20/07/2026
Private vs Group Tours – Is There Really a Difference?
People often ask me, "Is there really much difference between a private tour and a group tour?"
Oh yes.
Pull up a chair.
When I first started in the tourism industry about ten years ago, I worked as a consultant for a company that specialised in group tours. If I'm honest, it taught me exactly what I didn't want to do.
You see, a trip up the Sani Pass isn't quite like popping down to the local shopping centre.
You're travelling along an 8km mountain pass consisting of rocks, ruts, gullies, hairpin bends, dizzying drop-offs, loose gravel and, just to keep life interesting, the occasional patch of mud, snow or ice. Every bend presents another spectacular view... and another opportunity to discover just how firmly your seatbelt actually works.
Then you drive all the way back down again.
Our longer tours through Lesotho are equally breathtaking. The scenery is nothing short of magnificent, but most of the roads have clearly never been introduced to the concept of smooth tarmac. They demand patience, experience and a driver who doesn't believe every pothole is simply a personal challenge.
So, when we started our own company, we made a rather radical business decision.
Instead of asking, "How many people can we squeeze into one vehicle?" we asked, "How can we make this the best day of someone's holiday?"
The accountants are probably still recovering.
Every single one of our tours is private.
No strangers.
No awkward small talk.
No pretending to laugh at someone else's holiday stories because they're sitting scrunched up next to your elbow for the next six hours.
Just you, your travelling companions and your guide.
Now, before anyone thinks I'm being unfair to group tours, let me explain where this philosophy came from.
I watched countless group vehicles return to Underberg.
Some guests climbed out smiling. (I’m sure these were the boring story tellers)
Some climbed out sideways.
And occasionally... one unfortunate soul climbed out wearing somebody else's lunch.
The Highest Pub in Africa (if you can get a reservation) serves food and a selection of beverages. Unfortunately, altitude, winding mountain roads and "just one more beer" don't always make the happiest travelling companions.
There is something profoundly life-changing about watching a complete stranger suddenly donate their recently consumed Basotho stew onto another complete stranger's lap while everyone else desperately searches for something—anything—that can absorb the situation.
Trust me.
It's not the souvenir anyone hoped to take home.
Then there was the annual competition for "Most Human Beings Fitted Into One Touring Vehicle." The more in a vehicle the better for profits.
Guests returned with stories of numb legs, aching backs and wondering whether they now knew more about the personal hygiene habits of the person sitting next to them than their own spouse.
Not exactly the magical African adventure they'd imagined.
Our longer overland tours highlighted the difference even more.
Hours on mountain roads can either become one of the most memorable journeys of your life.....or they can feel like being trapped inside a moving waiting room with twelve people who all have different opinions about music, air conditioning, snack choices and whose turn it is to stop for the bathroom.
With just two or four guests, something wonderful happens.
The guide stops being a driver and becomes a storyteller.
Conversations flow naturally.
Questions are encouraged.
The history doesn't sound like a school lesson delivered by someone who secretly dislikes children.
The stories become personal.
The laughter becomes genuine.
Sometimes the guide learns as much from the guests as the guests learn from the guide.
That's when real travel happens.
It's also why we can include all those little touches that mean so much.
Freshly baked treats with morning tea.
Flowers for the ladies.
Certificates.
Small gifts.
The occasional piece of fudge that mysteriously disappears before reaching the next stop.
These aren't expensive extras.
They're simply the sort of things you can do when you're looking after people rather than managing a small village.
Ironically, we've worked incredibly hard to keep our prices competitive.
Sometimes our private tours are actually cheaper than most group tours.
This has occasionally backfired rather spectacularly.
People look at our prices and immediately become suspicious.
"Surely that can't include a private vehicle..."
"It must be shared..."
"There has to be a catch..."
No catch.
No sharing.
No surprise passengers.
No mystery lunch in your lap.
Just a genuinely personal experience.
Looking back, sacrificing higher profits for smaller, private tours has been one of the best decisions we've ever made.
Every glowing review reminds us why.
Every returning guest confirms it.
Every photograph filled with smiling faces says exactly what we hoped it would.
People don't simply remember driving the Sani Pass.
They remember laughing with their guide.
They remember discovering a country they knew almost nothing about.
They remember feeling like guests instead of passengers.
And when they leave this tiny mountain kingdom called Lesotho with wonderful memories, new friends and absolutely no one else's lunch on their trousers...
Well...
We know we've done our job.
