Money
The word has no price. The brief does.
Bespoke can cost more than the standard circuit, or less. It depends entirely on what you ask for.
The ladder
Per person per night, fully inclusive
| Level | Per night | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Fine lodges and classic camps | US$800 – 1,200 | Established camps in genuinely good locations, a private vehicle throughout, light-aircraft hops between parks rather than long road transfers, and guiding that is a profession rather than a job. The entry point to a safari that does not compromise. |
| Private conservancy | US$1,200 – 1,800 | Camps on private land, where the rules change: off-road driving to a sighting, night drives, walking with an armed guide, and a cap on how many vehicles may attend anything. Usually the point at which people stop comparing safaris on price. |
| Owner-run and design-led | US$1,800 – 2,500 | The camps people name when they get home. Six to ten tents, an owner or manager who is present, a guide assigned to you for the stay, and food that would hold its own in a city. |
| Exclusive-use and private-guided | US$2,500 – 4,000 | A guide who travels with you from park to park rather than being handed over at each one, private charters on your own schedule, and small camps taken whole for your party. |
| Whole-camp and villa | US$4,000 and up | Exclusive-use houses and villas with their own staff, mobile expedition camps built for your route, and private aircraft between countries. Bought for privacy and control rather than for thread count. |
Per person per night sharing, fully inclusive: accommodation, meals, park and conservancy fees, guiding, and transport between parks. International flights are not included. Indicative 2026/27 rates. Your quote confirms exact pricing for your dates.
The whole thing
What a bespoke Kenya trip comes to
Per person, land only, in Kenya, at the level we plan at. Per-night bands are how quotes get compared; these are what they add up to, which is the number people are really asking about.
| Trip | From, per person |
|---|---|
| 4 nights in the Mara | about $2,500 |
| 7 nights | about $6,000 |
| 10 to 13 nights, privately guided | $10,000 to $14,000 |
International flights are not included. Inside those totals a luxury camp runs about $1,050 a night, all in, with a private guide and vehicle. Exclusive use runs about $2,700, with private flying between camps. Flying Nairobi to the Mara instead of driving adds about $700 to $850 per person across a trip and buys back most of a day in each direction. Green and shoulder season saves 20 to 30 per cent. Indicative 2026/27 rates. Your quote confirms exact pricing for your dates.
What makes a bespoke trip cheaper
- Fewer places, more nights at each, every move costs a flight and most of a day
- Shoulder-season dates, where the same camp can be thirty per cent less
- A camp chosen for its land rather than its reputation
- Road where road is genuinely fine, and air only where it saves a day
- Dropping the famous stop that was only on the list because it is famous
What makes it more expensive
- A private guide travelling with you between camps
- Private charters on your own schedule
- Exclusive use of a camp or house
- Peak dates that are fixed rather than chosen
- More countries, which means more flights and more joins
The planning itself is free
There is no fee to send a brief, no fee for a draft and no fee for revisions. Money changes hands only when you decide to hold space.
That is true whether the answer turns out to be an elaborate bespoke route or a standard circuit we recommended instead.
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