Making the most out of your group tour in Africa
Group tours come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and are geared towards a broad range of travellers from young ones, luxury travellers, adventurous spirits to the 50+ explorers.
It’s a great way to experience a new destination with the comfort of everything organised on your behalf, a guide with you every step of the way and like minded travellers. We share our top travel tips for group tours in Africa.
Pack light
This applies to the majority of travel in Africa yet pertinent for group tours. Reason being is from the time you arrive until the time you depart you’re responsible for your own luggage. Of course you will get assistance, but hoisting your own bag
Pack a laundry bag
Make sure you take a bag with you for your laundry and make the most of opportunities to wash especially when you’ll be packing light. You don’t want to lose a sock plus it helps you keep track of what’s clean and what’s not. We also love to pack something that smells nice like your preferred air freshener because you’re on the road for a while and want to keep your clothes smelling fresh and help reduce any odours from shoes!
Be mindful of money
Naturally, you will want to tip your guide and anyone else who made your trip possible. So be mindful of having cash on you and ensure you know whether everybody is tipping individually or together as the group.
Communicate
This sounds easy, right? When travelling in groups remember everybody has different ideas and interests so communication is crucial. Together you’ll need to make decisions like how long you stay at a wildlife sighting. So that leads us nicely into the next important tip…
Listen
Your guide wants to give you the very best experience on your tour in Africa. So make sure you listen. We know it can be tiring on group tours and particularly safaris, but do your best to take it all in! Listen to what your guide is saying about safety too – their expertise and knowledge are invaluable and advice will keep you safe. They do this for a living.
Be patient
With a group in tow, remember things can take a little longer than if you’re travelling on your own. Equally, not everybody will share the level of interest in things as you do.
Stay calm
It’s rare in any social situation that you will meet a group of people and immediately connect with each and every one of them. There is sometimes at least one person on your group tour who may annoy you. Just remember to stay calm, centred and don’t let others impact your holiday – you deserve to have the very best time.
Me time
Being on the move with others, you will certainly need some alone time. This is really important and why we recommend you pack headphones, a great book or simply retreat to your room for down time.