Camp Y. A custom itinerary is infinitely more flexible - you'll travel when you want, stay where you want, and stay as long as you want.

The advantages of working with an Africa travel specialist to build a custom itinerary go beyond pricing. The person selling you a standardised itinerary from a glossy brochure may never have been to Africa, much less stayed at any of the camps or lodges you're interested in. At Timeless Africa, your trip is planned by someone who travels to Africa regularly and who has stayed in many of the camps, lodges, and hotels you are considering. While a brochure will include only a small number of the better-known camps and lodges, we work with hundreds of different properties to find the right fit for you.

This holds true in the city as well as on safari. If you look at a selection of travel brochures, you'll notice that even the luxury operators tend to use the same big city hotels for their stays in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Smaller, lesser-known boutique hotels and upscale guesthouses often offer both a more personal experience and better value for money.

If you've seen something (here or elsewhere) that you'd like to use as a 'springboard' for planning your trip, please let us know - we are happy to design a custom version of any itinerary which has grabbed your interest. Or take a look around our site and then contact us so we can start working with you to design your ideal African safari.

Our Scheduled Safaris Although most of our itineraries are tailor-made, we do offer a very select number of small group mobile safaris (maximum 8 guests) that we feel offer a superb experience and excellent value for money, particularly in the high season. For those on a budget or those who prefer to travel with others, these scheduled safaris may be the ideal option.

Our scheduled itineraries are offered on a limited basis and depart on set dates. We use only the best operators for our mobile safaris - unlike many scheduled trips, our mobiles include substantial time in private reserves, enabling you to drive off-road and to experience the night time world of the bush on night drives, when predators are at their most active.

If you choose a scheduled safari, remember that you still have the option of customising other aspects of your trip. If you would like to spend more time on safari or would like to add on time in one of Africa's dynamic cities, we're happy to design a customised extension to any of our scheduled safaris.

To find out more about our scheduled safaris, please visit our Mobile Safari page.