We began designing journeys in Africa in the mid 1990s. A wildlife safari is a phenomenal experience. An excellent safari requires some flexibility. Wildlife moves, conditions change, and events on safari are unpredictable, as they are not orchestrated, but depend mainly on positioning ourselves well for an opportunity to arise and so experience something amazing.
Many luxury camps and lodges provide wonderful accommodations, and their clients leave delighted with what they have seen.
However, unless they have travelled on many different safaris with many different operators, they are unlikely to know the difference between one service and another.
We assure you that there is a huge difference in the details of any safari. Unfortunately this is hard to describe to anyone who has not experienced it before.
We design and orchestrate independent safaris, where the guests stay in camps with other guests and share a vehicle and camp guide with other guests. Often this happens with small groups or couples, because the cost of a private guide and private vehicle is high in these cases. This style of safari is also the most common type available, even with many of the most exclusive travel designers and outfitters. However our speciality is designing safari with your own private A Step Ahead guide, who will make a huge difference to your experience.
Most people understand that all cars have wheels, brakes and headlights. Some have electronic window winders and some have manual ones. Some have leather seats and some have plastic ones. Some have heated seats or air conditioning, and some do not. On safari the accommodation you choose could be correlated with the type of vehicle you buy. And the best safari would be akin to you hiring a car you want with a chauffeur who really knows the area. Your guide is the driver, and no matter how smart or not your vehicle is, the experience you have at the end will depend more on the skill of your driver and where he takes you, than the vehicle itself.
Of course, it may be important to have the right car, especially if you would not be happy with a 4×4 Land-Rover when what you were hoping for was a Rolls Royce! Our custom safaris cater to all kinds of accommodation needs.
More information on the difference between a private guided journey and other journeys are described here.