South Africa is the ideal country for a self-drive safari because many of the game reserves and national parks were designed specifically with independent safaris in mind. Hundreds of thousands of people take advantage of this fact annually.
The road network countrywide is generally in good condition and because public transportation is not as well developed here the self-driver is well catered for.
The total length of the roads in South Africa is approximately 752 000 km (467 271 mi) with a large proportion of that being gravel which is suitable to be driven on by a normal two-wheel drive sedan vehicle.
A self-drive safari has the advantage of independence and flexibility that a guided safari lacks and it's also a very cost-effective way of seeing the wildlife that Africa has to offer. In many instances, a guided safari will be more than double the price.
After 45 plus years and hundreds of my own South Africa self-drive safaris, I've managed to keep the budget to less than $120 per person per day for a safari of at least a week or more.
That is the amount you can use to compare with quotes received from guided safari companies to determine just how much more cost-effective guiding your own safari really is.
South Africa Distance Calculator
Google maps is of course an extremely capable way of calculating the road distance between two points. As long as you have the starting and final destination, Google Maps will work out the distance for you automatically.
Guide Your Own Safari
The cost-effectiveness of a South Africa self-drive safari is evident when you do the budget calculation, but you will still need a little guidance to be able to successfully plan and carry out your own self-drive.
That's where the Guide Your Own Safari ebook comes in handy because it's chock full of 326 pages of local self-drive safari knowledge that I've accumulated over more than 45 years.
The guide contains everything you need to know about self-drive safaris in eight of the top wildlife areas in Southern Africa.
Back to the South Africa safari page or South Africa self drive top