Travel Costs: Africa Overland Safari Budget Update

 

We’re continuing to post our spending numbers as a resource for other travelers. Here is what it cost to take a 24 day overlanding trip with Dragoman — a UK-based overlanding company — from Victoria Falls to Cape Town, going through Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia.

This also includes two days that we spent on our own in Livingstone, Zambia prior to the start of the trip, but not our time in Cape Town, South Africa after the trip.

Spending Breakdown:

We paid $4213.17 to Dragoman for the trip — $2513.17 paid upon booking in British pounds (1634 GBP), and $1700 paid upon arrival in US Dollars (this goes into the “kitty” which is used to pay for camping, groceries and park admission fees). We also had the following additional spending:

Activity	$282.39
Food/Drink	$369.01
Immigration	$160.00
Lodging	$85.00
Misc.	$285.72
Transportation	$17.36
Total Extra Spending	$1199.49
Grand Total	$5,412.66

This works out to about $216/day for 2 people.

A few notes on our spending habits:

• Most activities were included in the safari price. We paid extra to visit Victoria Falls on the Zambia side before joining the trip (about $37), and for a Helicopter Ride over the Okavango Delta ($230). This also includes a few small tips for guides along the way.
• Although there were opportunities to upgrade to cabins along the way, we camped every night. The accommodation expense ($85) was only for our first two nights in Zambia prior to joining the safari, where we stayed at the excellent Jollyboys Backpackers in a little private bungalow.
• The food/drink expenses were for drinks, snacks, and the few days that food wasn’t provided — only the first two days in Victoria Falls and 1 day in Swakopmund, Namibia. For the rest of the trip, food was included.
• The transportation expense was only for taxis in Livingstone prior to joining the trip
• The miscellaneous category includes: $65 for sleeping bags and $80 for ground mats and other random camping gear — both of which we bought in India, $46 for new warm clothes (it was much colder than we expected), internet access, laundry, and other random small items.
• We paid $50/person upon arrival in Livingstone and $30/person upon arrival in Zimbabwe for tourist visas. Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa do not charge US residents for tourist visas.
• This includes only our visa costs and spending in the country. It excludes our airfare here and upfront costs like immunizations, travel insurance, etc.

This was a total budget splurge. We spent more in 3 weeks than we spent in the last 4 months of travel through Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the Thai Beaches, and India. But it was absolutely, positively, 100% worth it.

Click here for our other budget updates.