African Overland Tours
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So you want to go travelling in Africa? Of course you do!
But there are different ways to do it. And some are smarter than others, as they’re safer, more cost-effective, more immersive and sustainable, and just more fun. The big advantage of small group travel in Africa is that it meets all of these criteria, and more.
So what exactly is small group travel? It refers to organised trips consisting of around six to 12 travellers (though they can sometimes be a bit smaller or bigger than that). Anything larger than 16 and I’d say you’re dealing with group travel (or large group travel).
I believe small group travel is the sweet spot between solo or independent travel and large group travel in Africa, as the latter options come with certain inherent limitations and challenges that you don’t have in small group travel.
Allow me to elaborate …
In many parts of Africa, solo or independent travel isn’t always terribly safe or wise, especially for women. This is true when exploring cities, driving cross-country, and everything in between. Small group travel affords you the safety of numbers.
Moreover, most small group travel takes place with a tour leader or guide. This individual accompanies you everywhere, and because they’re a local (or at least they should be), they know what to do and what not to do to keep everyone healthy and safe. In fact, with any reputable tour operator like African Overland Tours, your tour guide’s number one priority is your well-being.
It’s also worth pointing out that when a group becomes too large, the safety-in-numbers advantage diminishes, as it’s harder for a guide to keep tabs on everyone and spot if anything is amiss (like someone goes missing). So again, it’s small group travel that is the sweet spot when it comes to travelling safely in Africa.
One of the big reasons that small group travel is so in vogue right now is that many of us require affordable travel options. And small group travel always beats out solo or independent travel in matters of the purse.
There are various ways that group travel helps to reduce your costs. For instance, tour operators are often able to access special deals that aren’t available to the public. They can also sometimes obtain group discounts. Then, for some, a small group trip is valuable as the operator can put you in a room or tent with another solo traveller, and you therefore don’t need to pay a single supplement fee.
Finally, you should know that tipping is an important custom throughout Africa. Service staff, like lodge employees and tour guides, work hard in the hope of earning good tips. Moreover, guide tips are often somewhat formalised and serve as critical sources of supplemental income. It’s therefore important to include tips in your budget, as they can raise costs significantly. But when you travel in a group, you can split the tips between all of you, and this goes a long way towards reducing the overall price tag of your African adventure.
One of the reasons more people are turning from large to small group travel is that it means greater access to the tour guide and any other activity guides. In large groups, a guide is looking after too many travellers to be able to give anyone much personalised attention, and it’s that attention that can make an experience so much more rewarding.
So one of the big advantages of small group travel in Africa is having more face-to-face time with your guide to ask all your questions, receive individual help with your preparations or gear if necessary, and just be noticed and attended to more.
In fact, on small group trips, the relationship you develop with your guide is usually one of the most meaningful of your travels. Your guide is your gateway into the visited society. During long drives or walks, for instance, you can learn about each other’s lives, families, backgrounds, beliefs, and more. On some trips, you spend days and even weeks together, and so oftentimes your guide becomes your friend. This is one of the great joys of small group travel.
Finally, small groups just offer a better experience overall. Picture a handful of folks doing a walking tour through Stone Town in Zanzibar, for example. You can stop and gather around the guide to look into their face and see exactly where they’re pointing as they tell a story. In a large group, this scene would likely include a loudspeaker, neck craning, and some stragglers not even knowing the guide is speaking.
There are various ways in which small group travel experiences beat out those of large groups.
For starters, large groups naturally have to stick to the pre-arranged schedule or itinerary. With small groups, however, the guide has some wiggle room to adapt an itinerary or experience to suit the needs or preferences of the groups. For instance, if they can see that all seven of you are really enjoying a hike, they can easily discuss extending it.
Small groups are also able to travel more swiftly and efficiently. For instance, 10 of you can pile into a minibus, zip to a new location, and then disembark close to the entrance. Large groups? The guide must corral everyone onto the bus, do a head count, make everyone wait while a missing couple is located … you get the picture. All such little time-wasters add up.
Finally, with small groups, it’s easier to liaise with your guide if one or more of you want to split up for a while to do different things. The simpler logistics of small group travel just mean more flexibility all around.
ZAR https://schema.org/InStock African Overland Tours Price From
R97,495
Nature & Wildlife, Wilderness Walks, Mountain Adventures, Dramatic Vistas
15 Day East Africa Summit & Safari Adventure
Nairobi
Moshi
Tour Type
Camping
Group Size
Min 1 Max 22
Comfort Level
Basic
Age Range
15+ Years and older
Operated in
English Guided
Destinations
Overview
This 15 day adventure offers a dynamic journey from Nairobi in Kenya, to Moshi in Tanzania,... Read More
Cultural tourism is a vital source of income for many communities across Africa. Yet tourist numbers really do matter. For example, many communities welcome visitors who want to pay for a culturally immersive experience, like eating a traditional meal with a family or attending a hands-on workshop. But such experiences usually can’t cater to big numbers. So if you’re travelling in a large group, you miss out on enriching opportunities like these.
Then, when it comes to nature (often a core reason for travelling to Africa), large groups of people are naturally more disruptive, so they’re likely to scare off birds and twitchy wildlife. You’ll also certainly have a harder time when travelling in a large group to find a quiet spot on trips like safaris where you can pay attention to the subtler sounds and smells around you.
Another big advantage of small group travel in Africa is how it minimises your environmental footprint compared with solo or independent travel. Rather than two people driving around in a safari vehicle, for instance, you can fill it up with eight of you.
On the flip side, mass tourism (and all the ills that go with it) is often fuelled by large group travel. Small groups, by contrast, can visit communities without overwhelming the facilities or causing troublesome disruptions or noise. They can also enter delicate or protected ecosystems without disrupting the wildlife or trampling fragile vegetation.
Small groups also tend to display more sustainable and considerate behaviours compared with large groups, as sometimes people’s normal standards of responsibility take a dip when they’re part of a crowd.
Finally, small groups can also choose accommodations that benefit the local economy, like homestays, B&Bs, and independent guesthouses over foreign-owned lodges or international hotel chains.
A final advantage of small group travel in Africa is that it gifts you an immediate ‘crew’, yet at the same time nobody is at risk of being overlooked.
When you travel on your own, you don’t have the camaraderie of travel companions, and afterwards there’s nobody to reminisce with. Those who join a small group adventure often come away from the experience with new friends, as travel helps you connect with new people quickly since conventional barriers are broken down during the fun, thrill and sometimes challenges of travel.
On the flip side, large groups often aren’t as conducive as small groups to forming strong bonds. In large groups, you’re splitting up or spreading out all the time out of necessity, such as needing to sit at multiple tables for meals. In a small group, by contrast, you’re all together most of the time, and so each member of the group is a core part of everyone else’s experience and memories.
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