How Much Does a Safari Cost? South Africa, Namibia, Botswana

There are really two safaris on offer in southern Africa, and their prices barely overlap. You can hire a car and sleep in the national parks’ own camps, which costs about the same as a decent road trip at home. Or you can fly into a private lodge where someone else drives, cooks and pours, and pay anywhere from US$200 to over US$5,000 a person a night. Most price guides blur the two together. I’d rather show you the sums.

Every rand, Namibian dollar and pula figure below comes from a rate sheet or fee schedule I checked in October 2026, converted at the European Central Bank rates of 13 October 2026: US$1 is about R16.50, N$16.50 (the Namibian dollar is pegged one to one to the rand) and P13.39. Those conversions are approximate and will drift. Park fees come from our own fee records, which cite the goverment schedules.

What a self-drive safari costs: three worked examples

Each example is a couple, with the costs that change from country to country: the car, fuel, nights inside the park and park fees. City hotels, food and flights from the US aren’t in here.

• Kruger, South Africa. A small car from Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo airport for 8 days, six nights in a Skukuza bungalow and seven days of park fees, travelling after 1 November 2026.
• Etosha, Namibia. A Hilux double cab with camping kit from Windhoek for 7 days, five nights camping at Okaukuejo and six park days, July to October.
• Moremi, Botswana. A Hilux with a rooftop tent from Maun for 8 days (Tawana’s minimum hire), two nights at Third Bridge, two at Khwai and five park days.

Cost for two	Kruger	Etosha	Moremi
Car hire	R550 × 8 days = US$267	N$2,370 × 7 days = US$1,006	from US$198 × 8 days = US$1,584
Fuel	about 112 litres of petrol at R30.25 = US$205	about 145 litres of diesel at N$27.86 = US$245	about 110 litres of diesel at P20.93 = US$172
Beds in the park	bungalow, R2,220 × 6 nights = US$807	campsite, N$560 each × 5 nights = US$339	Third Bridge P561 each × 2, Khwai US$50 each × 2, plus levy = US$371
Park fees	R692 each × 7 days = US$587	N$280 each × 6 days, plus N$60 a day for the car = US$226	P270 each × 5 days, plus P75 a day for the car = US$230
Total for the couple	US$1,867	US$1,816	US$2,356
A person a night in the park	about US$155	about US$180	about US$295

Some notes on how I got there. The Kruger car rate is the R539 a day average Skyscanner shows for Sixt at O.R. Tambo, rounded up. It’s an undated average, not a quote. The Skukuza bungalow rate (R2,220 a unit from 1 November 2026, up from R2,084) comes from Siyabona’s published table, because the SANParks booking site sits behind a bot check I won’t get past. Siyabona calls its figures a guideline, so check the rate when you book. If you’d rather camp, a Skukuza site is R423 a night from 1 November to 8 December 2026 and R551 over Christmas, which takes the Kruger total down to about US$1,210.

The Etosha car is Namib Trails’ high season camping package for one or two people on a 7 to 14 day hire (the sheet doesn’t say which months count as high season), and that rate includes insurance with a N$30,000 excess. Cutting the excess to zero is another N$450 a day (about US$27). Okaukuejo camping drops to N$460 each from November to June. If you want a room instead of a tent, Okaukuejo’s double rooms are N$2,380 a person B&B from July to October, and the Etosha trip then costs about US$2,880 even with a cheaper car without camping kit.

The Moremi car is Tawana Self Drive’s lowest 2027 rate for Botswana, which is for low season and hires of more than 16 days. Its minimum hire is 8 days, and an 8 day hire in August will cost more, so treat US$1,584 as a floor. Third Bridge is Xomae’s 2026 rate; it goes up to P600 in 2027. Fuel figures are my estimates: about 1,600 km round Kruger and back to Johannesburg at 7 litres per 100 km, about 1,450 km Windhoek to Etosha and back at 10, and about 600 km in Moremi’s sand at 18, which is what low range does to a Hilux. Fuel prices are South Africa’s October 2026 inland price for 95 petrol, the October Walvis Bay price in Namibia (inland is a little higher) and Botswana’s diesel price set in July 2026, the latest I could find.

For the details behind each country, read my Kruger, Etosha and Moremi pages and the self-drive guides for Namibia and Botswana.

How much a safari lodge costs per person per night

Lodge rates are quoted per person, per night, for two people sharing a room. These are rack rates from the lodges’ own sheets where I could get them, for a range of tiers. Where a rate is in rand or Namibian dollars I’ve converted it.

Lodge	Tier	Rate a person a night	What it covers
Onguma Bush Camp, by Etosha	value	N$3,060 (US$185) plus N$350 levy	dinner, bed and breakfast only; an Etosha game drive is N$1,930 (US$117) a person
Motswari, Timbavati	value	US$475 to US$645 by month	full board (agents’ figures); Timbavati levy extra
Oddballs, Okavango Delta	value	US$1,590 to US$2,170 for 3 nights in 2026, so US$530 to US$723 a night	everything including flights from Maun and park fees
Machaba, Khwai	mid	US$754 (Jan to Mar 2027) to US$1,381 (May to Oct 2027)	meals, selected drinks, activities, laundry; levy extra
Onguma Tented Camp, by Etosha	mid	N$15,900 (US$964) plus N$350 levy	all meals, drinks, two activities a day
Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge, Sabi Sand	high	R29,600 (US$1,794) plus R450 levy	meals, most drinks, drives and walks, airstrip transfers
Tanda Tula Safari Camp, Timbavati	high	R31,500 (US$1,910) plus R1,815 levy	meals, local drinks, drives and walks, airstrip transfers
Onguma Camp Kala, by Etosha	high	N$30,400 (US$1,843) plus N$350 levy	all inclusive with a 60 minute spa treatment
Mombo, Okavango Delta	top	US$3,062 (Jan to Mar 2027) to US$5,345 (Jun to Oct 2027)	meals, local drinks, activities, laundry and park fees

Onguma’s rates run from 1 November 2026 to 31 October 2027, Tanda Tula’s for calendar 2026, and Sabi Sabi’s from 1 March 2026 to 28 February 2027 (one agent shows R26,900 as its normal rate and R20,170 on a special offer, so shop around). For a couple, six nights at Machaba in the 2026 high season comes to US$15,780 before tips and flights. The same six nights self-driving Kruger cost them about US$1,870.

South Africa, Namibia or Botswana: the comparison

	South Africa	Namibia	Botswana
Self-drive example, a person a night	about US$155 (Kruger, bungalow)	about US$180 (Etosha, camping)	about US$295 (Moremi, camping)
Do you need a 4x4?	No, not for Kruger	No, the road from Windhoek to Etosha is tar	Yes, inside Moremi, Chobe and the Kalahari reserves
Daily park fee, foreign adult	R692, about US$42 (Kruger from 1 Nov 2026)	N$280, about US$17 (Etosha)	P270, about US$20 (Moremi and Chobe)
Value lodge, a person a night	about US$475 to US$645	about US$185 plus activities	about US$530 to US$723
Dearest lodge in my table, a person a night	about US$1,910 (Tanda Tula)	about US$1,843 (Camp Kala)	US$3,062 to US$5,345 (Mombo)
How much season moves lodge prices	little: Tanda Tula has one rate for 2026, Sabi Sabi adds 15% over Christmas	little at lodges; NWR’s Okaukuejo costs 20% to 25% more July to October	a lot: high season is 75% to 85% above January to March
Currency lodges quote in	rand	Namibian dollars	US dollars

That last row matters to an American more than it looks. Botswana’s camps price in dollars, so what you see is what you pay. South African and Namibian lodges price in rand or Namibian dollars, so a stronger dollar makes them cheaper and a weaker one adds to the bill between booking and paying.

What safari lodge rates include, and what they don’t

“All inclusive” on a safari means less than it does at a beach resort, and each lodge draws the line in a diffrent place. Meals, game drives and house drinks are almost always in. After that, read the sheet.

• Park and conservation levies. Mombo and Oddballs include park fees. Sabi Sabi adds R450 a person a night for the Sabi Sand levy, Tanda Tula R1,815 for its sustainability levy (which bundles the Timbavati levy with community and foundation contributions), and Onguma N$350. Machaba lists its conservation levy under exclusions without giving the amount.
• Getting there. Delta camps like Mombo and Oddballs are reached by light aircraft from Maun. Oddballs builds those flights into its package, Mombo’s page doesn’t say, so ask. Sabi Sabi includes transfers from its own airstrip but charges for Skukuza airport. Tanda Tula includes transfers from Rockfig airstrip but not the landing fees there.
• Premium drinks, spa, curios. Champagne and imported spirits are extra almost everywhere.
• Tips. Never included. For a guide on a shared vehicle in Botswana, Expert Africa suggests US$10 to US$20 a guest a day, plus US$5 to US$10 for the camp staff tip box. Six nights for two at those rates is US$180 to US$360. My safari tipping guide has the amounts for all three countries, and the Botswana, Namibia and South Africa essentials guides cover cash and cards.
• The Christmas surcharge. Sabi Sabi adds 15% for arrivals from 20 December to 5 January, and Mombo charges its peak rate over the same weeks.

Where the money goes

The share of your money that reaches the park authority depends on how you travel, and it’s not what most people expect. In my Kruger example, the conservation fee is US$587 of US$1,867, almost a third of the trip. That’s why SANParks’ fee rises sting independent travellers and barely register for lodge guests. On a lodge holiday the government fee or private reserve levy is a rounding error: Botswana’s P270 park fee is about US$20 against Machaba’s US$1,315 high season rate, and Sabi Sabi’s R450 levy is under 2% of its nightly price.

Self-driving Namibia or Botswana, the car is the big cost, 55% of my Etosha example and 67% of Moremi’s. That’s the line to shop hardest. Namib Trails’ sheet drops the daily rate for longer hires and in low season, and Tawana’s lowest rates are for low season hires of more than 16 days.

If you’re doing a long South African loop, also look at the SANParks Wild Card, which covers the daily fee and pays for itself once you clock enough park days. For any single park, the park fee calculator does the fee sums for your own dates and party.

When a safari is cheapest

For a lodge safari in Botswana, January to March, without question. Machaba’s 2027 rate falls from US$1,381 to US$754 and Mombo’s from US$5,345 to US$3,062, and Oddballs knocks about a quarter off. You trade that for heat, rain and thicker bush (my Okavango Delta timing guide goes through it month by month).

In South Africa and Namibia the private lodges barely move, so pick your month for the wildlife and the weather. The best time to visit Kruger and best time to visit Etosha guides cover that. The one Namibian saving is in the NWR camps, where Okaukuejo’s rooms drop from N$2,380 to N$1,900 a person from November.

All prices last checked between 7 and 14 October 2026. Lodges and car hire firms reprice every year, so ask for a written quote in dollars before you pay a deposit.