How Africa’s luxury safaris are becoming more sustainable – operators from Kenya to South Africa now offer more camping and walking, stressing the benefits for animals and local communities

Mar 2 , 2023

The changing face of safari tourism – can less driving and more camping clean up the industry’s reputation? Photo: Handout

Botswana’s Wilderness Meraka and Zebra Plains Collection’s Lalashe Maasai Mara and Lalashe Ripoi in Kenya all offer luxury tented accommodation and walking safaris

The Bushcamp Company’s Kukaya Lodge in Zambia and South Africa’s Singita lodges are being more flexible with game drives and meals while AndBeyond is educating travellers with a ‘masterclass’

If you’re eyeing up a luxury safari in Africa, expect to find more than just the traditional jeep-led experience now on offer in the likes of Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Botswana.

When high-spending foreigners vanished in 2020, safari lodges were left struggling to fund wildlife conservation as well as hosting community projects. This has led some to a rethink about the kind of tourism Africa needs long-term and how visitors can better support environmental and civic goals.

The traditional model: a lioness strikes a pose for vans of safari tourists. Photo: Shutterstock

Travellers, at the same time, have redefined their safari priorities to seek privacy in accommodation and on drives, flexible schedules, exclusive wildlife experiences and more cultural context.

Lodges and tour operators are now responding with a fresh crop of wildlife and cultural experiences and wider accommodation choices to stand out from the competition and capture the demand that’s roaring back to the continent.

Before you book your bucket-list trip, consider this:

1. Safaris are changing – fewer vehicles, more walking, better for the animals

Rhino with game drive vehicle in the background in Kruger National Park. Photo: South African Tourism Board

The typical all-inclusive safari in which guests are driven from distant lodges into popular areas of wildlife reserves can quickly resemble a crowded weekend at the zoo. The rush of humans and vehicles thwarts genuine connection with the surroundings, not to mention that it’s harmful to the wildlife. That’s why outfitters are trying to put guests closer to nature, whether through private game drives, walking safaris or overnight camps away from the crowds.

Waterholes, such as this one in Kruger National Park, are a popular draw for animals, and therefore, for tourists too. Photo: AFP

At Zebra Plains Collection’s new luxury Lalashe Ripoi camp in Kenya, which opens on July 1, “you can do night safaris by car and walking safaris that you cannot do in the main reserve,” owner Alfred Korir says. The six tented suites (US$4,000 per night apiece) will open on July 1 as one of three lodges sharing more than 33,300 acres of private concession land leased from the Maasai people and sat on the edge of Maasai Mara National Reserve.