Safari PlanningEvery year we get the same email from London, Amsterdam and Berlin: “I really want to do a safari, but nobody I know can take the time off. Can I come on my own?”
The answer is yes — and solo travellers often have the best safari of anyone in the vehicle. Here is the honest 2026 guide to doing East Africa alone, written by an operator based in the region rather than a booking site in Europe.
Better than most people expect. A safari is not a trip where you are wandering unfamiliar streets at night with a rucksack. From the moment you land at Entebbe, Nairobi or Kilimanjaro, you are met by a named driver-guide, you travel in a private or small-group vehicle, and you sleep in lodges with staff and security on site. The logistics that make solo travel stressful elsewhere are already handled.
What solo travellers actually gain is control. You choose when to leave for the morning game drive, how long to sit with a leopard, whether to skip the 5am start after a long day. Couples and families negotiate; you simply decide.
This is the one genuine financial penalty of solo safari travel. Lodges price rooms per person based on two people sharing, so a solo guest pays a supplement — typically £40–£120 per night for mid-range camps, and considerably more at luxury properties.
Three ways European travellers reduce it:
Realistic 2026 figures for a traveller departing London, Paris or Amsterdam:
A solid solo week in Kenya or Tanzania lands around £1,900–£2,400 all in. Uganda with gorillas sits nearer £3,000 — the permit is the difference.
Neither is objectively better; they suit different people.
A small-group departure gives you company at dinner, shared costs and a ready-made social circle — this is what most first-time solo travellers want, and it is why we run fixed departures at all. You will be with four to seven others, usually a mix of British, Dutch, German and Scandinavian travellers.
A private trip costs more but gives you the vehicle, the guide and the schedule entirely to yourself. Photographers, birders and anyone who wants to spend ninety minutes at one sighting should book private. You are still never alone in practice — your guide is with you every day, and good guides make excellent company.
The honest picture: the risks on a solo safari are the same as on any safari, and none of them are dramatic. Follow your guide’s instructions around wildlife, don’t walk between tents after dark without an escort, keep a copy of your passport separate from the original, and take out travel insurance that covers medical evacuation — Uganda and Tanzania in particular have remote parks.
Solo women travel with us regularly and consistently report feeling comfortable. Lodge staff are attentive, guides are professional, and the safari circuit is small enough that everyone knows everyone. If it would reassure you, ask us for a female guide — we can usually arrange one with notice.
Kenya is the easiest entry point: short internal transfers, superb Masai Mara game viewing, and the most solo-friendly group departures. Tanzania suits those who want the Serengeti and Ngorongoro and can spend a little more. Uganda is for travellers who want gorillas and chimpanzees and don’t mind longer drives. Rwanda is compact and polished — brilliant if you have only five days.
Travelling alone should not be the reason you postpone the trip another year. Tell us your dates, your budget and whether you would rather join a group or have a guide to yourself, and we will build the itinerary around it.
Ready to plan your safari? Contact Nature Nest Safaris at book@naturenestsafaris.com or call +256 777 131 912.
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