Planning a Custom Safari requires firsthand knowledge and experience of Africa. Which is why most of the bigger tour operators don’t do them! The knowledge pool of Custom Safari operators is too small to scale up into a big business. Instead, the bigger tour operators plan multiple departures all following the same itineraries year after year. Nothing is more deflating than to want to tell your friends about your once in a lifetime safari only to find they all did the same as you! And yet you’re different, with your own ideas of what makes for an exciting adventure.

At Holden Safaris, time is our friend! We like taking however long it takes to find out how different you are from everyone else, and help you design your very own custom safari.

How many of your friends who’ve been on safari to South Africa for example, lingered a few days in Johannesburg? “Nothing to see here”, say the bigger tour operators with their set departure tours. Really? Not so.

Ever heard of the word “Ezinyangeni”? It’s the medicine or “muthi” market. It’s where local people go to consult a traditional doctor, a “sangoma” who refers them to an “inyanga” or pharmacist to obtain whatever is needed for a cure.

Take a look at the image below of our “white” Zulu guide Andy Coetzee. He’s explaining to me the dose of the muthi or medicine just prescribed for me by the Sangoma, and purchased from the Inyanga. I was prescribed what turned out to be old shredded South African bank notes. The dose was to take a pinch of shredded bank notes, place them in a fireproof bowl, set them alight, and then sprinkle the ashes around the desk in my office. I was assured by the Sangoma the muthi would bring me instant wealth! And do you know, it works! Whenever I need more custom safari inquiries, I burn another bowl of shredded bank notes!

And here’s an image of some of the Inyanga’s secret potions. Don’t ask what is in the different sacks of muthi!

Here’s an image of “white” Zulu guide Andy. He’s standing in the store where young Zulu men go to be fitted out in their traditional Zulu dress for traditional events, such as weddings, graduations, and funerals.

Whenever the time comes that you are ready to take a Custom Safari, one with stories to tell that will impress your friends, call me, Safari Jim, at Holden Safaris on 949-500-0094. Yabonga ka kulu (thank-you very much in Zulu)