Meta: How to travel to Africa on a budget. Top African wildlife safari destinations and their pocket friendly attractions. The simplest guide to traveling to Africa on a budget
Keywords:
- Traveling to Africa on a budget
- Travel guide to Africa
- How to plan a trip to Africa
- Travel between African countries
The cost of traveling to Africa can vary depending on your preferences. The continent is one of the least expensive places on the earth if you’re willing to stay in a budget camp, and eat regional cuisine.
Millions of people on the continent, after all, get by on less than 1 USD per day. There are plenty of ways to travel between African countries at a low cost.
For instance, consider your priorities. Do you prefer taking a short safari or a longer one? Opting for one is sometimes necessary. For instance, by skipping the Kilimanjaro summit or a gorilla expedition, you may extend your trip by one or two months.
Put your most interesting activity first and shelve the rest for later. In this write-up, we take a look at how to plan a trip to Africa on a budget. In this travel guide to Africa, we list all the exciting top destinations for low cost travel to Africa.
Table of Contents
1. Kenya
Although luxury lodges have frequently come to represent the luxury safari experience, this is not the case in reality. Traveling to Africa on a budget is possible as you can choose to stay at mid range lodges, camp, or travel outside of the peak season.
Kenya offers lodging, rental homes, and dining alternatives for all price ranges. You can save money by eating food on the street and traveling by inexpensive means.
Beach resorts also come in a variety of price ranges, from budget boutique hotels, Airbnb’s, to 5-star luxury accommodations with elegant staff and beach bungalows.
For those who wish to visit star locations such as the Maasai Mara during the peak season, you can witness the annual wildebeest migration on a budget by camping at the public campsites. Some of these go for as low as 30 USD per adult per night.
2. Uganda
Travel between African countries is relatively easy and hassle-free.
Visiting the East African states is now easier than ever, thanks to cordial ties between the respective East African governments.
Tanzania and Kenya- Uganda’s well-known neighbors- unquestionably eclipse its magnificence. As such, Uganda can’t compete with them in terms of size, sheer wildlife abundance, or leisure holidays. Nevertheless, the country still manages to pack a powerful punch despite its small size.
Uganda is an excellent destination for private, low-budget safari trips due to its abundance of natural beauty and minimal to no tourist congestion. While there, you may opt to travel via the affordable mini vans that serve various towns.
As for accommodation options, the numerous little local bed and breakfasts provide excellent services to backpackers and other budget travelers.
The number of managed campsites has also significantly increased in recent years, and there are now very few well-established tourist destinations where you can’t pitch a tent in a safe location with decent amenities.
At the national parks, camping typically ranges between 5 USD-10 USD per night per person.
3. South Africa
Our travel guide to Africa would not be complete without a mention of South Africa.
Only rivaled by Kenya, South Africa has plenty to offer when it comes to wildlife safaris.
However, due to its many luxury travel options, the country is sometimes disregarded by travelers on a tight budget.
When considering how to plan a trip to Africa, your budgetary constraints should not deter you from enjoying South Africa’s incredible safaris, untamed mountains, top-notch wines, endless coastline, and vibrant towns like Cape Town.
It’s great natural beauty, turbulent history, and multiculturalism make it a must-see if you plan to travel between African countries on safari. In all of Africa, South Africa boasts the most UNESCO sites!
Several businesses operate there, including Intercape, Greyhound, and Baz Bus (which primarily caters to backpackers).
As for accommodation options, there are plenty of hostels which you may reserve online. Hostelworld is a good place to make reservations because they have the largest selection and the greatest prices. Should you wish to stay someplace other than a hostel you could opt for low-priced guesthouses and budget hotels.
4. Egypt
Visit the land of the pharaohs and get up close and personal with the great pyramids!
One neat tip for budget travelers to Egypt is that all tickets are discounted by 50% for students of all kinds.
That implies that if you tour several attractions, you’ll save hundreds of dollars. The majority of ticket checkers will thus let you through if you display your student ID.
Also, if you’re on a tight budget, a private car is neither affordable nor worthwhile. It is so much less expensive to ride a tour bus or a train than to drive.
About the pyramids, please ensure you splurge a little and get a professional guide to take you on tour. However, if you really wish to go without a guide, then tour Saqqara (the very first pyramid, since it will be less expensive than the Great Pyramids and can be toured without a guide.
5. Tanzania
Tanzania’s wildlife abundant parks make it one of Africa’s top safari hotspots. But do not let that fool you into thinking that budget travel is impossible.
The typical cost for a 9-day budget package that includes 7 days of safari ranges between 1200 and 1500 euros per person. Staying in tents is the least expensive choice of accommodation, and it also puts you in close proximity to the natural world.
The camping sites in national parks are not segregated from the rest of the park, so you will be sleeping at the heart of nature. The sounds of the animals at night are quite remarkable. However, since the camp’s designated cooking area is fenced off, wild animals cannot wander into the camp.
