How to Plan a Custom Safari with Micato

Step One: The Get Acquainted Phone Call

We’ll set up a call between you and one of our longtime Custom Safari Specialists so that we may learn about your interests, favourite past vacations, and all your many expectations.

We will ask you flat out, “What is the Africa of your imagination?” (Spoiler Alert: There is no right answer), will ask you what you’ve been reading, and generally try to glean insight into your travel psyche.

This is also the time to discuss every special consideration you or we can think of. What is the stamina level of you and your group? Do you want to be cossetted in a luxurious bubble every step of the way? Or do you want something intrepid? Or both? On this wide-ranging call we’ll also dig into practical considerations, such as what time of year you want to travel, how long you want to be away, and your budget.

We used to refer to this initial chat as a “get to know you” call, but you getting to know us, you understanding just how seriously we take the planning of your safari, is just as pivotal as our learning about you. You need to trust us – and we think you will – because before we proceed to designing your safari, we have some business to take care of in the next step.

Step Two: The Custom Safari Planning Fee

If you were to glance the fine print in the back of our beautiful Micato Africa brochure – though we can easily guess you’ll find all the content before the fine print a bit more engrossing! – you’ll see a list of what our tour rates include, and the first item on that list is “planning.”

It’s not coincidental that we list it first.

When we said we design your Micato Custom Safari from scratch, we mean it. We could pull a template out of a drawer, warm it up, and send it to you. That would be all too easy.

But we don’t do that…perhaps one reason Micato has landed in the #1 spot on Travel+Leisure’s World’s Best Safari Outfitter list an unprecedented ten times.

Designing just the right safari deserves our absolute, unfettered attention as we build your itinerary, day by day and camp by camp, fulfilling the expectations and dreams you outlined in Step One during the Get Acquainted Phone Call.

Our Custom Planning Safari Fee ranges from $500 – $1000 and is, quite simply, recognition on your side and ours that you are no longer window shopping and we are committing to giving you what you asked for.

The next step is to craft and deliver your proposal. And once you’re happy with it – and you must be happy with it, perhaps after several adjustments, which the fee covers – we will, upon your accepting our proposal, apply the planning fee to the cost of your safari.

Step Three: Designing Your Custom Safari Proposal

Naturally, this is our favourite part of the process, when we can really dig in and start matching your interests with the best of African safari life as we research and design a custom safari proposal for your review.

And it’s not at all unusual for you to wonder, what am I getting for my money?

Unsurpassed expertise. All Micato Custom Safari Specialists have visited the places you will visit countless times. We’ve crisscrossed the region by foot, Land Rover, bush plane, hot air balloon, camel, horseback, and every other conveyance there is. It’s also safe to say that we’ve probably experienced every remarkable game park, tented camp and bush lodge of note.

Up-to-the minute intelligence. In real time – by which we mean, every day, all day – we’re double-checking that the experiences we know to be the best are still the best. We keep abreast of what’s new and noteworthy. We seek out the most game-rich areas, hottest new bush camps, swankiest private homes open to guests, who has the greatest new chef at camp, and any other experience, event, educational opportunity or amenity you told us you want or that we think you’ll like.

A proposal worth every penny. Once we’ve researched and assimilated the many hundreds of options that could go into your proposal, we’ll present you with a comprehensive, well-written itinerary, including descriptions of the accommodations, transportation and daily activities.

Once you’ve reviewed our proposal, we’ll schedule another phone call to discuss it. This will be your opportunity to tell us what aspects of the proposal are on target – we would hope most of it! – and which parts you might want to fine tune. And if you do want to make changes, your custom planning safari fee, as noted, will cover however many rounds of changes it takes.

During this phone call we can also cover what to expect on safari, how to prepare, suggestions for what to bring, and anything else you want to know.

Step Four: Accepting Our Proposal

The proposal, one prepared, is yours to keep – you paid for it! But our hope, of course, is that you will accept our proposal and book your Micato Custom Safari, at which point we’ll remind you once again that your Custom Planning Fee will be applied to the cost of your safari.

We’ll also be happy to remind you that from this point forward, you’ll have unfettered access to the Micato Custom Safari Specialist assigned to you, as well as other experts on our team who will answer all your questions as your proposal evolves into a fully-realized, wondrously orchestrated luxury journey, thoughtfully built from top to bottom based on everything we talked about.

We look forward to having you join us! To get the ball rolling, either, click the Schedule a Consultation box at the bottom of this page or give one of our safari specialists a call at 1-800-MICATO-1 (1-800-642-2861).