African Safari Mag:
Plan a safari you won't regret
Describe your image
The independent guide to which country, which company, which lodge, and what it should cost. Decided before money changes hands.
Free. No obligation. We never sell trips ourselves.
Every good safari is four decisions.
Start with the one you're stuck on.
Your first safari?
The calm route through your first trip, mistake by avoidable mistake.
Read the guide
HOW IT WORKS
Independent guidance, then the right hands.
Every safari company says the same things. Most first-timers don't know what they don't know.
This is how we close that gap.
1
Read the guides.
Every company and lodge on this site earned its place editorially. No one can pay to be recommended.
2
Tell us your plan.
The Plan My Safari form takes a few minutes. A real person reads it and replies within a day with guidance and an introduction. Free, no obligation.
3
We make the introduction.
They build and book the trip; we stay in the loop until you're home. We never sell trips ourselves, which is exactly why you can trust the shortlist.
PROOF
We've done the trips we write about.
African Safari Mag was founded by Craig Howes, who was born in Hoedspruit on the edge of the Kruger and grew up around wild animals. He has spent his working life as a travel photographer and filmmaker, shooting for lodges and planners across every major safari region, on trips that ran from budget self-drives to private concessions and from a few nights to a few weeks.
He now interviews the people who make safaris work, guides, rangers, chefs and planners, on the ASM podcast, and reviews readers' itineraries as part of the job. The guides on this site come from that, not from press releases.
From travellers we've helped.
"I was getting tired of spending too many hours during too many days online searching for the major African luxury safari outfitters. The process was exhausting and mind-numbing; like drinking from a fire-hydrant of websites and reviews."
Timothy Burandt, Kenya, July 2026
"There are so many pitfalls and Craig helped us to focus on the most important elements to consider in an impartial and easy to understand way."
Michael Finister-Smith, Trustpilot review
"Our planner's logistics were perfect and everything worked seamlessly."
Nicole, Botswana and Zambia, July 2026
START HERE
Don't know where to start? Read these three, in order.
Three reads, about twenty minutes, and you'll know more than most people do when they book.
1
Your first safari,
done properly.
Which country, when, how long, and what it costs. The mistakes first-timers make and how to avoid them.
2
How safari companies
actually work.
Planners, operators, lodges, and who is responsible for what. Read this before you compare quotes.
3
How to compare safari
proposals.
Two quotes that look the same rarely are. What to check, line by line.
Then, when you're ready: Plan My Safari
GUIDES
Start with these.
The guides that do the most deciding.
LODGES
The camps and lodges we'd send our own family to, by region.
WATCH AND LISTEN
Hear it before you book
The same judgement, out loud. The channel for the decisions, the podcast for the people who make safaris work.
