Participation safaris are hands-on journeys across Southern Africa, involving long drives, early starts, and shared camp duties in a group setting. They offer a rewarding and immersive way to experience the region. Learn more about what they entail below.

Everything in Southern Africa is on a grand scale, and to cover the ground necessary, your journey includes long drives through some of Africa’s most spectacular scenery. Such drives, including your game drives, are on a mix of dirt tracks, graded roads and tar highways. The driving times are indicated on each day. These times do not include stops along the way. Stops include regular comfort breaks which we will attempt to correlate with towns or interesting sights and picnics are often taken at the side of the road on driving days.

Included in the itinerary are a variety of walks. These will be on paved surfaces, uneven sandy dunes or rocky terrain and are always accompanied by your experienced guide. Each walk is paced with time for your guide to interpret the environment around you. On some walks, it is vital to walk together in a line or small group in case of encounters with animals. When in the Okavango Delta we travel by mokoro. These are traditional dug-out canoes and we may have to walk in the shallows to board at water level.

The accommodation on lodge trips will range from chalet style through to permanent tented lodges with en-suite facilities. There may be a bar/restaurant available and some lodges may have a swimming pool. When in the Okavango, lodge trips also include a couple of nights of wild camping. During camping trips we also wild camp, and this is usually within national parks open to nature. We pitch our tents together in a rough circular shape and then place our chairs around a campfire built by our guides at the centre. Our guides will then dig a pit latrine and hang a bucket shower placing modesty fences around both. Helping with each other’s tents makes light work of the process and helps us all to break ice and galvanise friendships as we make and break camp every few days. It is much the same process at campsites, except that we will have extra conveniences such as toilet and shower blocks and often bars, restaurants and pools to relax in, and sockets to charge devices.

On both camping and lodge trips many of the meals are prepared by the guides and it is good group etiquette to help with preparation and washing up on these days. An informal rotation of roles is usually established for helping out.

These trips are suitable for the adventurous traveller who enjoys spending time with a group of likeminded adventurers looking to experience some of Africa's most incredible safari experiences.