Easy access

Johannesburg and Cape Town are major air hubs for the region, making South Africa a very country to access, especially from the Americas and Australasia.

           Diverse experiences

Trips to South Africa can include an extremely diverse range of locations and experiences, far too many to fit into a single trip.

          Safari options

South Africa contains dozens of safari locations. It is dominated by Kruger, but other renowned and diverse options include Waterberg, Tswalu and Phinda.

          Top hospitality

The quality of accommodation, service and food in South Africa is truly world class, there should be no need for you to lower your expectations.

          Lower cost options

If you are looking for a lower cost trip, then South Africa and Namibia are the stand-out countries, with lots of high quality accommodation options.

         Self-drive

South Africa and Namibia are also the only two countries in Africa where we recommend self-drive, which is safe, adventurous and very cost effective..

            7 to 10 nights

Shorter trips of 7-10 nights can either focus on a good length safari, or can undertake a rather hurried safari and Cape combination, usually split between two or three lodges.

           11 to 14 nights

Adding a few extra nights means that a safari and Cape combination can be undertaken more comfortably, usually including two safari locations, plus time in Cape Town, maybe extending to the Whale Coast and the Cape Winelands.

             15 to 28 nights

In longer trips, it becomes more common to include more than two regions. The additional location can be in South Africa or in other countries, notably Victoria Falls and the safari areas of Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, or the deserts of Namibia.

The cost of safari in South Africa

Safari in South Africa ranges from surprisingly good value to extremely pricey. You can expect to spend around £200 to £3000 per person per night.

We are more than happy to work across this range of prices. The only important thing is that we help you find the very best safari to suit your budget.

The two dominant price factors are the length of time that you spend on safari and the specific lodges that you choose to include in your trip. Deploying more time in town, rural and beach locations can bring the total cost down dramatically.

If you have a higher budget, we will help you determine which camps do actually deliver elevated levels of service and experience. We will also highlight other subtle ways in which your trip can be raised to another level, including the use of whole camp bookings, private guides and vehicles, helicopter explorations of remote areas etc.

If you have a medium budget, the best way to keep a lid on costs is to carefully choose lower-cost lodges.  You can also reduce the number of core safari nights and deploy time in more cost-effective beach, town and rural locations. We will help you understand where to trim and where to splash in order to achieve the best overall experience.

If you have a lower budget, then we can always look at other fundamentally less pricey safari countries.

Cape Town

Set within a mountainous national park, Cape Town is a fabulous place, even for people who hate cities. As well as the history, there are great hiking trails, beautiful beaches and even penguin colonies.

Cape Winelands

Located a couple hours by road from the city, Cape Winelands is a fabulous area of mountains and fertile valleys, with superb wineries, pretty villages and truly world-class eateries at diner prices.

Whale Coast

The coastline to the east of Cape Town is particularly renowned for its whales. It is centred on the town of Hermanus, but the coastal nature reserve of De Hoop is our favourite.

The best lodges in South Africa

South Africa has around 500 safari lodges, with over 200 properties in the Kruger area and 20-30 lodge sin each of Waterberg, Madikwe, Phinda-Mkhuze and the Eastern Cape.

Beyond the safari areas, South Africa contains thousands of other properties, from town hotels, to country retreats and beach lodges, a large percentage of which are in the Cape.

We are able to include any of these properties in your trip. We ones most like to recommend fall into two categories …

Firstly, there are the truly high-end lodges, which are in the very best locations and offer the highest levels of guiding, hospitality and consistency, suitable for demanding guests.

Secondly, there are the relatively good value camps, which are also in excellent locations and also take their guiding very seriously, but which typically offer lower levels of luxury and have the potential to be slightly less consistent in their delivery, suitable for more easy-going guests.

South Africa has a very large tourism industry. The properties that we generally prefer to avoid are the larger and more commercial ‘sausage factory’ properties that service the mainstream demand.

You can always expect absolute honesty from us when describing the various lodges and camps. Our primary motivation is simply to figure out which ones will suit you the best.

Luxury trips

Our luxury trips to South Africa combine lodges which are in prime locations, where high levels of comfort and service are guaranteed. This does not necessarily mean infinity pools and spa facilities, but it does always mean that you will be hosted and guided by the very best people in the country. That is how to truly guarantee the quality of a safari.

Adventure trips

In our adventure trips to South Africa, we use a much wider range of lodges, still in fabulous locations and offering authentic safari experiences, but often at considerably lower cost. More strenuous activities, like walking safari, are likely to feature more prominently. These cool, sometimes edgy lodges tend to be best suited to guests who are a little more outdoorsy and forgiving.

When to travel to South Africa

Choosing when to visit South Africa is notoriously difficult because different parts of the country experience almost converse seasons. There is almost always an element of compromise when building trips.

The Cape region has what could be considered a typical southern hemisphere climate, Mediterranean in style, but with a warm dry summer focused on Dec-Apr and cool wet winter Jun-Sep, so the converse to most of Europe and North America.

The main safari areas in South Africa (Kruger, Madikwe, Waterberg Mountains and Tswalu), in common with almost all safari areas in other countries across Africa, all have a completely different climate, which is driven mainly by the monsoon systems of the Indian Ocean. The cool dry season, which is usually considered to be the best time for safari, is May-Sep, whilst the more challenging hot wet green season is centred on Nov-Mar.

When thinking about seasonality it is important to consider the four aspects of weather, wildlife movements, visitor traffic and prices.

Jun-Oct : Safari season

In Kruger and the other the main safari areas, this period is characterised by a cool dry winter, which is generally considered to be the best time for wildlife viewing, although day length is relatively short and nights can get very cold.

In the Cape, this period represents Winter, which is relatively mild, but with adverse weather tending to come in bursts, as storms roll in off the surrounding oceans. Long overcast periods are rare and there's usually plenty of mild sunshine in the mix. The further inland you go, the lower the chances of cloud and rain, but the night time temperatures can really plummet.

Oct-Nov : Warm transition season

In Kruger and the other the main safari areas, this period marks the start of the hot wet summer. Wildlife viewing is usually very strong, but temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably high in advance of the first rains. Air-conditioning is important at this time.

In the Cape, this period represents Spring, the conventional transition from a cool wet winter to a hot dry summer, with conditions generally being pleasant and comfortable, but still with a chance of occasional prolonged showers. The further inland you go, the lower the chances of cloud and rain, but the night time temperatures can still drop quite low.

Dec-Mar : Cape season

In Kruger and the other the main safari areas, this period is the hot wet Summer, which is generally considered to be the most challenging time for wildlife viewing, although sightings should remain reliable in the premium areas. Day length is nice and long, but temperatures and humidities can become uncomfortably hot and rain can be a major issue.

In the Cape, this period represents Summer, characterised by comfortably warm temperatures, both day and night, with very low rainfall. The only significant potential negative is that the south-easterly wind, known as the Cape Doctor, can be quite relentless at times.

Apr-May : Cool transition season

In Kruger and the other the main safari areas, this is is a period of transition between the hot wet Summer and the cool dry Winter, with comfortable conditions and wildlife viewing improving as the foliage dies back.

In the Cape, this period represents Autumn/Fall, the conventional transition from a hot dry Summer to a cool wet Winter, with conditions generally remaining pleasant and comfortable, but with increasing chances of occasional prolonged showers and overcast skies.

Expert

Our safari experts are uncommonly knowledgeable and experienced

765,000

The number of superb safaris we have  so far created

Seamless

Arranging your trip should be almost as much fun as actually going on safari  

Value

Your trip should cost you no more than if you booked all the components directly

Tailored

Your trip will be perfectly tuned to meet your requirements

What our guests say

“We’ve used many different travel organizers and agents, but one truly stands like a giraffe, head and shoulders above all others.”

Linda Goddard  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“ATR are the experts in their field and I wouldn’t trust anyone else.”

Tara Stewart  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

“ATR are honest in their appraisal of individual lodges. You can trust their judgement.”

Graeme Gales  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

4.9   ★ ★ ★ ★ ★  

Average Google Review Score

1999

The year that we started to build great safaris

Kruger

Set in the northeast of South Africa, Kruger is a vast conservation area, easily the most popular safari destination on the continent, renowned for easy wildlife viewing and great predator photography. Guest accommodation is in around 150 lodges, most of which are extremely comfortable and reliable, as well as covering an unusually wide range of price levels.

The main downside for Kruger is that the prime Jun-Oct safari season coincides with Winter in the Cape. It is also worth pointing out that the lodge density here is over 200 times greater than that in the Botswana safari areas, meaning that some people may feel that it lacks that sense of infinite wilderness.

Tswalu

Set in the northwest of South Africa, Tswalu is the largest private reserve in the country, with awesome Kalahari landscapes and a rich range of wildlife, notably including meerkats, aardvarks and pangolins. Guest accommodation is in just two very high quality lodges, which are almost always accessed by shared charter flights direct from Johannesburg and Cape Town. Non malarial.

Although Tswalu is wonderful and would surely be enjoyed by almost everyone, it does have the disadvantages of not having any elephants and being rather pricey.

Waterberg Mountains

Set in the north of South Africa, the non-malarial Waterberg Mountains area contains several interesting wildlife reserves, with some superb scenery and relatively easy wildlife viewing, as well as options for horse-riding and golf. Guest accommodation is in around 25 decent quality lodges, many of which are relatively well priced.

This Waterberg area is home to a real hodge-podge of safari operators. In all honestly, there’s a lot of rather lame options, but there are a few diamonds here, notably those on the Marataba Reserve, which are amongst the best-priced upmarket properties in Africa.

           Complicated seasons

Unfortunately, the prime dry season in most of the safari areas (May-Oct) contradicts the summer season in the Cape (Nov-Apr). Most trips therefore involve some element of compromise when it comes to weather.

           Lack of availability

 The two most popular areas, Kruger and Cape Town, are heavily over-demanded. You really need to plan at least a year in advance for the Dec-Mar and Jun-Oct high seasons, if you want to get into the best lodges.

           Mass market

South Africa is by far the most popular country in Africa for tourism. Alongside a plethora of lovely lodges, there is also a core of much lesser mass-market options, some of which can be difficult to detect.

           Development

South Africa is much more developed than surrounding countries, so goods and services can be delivered reliably and efficiently. But it does also make the place rather less exotic and adventurous.

           Tame safari

Many of the safari areas in South Africa are either too small, are fully fenced or are overrun with visitors. Even the best private reserves lack that sense of infinite wilderness of places like Botswana.

           Security

The security risk in South Africa is greatly overstated. So long as you avoid certain urban areas at night (as you might back home), there should be virtually no personal risk.

Phinda Mkhuze

Set in northern KwaZulu Natal, the Phinda Mkhuze area contains a handful of private wildlife reserves. Phinda itself is the best known and most upmarket option, containing a full range of wildlife, particularly strong for cheetahs and rhinos. Guest accommodation is in a handful of lodges, offering an unusually wide range of activities, including beach options.

If you are planning a self-drive exploration of Natal, then Phinda would be a nice upmarket inclusion. For most other people, it is something of a distraction. However, if you are a family group with kids and you fancy being based at single upmarket location for maybe a whole week, then this really can work.

Madikwe

Set in the north of South Africa, Madikwe is one of the best non-malarial safari reserves in Africa. At 750 square kilometres it's around 4% the size of Kruger, a fully fenced area which was once farmland, but is now rehabilitated and restocked with a full range of wildlife. Guest accommodation is in around 20 lodges, some of which are unusually well priced.

We find it hard to be too enthusiastic about Madikwe. There are some good lodges here, but the landscapes can be a little bland and the continued presence of self-drive vehicles is a big negative. However, it can be the best answer for guests needing a non-malarial location or during the Oct-Feb season, which is a lot less rainy here than in Kruger.

Kwandwe

Set in the Eastern Cape, Kwandwe is the highest quality wildlife reserve in the region. At 200 square kilometres, it is a relatively small and fully fenced area, but contains a full range of safari wildlife including lions, elephants and rhinos. Guest accommodation is in a handful of very high quality lodges, offering a good range of expertly-guided safari activities.

The safari reserves of the Eastern Cape are second rate compared with those further north on the continent, they simply aren’t big enough or wild enough to deliver a top level safari experience. However, if you are planning a self-drive out from Cape Town, they can represent a really interesting inclusion.

Another considerable upside is that the seasonality here is far better matched to Cape Town, which can push them ahead of Kruger during the Dec-Mar season.

Victoria Falls

The Victoria Falls serve as a natural  hub for the safari areas of Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, but can also be included in a trip to South Africa, with good flight connections from Kruger, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Okavango Delta

Botswana is widely considered to be the premium safari location in Africa, centred on the magnificent Okavango Delta. This can easily be combined into a South Africa trip, but beware of the very high prices.

Bazaruto

If you would like to combine tropical beaches into a South Africa trip, then Mozambique is a really strong option, with flight connections between Bazaruto,  Kruger and Johannesburg.