05/10/2026
I want to add my voice to what Paul J. Wegoye so powerfully expressed about the direction the safari industry is heading.
His words resonated deeply with me — not as a critic from the outside, but as someone who has lived, worked, and guided in this industry for more than 40 years.
For me, the shift began about three years ago, when the leading safari company in Botswana — yes, the one everyone knows — began charging $1,500, $1,800, $2,500, $3,000, and even $5,000+ per person per night.
Per person. Per night!
I have always believed that there must be a balance between value given and value received. But what balance exists when a single night on safari costs more than many people earn in a month?
What value can justify that level of excess?
Once that first company got away with it, others followed.
And once some of these companies went public — listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and elsewhere — the priority shifted. The driving force was no longer conservation, community, or authentic safari experiences. It became shareholder dividends.
I watched a new operator enter the Botswana market with fair, reasonable pricing. I immediately listed them on our website because they seemed committed to accessibility and integrity. Before I could even begin promoting them, their rates skyrocketed to match the rest of the corporate pack.
And it didn’t stop in Botswana.
Tanzania, Kenya, Namibia, Zambia — one by one, the big corporate safari brands joined the same race to the top of the pricing ladder.
Today, I cannot look a potential client in the eye and explain why they should pay $3,500 to $5,000+ per person per night. There is no explanation other than greed.
And let’s be honest: very little of that money reaches the local communities who protect the land, the wildlife, and the culture that make safari possible in the first place.
As Paul said so clearly:
“You cannot speak about sustainability while profits leave the continent faster than opportunity reaches local families.”
Exactly.
Safari was never meant to become an asset class.
It was never meant to be a playground only for the ultra‑rich.
It was never meant to be disconnected from the soil it stands on.
For decades, ordinary families saved up to experience Africa.
Now, many can’t even consider it.
And for small, independent safari booking agencies like ours, the corporate pricing model is simply not sustainable. I cannot survive — nor can I serve my clients honestly — if I am forced to sell safaris at these inflated, exclusionary rates.
So I’ve made a choice.
I will continue working with owner‑run, community‑rooted, conservation‑driven “mom and pop” safari operators — the people who still understand what safari truly is.
The people who still believe in fair value.
The people who still treat safari as a relationship with land, wildlife, and community — NOT A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT!!!
My clients will still enjoy exceptional Botswana safaris, and safaris across Africa, without paying $3,000–$5,000 per night.
And they will know that their money supports real conservation, real communities, and real people — not distant shareholders.
Safari has a soul.
AND I INTEND TO KEEP WORKING WITH THOSE WHO PROTECT IT!!
