Ideal Trip Durations

The long journey

Most of the locations we offer are long-haul destinations for most guests.
For example, from North America or the Far East the door-to-door journey to Africa is likely to be at least 24 hours, often considerably longer. Journeys of at least 15 hours are commonplace.
For most people this long journey will mean that a trip needs to spend at least 10-13 nights in country to make the travel worthwhile, more ideally 14-18 nights if possible.
If you happen to live closer to your chosen destination (for example, visitors from the Persian Gulf or the Indian Subcontinent heading to Africa) then trips as short as 5 to 7 nights may be feasible, so long as you only want to visit one region.

Vast continents

The continents that we offer (Africa, South America and the Indian Subcontinent) are vast, often much larger than most world map projections make them appear.
For example, Africa is one and a half times the size of North America, three times the size of the USA.
The distance from the north to the south of Chile is an enormous 4300km, that's further than New York to San Francisco.
The distance from Nairobi to Cape Town or from the north to the south of Chile is considerably further than New York to San Francisco and there are no direct flight connections, meaning that these journeys alone can take days.
So if you want to combine dispersed areas in a trip, such as Serengeti, Mount Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar, Victoria Falls and Cape Town or Chile and Galápagos, then to do them properly you need a bare minimum of two weeks, preferably three to four weeks.

Environmental considerations

It is also important to appreciate quite how carbon heavy travel can be. A single long-haul trip is responsible for around half the emission that a small car emits in a year.
Although we are able to help you offset these emissions by contributing to various tree-planting projects, we do recommend that you consider undertaking less frequent but longer duration trips.
For example, if you were to do two trips of 3 weeks instead of three trips of two weeks, then you should cut your emissions by a third, which is very significant..

Speed of travel

The biggest single mistake that most first-time travelers to Africa make is to try fit too much in and travel around too fast. This is a sure way to reduce the quality of a safari.
We cover this issue in more detail in the article..

Your availability

The most common limiting factor on trips is how much time you have available.
Most people are trying to fit a trip into two weeks off work, plus weekends, so around 16 nights. Take off the connections and that typically leaves 12-14 nights on the ground, which is great for a fabulous 2-3 location trip.
If you want to keep it to one week off work, then you have only around 9 nights to play with, only 6-7 nights on the ground. This would be more of a taster trip, ideally into just one location.
If you are not tied to work commitments and can take more time, then we almost always recommend taking longer. Slower travel is, for virtually everyone, easier, more involving and, ultimately, more satisfying.

Costs

Proper safari travel is unavoidably expensive in most countries, meaning that cost is a limiting factor for many people.
It is important to realize is that shorter trips are much more expensive per night than longer trips.
For many people the cost of a one-week safari can seem prohibitive. But spread that out over two weeks, increase the cost by only around 20-30% and suddenly it seems a much more substantial and workable proposition.
It usually works out much more cost effective to do one big trip every few years than more frequent shorter trips. This pattern of travel is also better for the environment.
The biggest cost elements are usually your international flights and the core safari nights in remote areas. Adding nights in lower cost areas like hub cities or beach areas can add greatly to the experience without ramping up the costs.

Duration summaries

• 1–6 nights: Very short. Only works for nearby regions and one destination. High travel cost vs. experience time.
• 7–9 nights: A short trip that can work for 1–2 areas. Still transit-heavy relative to total trip length.
• 10–15 nights: The most popular duration. Allows a well-paced visit to 2–3 locations within one region.
• 16–21 nights: Great value if time allows. Enables broader combinations and more immersive experiences.
• 24+ nights: These are epic, life-changing journeys—ideal for sabbaticals or long-haul adventures. Deep, meaningful, and slow travel at its best.