Africa Travel Budget

I write this blog coming from New Zealand, where prices are inherently quite expensive.  If you’re used to travelling to Asia where things are remarkably cheaper, then this might come as a shock but Africa can be quite expensive.

But it completely depends on how you do it.  We chose to travel by rooftop camper because it helps to keep the budget lower for accommodation, meaning we can splurge on other items later in.  It also means we can self cater which we often prefer as all the cooking equipment is included, whereas a hotel or B&B accommodation doesn’t usually have these facilities

Major Costs: How much does it cost for a family road trip in Africa?

Flights from New Zealand

We travelled from Christchurch – Sydney – Singapore – Johannesburg return for two adults and three children for about $8000NZD with Singapore Airlines.

We first spent a week in South Africa before flying from Johannesburg to Windhoek which was about $1100 one way for 5 people, and from Victoria Falls back to Johannesburg for $1500.

I know a lot of people visit from the UK or Europe where the flights are much quicker and cheaper, but if you’re coming from Australasia, the flights will be a significant part of your overall budget

Vehicle Hire for our Africa Road Trip

I was quite surprised how expensive it was to hire a vehicle.  You may think that since we were camping that this is why its so expensive, but it was often only around $50 per day more to get a camper vehicle.

I think it’s due to all the hard wear on the vehicles due to the roads being so terrible and the fact that you rack up so many kilometres.

Campervan in South Africa

It cost us around $1800NZD for a 6 day campervan hire in Namibia and we went through Kea Campers who work with Maui South Africa.  This was a great option as it was hot in South Africa and the air conditioning was awesome when we were plugged in at night.  We ran it at 18C and slept very soundly.  In comparison a 4wd rooftop tent vehicle was about $1500 so not a huge difference for the convenience to pack up and go.

4×4 vehicle with double roof top tents in Namibia

We hired a vehicle from Warthog Safaris for about $6000 (including the $1500 one way rental fee) but was quoted anywhere up to $9500.  So you are looking between $200 and $300 per day which definitely isn’t cheap

Major Accommodation

A luxury lodge stay should be on everybody’s list and it’s not just accommodation, it is the full blown safari experience.

A typical safari lodge experience will include all of your game drives and activities, meals and of course, your bed for the night.

There may be additional expenses if you are travelling with children.  For example, some lodges require families with children 6-11 years old to have a private vehicle for game drives and this is often extra.

It’s also worth noting that there is often an age limit for kids visiting a lodge which is often around six or seven years old.  A small number may allow younger kids, but there may be restrictions on game drive and costs for babysitting the kids while you are doing these.  All things to consider if the kids are quite young.

Our stay at Moela Safari Lodge was just under $10,000USD for 3 nights for 5 people, all inclusive.

How much does it cost to camp in Africa?

Camping for our family of 2 adults and three kids under 12 averaged out around $100NZD per night.

Some campsites were super unique and the experience of just camping itself here was well worth the effort.  In others, it was a toilet block and a patch of land.

You won’t find playgrounds and lots of things to do like you might in a New Zealand campground, but many we chose had pools, although they aren’t heated and since temperatures do drop at night, they were very fresh.

In general, kids under 12 years old were half the adult rate for camping

Big Ticket Attractions

Your big attractions will depend on your budget and your preference for activities.  For example in Victoria Falls there are a lot of adventure activities, however we have done a lot in New Zealand so we didn’t feel the need to add these on here.

Our big ticket attractions were (in NZD$ for 5 of us)

• Mola Mola Day Safari: dunes and boat trip, $1800
• Heliopter Horizons Doors off helicopter flight: $2486
• Victoria Falls Flight of Angels: $1500
• Meerkat Excursion with Planet Baobab $750
• Kruger Park entry for three nights $557
• Sandboarding including lunch $243
• Victoria Falls Park Entry: $300

Other considerations

• You will need to pay National Park fees which are often on top of your tour/activity entry
• Visa entry if required, including the new Namibian tourist visa which was around $500NZD for 5 of us.
• Vehicle permits for crossing borders
• Tips will be added on top

Fuel costs in Africa

One of the things you won’t be able to avoid is the amount of kilometres you’ll put on the board when you drive across Africa as things can be really spread out.

We did 1477km driving for 6 nights from Johannesburg – Kruger – Blyde Canyon – Johannesburg and fuel cost a total of $444NZD

We drove from Namibia – Botswana – Zimbabwe and did a total of 3447kn and spend $772NZD on fuel

Vaccination costs and Travel health expenses

In case you skipped the above discussion on vaccination costs for Africa, we spent $3500NZD on travel doctor appointments, vaccinations and basic medicines such as antibiotics, paracetomol etc.

Visa Costs

We needed a visa for Namibia and Zimbabwe but not Botswana, coming from New Zealand.  Do make sure you check the most up to date visa information

Our Namibia tourist visa was about $90USD for adults and $45USD for kids

Our Zimbabwe visa was $50USD per person.

Additional costs

• Tipping
• Tolls (we had a few in South Africa)
• Souvenirs