“How far in advance to plan a safari?” “When should I start the planning process?”
It’s one of the questions we hear most often, and the honest answer is: there’s no single right time. We’ve planned trips that came together over eighteen months, and we’ve planned trips in eight weeks flat. Both worked and both were wonderful. What matters more than the calendar is understanding what actually needs to happen between the moment you decide “yes, I’m doing this” and the moment you step off the plane in Africa.
So rather than give you a rigid countdown, we want to walk you through the planning process itself — what gets figured out, in what order, and why. If you’re starting a year out, these stages will simply have more breathing room. If you’re working with a shorter window, we compress them, but nothing gets skipped. So if you want to know how far in advance to plan a safari, hopefully this will give you a good idea!
Getting to Know Your Trip
Every safari that we plan starts with a conversation. We talk through dates, group size, travel style, and budget, along with the things you actually want out of the trip — is this about the Great Migration, quieter reserves with almost no other vehicles, a specific country you’ve always wanted to see, or a mix of wildlife and culture? If you’re joining one of our small group departures, this is also when you’d secure your spot, since those do fill up.
From there, we start building an itinerary that reflects what you told us, not a template. This can take a few rounds of back-and-forth as we refine it together.
We have done this step as far as two years before the departure date and as soon as eight weeks, but we find that an ideal time to start the planning process is around the one year mark.
Locking In the Details
Once the shape of the trip feels right, we move into logistics: reserving the camps, lodges, and guides you’ll actually be with. Some of the best properties book out over a year in advance, especially during peak season, so if you have your heart set on a specific place, earlier is generally better here. That said, we also know how to work with availability when time is tighter, and we’re honest with you about what’s realistic given your timeline.
This is also when international flights get sorted (either booked directly or we help guide you through it), and a deposit is made to hold everything in place. You’ll get access to your the Hills of Africa resource page around this time too — it has years of guides, packing lists, and tips we’ve built up for exactly this stage of planning.
Filling In the Personal Stuff
With the big pieces set, we shift to the details that make a trip feel considered rather than generic. You’ll fill out a preference form so we can let the lodges know things like dietary needs, what you like to drink in the evenings, or any allergies and dietary restrictions. We’ll also send over visa requirements and start walking you through health and travel documentation.
Getting Ready to Go
As departure gets closer, our communication with you picks up. You’ll start receiving more frequent notes — packing lists, tipping guidance, book and documentary recommendations, and pointers to specific pages on your resource hub. We’ll check in on the practical things: passport expiration dates, travel insurance, dietary confirmations. And if you have questions about what to wear, what gear is worth bringing, or how to think about photography on safari, this is when those conversations tend to happen.
The Final Stretch
In the last few weeks before you leave, everything gets confirmed one more time — flights, transfers, lodging. You’ll receive direct contact information for your guides and hosts on the ground, along with a tipping guide tailored to your specific trip. We also add you to a WhatsApp group with your concierge and your in-country contact, so there’s always a real person a message away if anything comes up.
And Then, You Go
However long the planning took, this is the part it was all for. From here, our job is just to be available — to answer questions while you’re there, and to hear the stories and see the photos when you’re back.
So, how far in advance to plan a safari?
Like we said, there is no hard and fast rule dictating how far in advance to plan a safari. That being said, we recommend starting the process anywhere from 14 to 6 months in advance. This gives you plenty of time to make adjustments to your itinerary, to prepare and to ensure that all of the lodges you have been itching for will be available for you!
If you’re wondering whether it’s “too early” or “too late” to start planning your own trip, it’s very likely neither. Reach out, tell us where you are in your thinking, and we’ll figure out together what the right timeline looks like for you.
