"Safari accommodation" covers everything from a simple canvas tent with shared facilities to a private villa with its own plunge pool - and the gap between them is about far more than thread count.
Budget: Tented Camps
A classic canvas tent on a raised platform, en-suite bathroom, on the edge of a reserve rather than deep inside it. Game drives are usually on a shared-vehicle basis. This is where the "real safari" feeling of canvas walls and night sounds is strongest, at the lowest nightly rate of the three tiers - typically well under $150 per person, per night, sharing.
Mid-Range: Lodges
Proper buildings, en-suite rooms, a restaurant and bar on-site, usually inside or directly bordering the park. Places like Sarova Lion Hill in Lake Nakuru or Ashnil Aruba in Tsavo East sit in this tier - comfortable, full-board, with the game drives typically in a smaller shared vehicle. Expect somewhere in the $200-350 per person, per night range.
Luxury: Private Conservancy Camps
This is where the extras live: a private guide and vehicle for your group alone, night drives and bush walks not permitted in the public reserves, and camps like Elewana Tortilis in Amboseli or Porini's conservancy camps in the Mara. All-inclusive usually means everything - drinks, laundry, activities - bundled into one nightly rate that can run from $500 well into four figures depending on the property.
Board Basis Matters
Bed-and-breakfast, half-board, full-board, and all-inclusive all mean different things for what's already paid for versus what you'll pay locally. A cheaper nightly rate on bed-and-breakfast can end up costing more once you're paying for lunch and dinner separately every day - always ask which basis a quote is built on.
Browse our accommodation partners across all three tiers, or let our planner match a tier to your budget.
