Tailor-made safaris and travel to Southern Africa

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CLASSIC AFRICAN SAFARIS

[ OVERVIEW ] - [ SAFARI CATEGORIES] - [ SAFARI RATINGS ]

The array of choices facing the visitor to southern Africa can be quite bewildering. With so many highlights across the region, and so many safaris and properties to choose from, it's difficult to know where to start. A significant proportion of our clients are experienced global travelers who are accustomed to making all their own travel arrangements; when it comes to southern Africa though, they appreciate the value of expert advice and assistance.

As a broad generalization, there are two types of itineraries: tailor-made and scheduled departure. Each has it's own particular strengths, and they can be combined.

A tailor-made itinerary offers the ultimate in flexibility. Guests can travel where they want, when they want, and how they want. Through an interactive process of consultation and discussion, we will work with you to design the itinerary that works best for you. Once on safari, there is plenty of opportunity to interact with other travelers at individual properties, and resident professional guides ensure that guests are graciously hosted and expertly guided at each safari camp or lodge. But when it is time to move on, you go your own way and continue with your customized itinerary - you are not traveling with a group, and there is no need to fit in with anyone else's schedule. In effect, this offers all the advantages of independent travel in combination with the backup of a fully arranged tour. Our services cost no extra in this regard - whether you book through us or with the properties themselves, you will pay the same rate.

The principle advantage of a scheduled departure safari is that a small group of travelers shares certain fixed costs (e.g. transportation and/or a specialist guide), thereby decreasing the per person price of a trip. In some instances this makes scheduled safaris a good choice for the more budget-conscious traveler, but it also facilitates some very creative itineraries that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive. Some of our scheduled departure safaris are short (e.g. the three night Mana Canoe Trail, and the three or four night Skeleton Coast Safari) and are designed to fit into a tailor-made itinerary. Others (e.g. the 13 day Best of Southern Africa Classic Safari) are itineraries in themselves, although it is always possible to add on destinations either before or after such safaris. The key features of our scheduled departure safaris are: they focus on the region's top gameviewing and wilderness areas, they make use of only the best guides, and group size is small (we do not offer any scheduled departure safaris hosting more than 12 guests, and most only accommodate 8). We categorize our scheduled departure safaris as Fly-In Safaris, Fly-Drive Safaris, and Adventure Safaris.

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TAILOR-MADE SAFARIS/ CLASSIC AFRICA PORTFOLIO

The interactive map provides information on southern Africa's travel highlights, with descriptions and images of our favorite properties within each area. The perfect place to gather information about where you might like to travel, and start focusing on specific properties for your tailor-made itinerary.

FLY-IN SAFARIS

Guests are flown between permanent safari camps ensuring maximum time spent on safari and minimum time in transit. This also facilitates a greater range of travel, and the flying itself can be a highlight as one gets a 'birds eye' view of the vast, unspoiled African wilderness.

FLY-DRIVE SAFARIS

These safaris drive between camps where feasible, and fly when the drives are too long and/or unproductive. This combination maximizes their cost effectiveness. Accommodation is in both permanent and mobile tented camps. An experienced guide stays with the group from start to finish. We do not take more than 8 guests on any of these safaris.

ADVENTURE SAFARIS

More active safaris, for example an elephant back safari, hiking and canoeing safaris, or safaris to some of the more remote and unique destinations in Africa. From simple to deluxe accommodation, these safaris represent some of the most exciting and interactive wilderness experiences on offer anywhere in the world.

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SAFARI AND CAMP RATINGS

In order not to confuse our ratings with those commonly used in the hotel industry, we have chosen the paw of a lion to reflect the quality status of each of our safaris, camps, and lodges. On each safari featured in this website, the paw symbols appear next to the name of the safari. This will allow you to determine the accommodation quality at a glance.

Six - These are the highest quality camps and lodges in our safari portfolio. They feature the ultimate in luxury, style, amenities, and service, and are consistently voted as being among the top properties in the world by international travel publications. Examples include Mombo, Jao, Abu, Vumbura Plains, and King's Pool in Botswana, Singita, Londolozi, and Leopard Hills in the Kruger Park, and Little Ongava and Little Kulala in Namibia.

Five - These are luxurious permanent safari camps and lodges with all the necessary features for a very comfortable stay. At a minimum, the rooms are large with full en-suite facilities (hot and cold running water, flush loos, showers, basins), closet space, ceiling fans, and real beds. The camps are stylish, often (though not always) raised off the ground on teak decking, and have swimming pools. Most camps and lodges in our portfolio fall within this category.

Four - Camps and lodges in this category are similar to 5 Paw properties with a few subtle differences. Rooms are not quite as big, furnishing are a little more basic with less attention paid to style and ambience. The camps are typically built at ground level and often don't have swimming pools. All rooms still have real beds and full en-suite facilities. Most Namibian and Zambian safari camps, and Honeyguide Tented Camp in Kruger fall within this category, as do our most upmarket "Overland Safaris" (Great Wilderness Journey, Great Botswana Journey, Great Namibian Journey).

Three - These are camps used for our high quality cross-country camping safaris. The camps are temporary, being moved every day (or every couple of days) along with the safari. A camp staff accompanies these "fully serviced" safaris (in addition to the professional guide) to deal with all camp chores - erecting and taking down tents, cooking, cleaning up, etc. Camp beds and bedding are provided. Tents range from smaller igloo shaped tents to walk-in Meru style tents. Bathroom facilities are comprised of a bucket shower and long drop or chemical loo - typically one bathroom facility shared between two tents (sometimes all tents share one bathroom facility). Examples include the Migration Routes and Untamed Lands Safaris, the Mana Canoe Trail, Wilderness Dawning Safari, and Robin Pope Walking Safaris.

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Call toll-free on 1-888-227-8311 or email us at info@classicafrica.com