Privately Guided African Safaris
If you are dreaming of tracking wildlife on foot, capturing magic through your lens or making a real difference through conservation - we'll pair you with a private safari guide who gets you. This is your journey, crafted just for you - so let's make it unforgettable!
Privately Guided African Safaris
Embark on a journey beyond the ordinary with our privately guided African safaris, tailored to bring you closer to the heart of Africa in comfort, style, and authenticity. We specialize in crafting bespoke itineraries that combine the privacy and flexibility you desire with the highest standards in luxury safari lodges, where every detail from lodgings to meals is curated to enhance your experience.
What is a privately guided Safari ?
A privately guided safari is a fully customized African safari experience where you (and your chosen travel companions, if any) explore the wilderness with your own dedicated professional guide from start to finish—rather than joining a group or relying solely on lodge-based guides.
1. Exclusive Guiding and Vehicles
You have a private specialist guide and a private 4x4 vehicle (or boat, mokoro, etc.), so every game drive, walk, or activity runs on your schedule. There are no mixed groups, so you can linger at a leopard sighting or head back to camp early if you wish.
2. Bespoke Itineraries
Every element of the trip is tailored: destinations, pace, and daily activities are planned around your interests—photography, birding, cultural immersion, or simply maximizing Big Five experiences.
3. Luxury Safari Lodges & Seamless Logistics
Your guide travels with you across camps and luxury safari lodges, ensuring continuity and a consistently high level of service, interpretation, and safety.
4. Depth of Knowledge & Personal Connection
A private guide provides detailed insights into animal behavior, tracking, and ecosystems, creating a richer guided wildlife tour than a standard lodge guide who changes daily. They also manage transfers, park permits, and timing, leaving you free to enjoy the journey.
5. Conservation Travel & Sustainability Focus
Reputable operators weave safari sustainability into the experience—partnering with eco-conscious lodges and supporting local communities—so your travel actively contributes to conservation. A privately guided safari delivers unmatched freedom, privacy, and expert interpretation, making it ideal for travelers seeking a deeply personal, conservation-minded African adventure.
Read our definitive guide to choosing the perfect private safari guide
here
Private African Safari Packages & Tours
Private African Safari Tours
Experience tailor-made private African Safari packages & tours - from South Africa to Botswana and beyond. Our privately guided safaris are designed for families, couples and small groups looking for a truly personalized journey.
We believe in purposeful safari travel. Every journey with our private guides supports conservation projects and community partnerships, ensuring your safari has a lasting positive impact. This approach delivers a meaningful safari experience while promoting ethical safari travel not only in Southern Africa but across the African Continent.
Whether you seek a hands-on wildlife safari, a photographic adventure or a safari with conservation impact, our team will match you with the perfect guide. Begin your journey today and unlock Africa through a privately guided safari designed just for you.
Why Choose a Privately Guided Safari ?
A private safari guide adds immense value to any safari. It means that from the moment you land, every moment is tailored to you - your interests, your pace, and your style of travel. Whether you are a passionate birder, a family with young explorers or a wildlife photographer chasing golden light - your journey is shaped entirely around what matters most to you.
What truly sets a privately guided safari apart, is the continuity it offers - the same expert guide accompanying you across borders, from the Okavango Delta to the Serengeti, from Cape Town to Ethiopia. With deep knowledge of wildlife behaviour, ecology and local cultures, your guide brings every sighting and setting to life, adding layers of understanding and connection that make your journey not just unforgettable but truly transformative.
Hands-on Wildlife Safari Experiences
On a private African safari with Martin Meyer Safaris, you're not just a spectator — you're a participant. Our expert guides are more than just wildlife spotters; they’re interactive teachers, storytellers, and mentors in the field. Whether you're learning to read animal tracks in the sand, identifying bird calls at dawn, or understanding the medicinal uses of plants, every moment in the bush becomes a lesson in the language of the wild.
From guided bush walks and birding adventures to tracking big game on foot and engaging with local communities, our hands-on approach transforms a typical safari into a deeply immersive experience. You'll leave not just with incredible photos, but with new skills, knowledge, and a true connection to Africa’s people, wildlife, and landscapes — the kind of experience that stays with you long after the journey ends.
Destinations we Cover
Our team has over 50 years combined experience in planning privately guided safaris. From the Fairest Cape, to the Greater Kruger and beyond into Botswana and East Africa. If your bucket list includes Gorillas and Chimp Trekking or Photographing the Great Migration, we can curate your perfect safari tour - just for you. We even match you with the perfect local guides if you opt to not use the services of a private or specialized guide - ensuring no matter your destination or budget we plan your perfect African Safari.
Meet our Private Guides
How to plan your Privately Guided Safari
Our process is simple - we schedule a complimentary 1 hour safari consultation call at a time convenient to you - we understand that our travellers are from across the globe, and time differences do not matter to us. During this call, we will discuss your bucket list, destinations you may already have researched and your approximate budget. This allows us to perfectly place you at lodges and hotels that we know will be a good fit for you. Our promise to you is that we only send our travellers to properties that we have personally vetted.
We live and work on the African Continent - which means we are fortunate enough to travel and explore regularly. This means we are well versed on current safari trends, lodges and hotels.
Once we have discussed the available options, our team of experts will put together a sample itinerary for you. This is a starting point and we can then add or remove any lodges or destinations - however we find that after a consultation call - we very rarely need to amend our itineraries. This means there is no tedious back and forth on email - we simplify the process for you.
Once you have decided on your itinerary, we will pair you with the perfect private guide. You will receive a comprehensive Guide Bio and before your journey starts, you will have a one on one call with your guide to get to know each other.
It is this level of attention to detail that sets Martin Meyer Safaris apart from all the other operators.
Why our Privately Guided Safaris stand out
Ethical Safaris in Southern & East Africa
We believe in purposeful safari travel. Every journey with our private guides supports conservation projects and community partnerships, ensuring your safari has a lasting, positive impact. This approach delivers a meaningful safari experience while promoting ethical safari travel in South Africa
Tailor-Made Bespoke Itineraries for Every Traveler
Your safari should reflect your interests, not a pre-set schedule.
Our
bespoke itineraries are designed around your wildlife passions, photography goals, or desire for
cultural immersion. From tracking elusive leopards at dawn to sharing a fireside meal with local elders, each moment is carefully crafted to deliver authentic, unforgettable experiences while maintaining the highest standards of
safari sustainability.
Our Approach to Safari Sustainability & Conservation Travel
- We partner with eco-friendly luxury safari lodges that follow best practices in waste, energy use, and community engagement.
- Our guides are carefully selected & trained not only in guiding but also in understanding local conservation challenges and cultural sensitivity.
- With bespoke itineraries, we avoid over-crowding and ensure your safari has minimal ecological footprint.
- Support for local communities: your safari creates direct benefits through employment, purchase of local goods, and cultural exchange.
What Makes Our Privately Guided Wildlife Tours Exceptional
- Guided Wildlife Tours with a personal touch — your own Private Specialist Guide who understands your pace, interests (photography, birding, Big Five experiences), and priorities.
- Intimate encounters with wildlife — from lions, elephants, rhinos, leopards, and buffalo (the Big Five experiences) to lesser-known mammals and birds, your guide will help you see more than just what’s on the wildlife checklist.
- Cultural Immersion — learn from local communities, experience traditional music, ceremonies, and cuisines, deepen your connection with the land and its custodians.
- Travel with purpose — our safaris are rooted in conservation travel and safari sustainability, focusing on protecting ecosystems, supporting community well-being, and minimizing our environmental impact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I look for when choosing a Private Safari Guide to ensure my guided wildlife tour is both educational and immersive?
When choosing a private safari guide, look for someone with expert knowledge of local flora and fauna, exceptional tracking and navigation skills, and the ability to share more than just Big Five sightings—inclusive knowledge of ecosystems, conservation issues, and cultural context. Also important: language skills, communication style, ability to customise the tour to your wildlife, photographic, or cultural interests.
How can a bespoke itinerary enhance both luxury safari lodges experience and Big Five experiences?
A bespoke itinerary allows you to choose your lodgings, pace of travel, and wildlife priorities (e.g. spending extra time searching for the Big Five), and to stay in luxury safari lodges that match your preferences (style, amenities, location). Being private and tailored means you can optimise travel time, avoid crowds, and maximise wildlife sightings—all enhancing your Big Five experiences.
In what ways does conservation travel intersect with safari sustainability on a privately guided safari?
Conservation travel means choosing operators, guides, and lodges that actively protect wildlife, support anti-poaching, habitat protection, and local livelihoods. Safari sustainability involves reducing environmental impact (energy, water, waste), respecting local cultures, supporting community projects, and ensuring that your wildlife tours and lodge stays give back. Together they ensure that your safari doesn’t just consume beauty, it helps preserve it.
What kinds of cultural immersion can I expect on a privately guided safari, and how is this different from standard safaris?
On a privately guided safari, cultural immersion might include visiting local villages, engaging with indigenous communities, attending traditional ceremonies or storytelling, cooking local foods, or learning about customs and languages. Because the safari is bespoke, time is built in for authentic, respectful interactions (rather than quick photo stops), and your guide will help interpret cultural cues sensitively.
How much does hiring a Private Specialist Guide add to the cost, and is it worth it for Big Five experiences and tailored wildlife tours?
The fee for a Private Specialist Guide can vary quite a lot depending on region, expertise, and specialisation—anything from ca. US$100 to US$700 per day.
It is generally worth it if you want greater depth in guided wildlife tours, more frequent sightings, personalised wildlife goals (especially Big Five experiences), photographic or birding-focused safaris, or custom schedule and pace that luxury safari lodges cannot always offer. The added cost tends to pay off in richer memories, smoother logistics, and higher overall satisfaction.
