Budget safaris

A budget safari is not a lesser safari. The parks are the same, the vehicle is the same, the guide is the same and the game drives are the same — what changes is where you sleep. Value camps put their money into being close to the wildlife rather than into thread counts, and for most first-time travellers that is exactly the right trade.

Kenya is where budget travel works best in East Africa. Park fees are lower than in Tanzania, distances between the main reserves are manageable by road, and there is a well-established network of value camps around the Maasai Mara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and Amboseli. The Citrus catalogue locks specific budget properties in those areas so that the standard is known rather than left to chance.

The honest trade-offs are worth stating. Budget camps are usually simpler in their rooms and bathrooms, often sited just outside park boundaries rather than inside them, and the food is straightforward. Some are tented with shared or basic facilities. None of that affects what you see on a game drive, but it does affect how you feel at the end of one.

If a budget route interests you but you are unsure about a particular stop, the usual answer is to upgrade one leg rather than the whole trip — a better camp for the Mara nights, for instance, while keeping value accommodation elsewhere. We price that comparison as a matter of course.