# The Best Fly-In Safaris in Africa: Light Aircraft, Private Charters and More Time in the Wild

*How fly-in safaris work, what you can pack, why a short flight saves whole days, and five fly-in safaris in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia and the Greater Kruger from US$3,600 per person.*

*Published: 2026-11-01*

> **Quick answer:** The best fly-in safari in Africa is in Botswana. The Okavango Delta and its neighbouring reserves are remote and roadless, so light aircraft are the natural way to move between camps, and the flights themselves are among the highlights. Zimbabwe and Namibia are superb by private charter too, and in South Africa a charter links the Greater Kruger's top lodges. Expect a soft bag limit of roughly 15 to 20 kg. Our fly-in safaris start at US$3,600 per person for four nights in the Okavango.

The little Cessna lifts off the tar at Maun and, within two minutes, the town is gone. Below you, the land turns from dusty brown to green, then silver. Channels of clear water wind through the reeds like veins in a leaf. A line of elephants is walking through the shallows, leaving a wake behind them. A herd of lechwe scatters as the plane's shadow passes. Nobody in the cabin talks. Everybody has their face pressed to the window.

Twenty-five minutes later you land on a strip of pale sand in the middle of all that. The pilot hops out, opens the hold, and your guide is standing by the vehicle with a cold drink. On the way to camp, you stop for a leopard.

That is a fly-in safari, and once you have done one it is hard to go back.

> **How we quote prices:** Prices are per person sharing, in US dollars, and are the "from" rates in our published packages at the time of writing. Rates change with the season, and we confirm everything when we quote.

## Why Fly? The Days You Win Back

People sometimes think of fly-in safaris as a luxury add-on, a nice extra for people who do not like driving. It is much more practical than that.

Africa's best wilderness areas are often very far from anywhere, and the roads to them are slow, rough and long. Driving between two great parks can easily take a whole day, sometimes two, with a night in a town along the way. Fly instead and you cover the same distance in under an hour. On a ten-day trip, that can mean three or four extra days on safari, which is three or four more chances at wild dogs, at a leopard in a sausage tree, at the lions you heard roaring all night.

It also opens up places you simply cannot reach any other way. Many of the camps in the Okavango Delta have no road access at all. Neither do some of the most remote camps in Namibia and Zimbabwe. And there is something about arriving by air that resets your mind. You leave the city in the morning and an hour later you are somewhere that has not changed for ten thousand years.

Our guide to [how many days you need for a safari](/blogs/how-many-days-for-an-african-safari/) shows how much difference a well-planned flight makes to an itinerary.

## How Fly-In Safaris Actually Work

**The planes.** Mostly small, reliable workhorses: single-engine Cessnas carrying anywhere from five to a dozen passengers. You will usually sit right behind the pilot, and on a quiet day you may get the co-pilot seat.

**The airstrips.** Gravel, sand or grass, cleared in the bush, sometimes with a windsock and a little shade structure. Before landing, the pilot may fly low over the strip to chase off any zebra or warthog. It sounds dramatic. It is completely routine.

**Scheduled or private.** Scheduled flights follow a circuit and drop guests at several camps, so you may land once or twice on the way. A private charter is yours alone, leaves when you want and flies straight there.

**The luggage limit.** This is the one that catches people out, so read it twice. Most light aircraft allow roughly 15 to 20 kg per person, including your hand luggage and your camera bag, and it must be a soft bag without wheels or a rigid frame. The hold is small and the bags are squeezed into it by hand. The exact figure depends on the country and the aircraft, and we confirm it in writing before you travel. Most lodges offer a daily laundry service, so you need far less than you think. Our [safari packing list](/blogs/what-to-pack-for-an-african-safari/) is built around that limit.

> **Packing for a light aircraft:** One soft duffel, neutral clothes for three or four days, a fleece for the dawn drives and your camera. Leave the hard suitcase at your hotel in Johannesburg, Maun or Victoria Falls, where most can store it for you.

## Botswana: The Home of the Fly-In Safari

If you want the classic fly-in safari, it has to be Botswana. The [Okavango Delta](/destinations/okavango-delta/) is one of the largest inland deltas in the world, a vast fan of channels, lagoons and islands in the middle of the Kalahari, and light aircraft are its taxis.

The beauty of a short Okavango trip is that the flight is part of the safari. You see the Delta from the air first, the whole shape of it, before you glide into it by mokoro, a dugout canoe poled silently through the lilies by a local guide. There are no engines. Just the drip of the pole, the plop of a frog and, now and again, the grunt of a hippo somewhere you would rather not be.

> **package okavango-classic:** Four nights at Camp Okavango on Nxaragha Island, with mokoro and motorboat trips, island walks and light-aircraft flights from Maun, from US$3,600 per person.

For the full Botswana experience, the grand fly-in circuit is one of the great safaris in Africa. You start with elephants and boats on the Chobe River, then fly into the Delta and Chief's Island, famous for lion, leopard and rhino. From there it is on to the Linyanti for wild dog and huge elephant herds, and finally to Savuti, where the lions and hyenas have a long and bloody rivalry. Four completely different ecosystems in nine nights, with no long drives. Our [Botswana guide](/destinations/botswana/) explains each region.

![Reeds, papyrus and open water at Xakanaxa in the Okavango Delta. Photo: Hp.Baumeler, CC BY-SA 4.0](/images/destinations/parks/moremi-xakanaxa.webp)

> **package botswana-exclusive:** Nine nights across Chobe, Mombo Camp on Chief's Island, the Linyanti and Savuti, with light-aircraft flights between every camp, from US$15,000 per person.

## Zimbabwe: The Falls, Hwange and Mana Pools by Charter

Zimbabwe is the fly-in safari that people do not expect, and it might be the one we are most excited about. Its three greatest places sit far apart, and a charter turns them into one easy journey.

You begin at Victoria Falls, staying at the grand old hotel with a view of the spray rising over the gorge. Then you fly south to [Hwange](/destinations/hwange-national-park/), Zimbabwe's largest park, where elephant herds come to the waterholes in their hundreds in the dry season and the guiding is some of the best in Africa. And finally you fly north to [Mana Pools](/destinations/mana-pools-national-park/), on the Zambezi, where you can canoe past elephants and hippos with the escarpment rising blue behind you. Driving between these three would take days. By air, each transfer is a morning.

![Elephants and other game gathering at Masuma Dam in Hwange National Park. Photo: Babakathy, CC0](/images/destinations/parks/hwange-masuma-dam.webp)

> **package zimbabwe-ultimate:** Ten nights at The Victoria Falls Hotel, Linkwasha Camp in Hwange and Ruckomechi Camp in Mana Pools, with private charter flights and canoeing on the Zambezi, from US$16,500 per person.

Read more in our [Zimbabwe guide](/destinations/zimbabwe/).

## Namibia: A Whole Country from the Air

Namibia is enormous, and its most remarkable places are hundreds of kilometres apart. Flying is the only way to see the whole country in under two weeks without spending most of it on gravel roads. And the views from a small plane over Namibia are like nothing else: red dunes running into the Atlantic, shipwrecks half-buried on the Skeleton Coast, dry riverbeds snaking across the desert.

Our grand charter journey takes you to the dunes of Sossusvlei, the Skeleton Coast and the Hoanib, then right up to the Kunene River on the Angolan border, and finally to the waterholes of Etosha. It is one of the most extraordinary trips we offer. See our [Namibia guide](/destinations/namibia/) for more.

> **package namibia-ultimate:** Twelve nights across Sossusvlei, the Hoanib Skeleton Coast, Serra Cafema on the Kunene River and Etosha, by private charter throughout, from US$18,500 per person.

## South Africa: Two Singita Lodges by Private Charter

South Africa's roads are good, so you do not have to fly. But for a milestone trip, a private charter between two very different lodges is a joy. You fly from Johannesburg to the [Sabi Sands](/destinations/sabi-sands/), famous for its leopards, then across to a private concession inside Kruger in the east. A helicopter flight over Blyde River Canyon and God's Window is included, which is a view you will not forget.

> **package kruger-ultimate:** Seven nights at Singita Boulders in the Sabi Sands and Singita Lebombo inside Kruger, with a private vehicle and guide, charter flights and a helicopter flight over the Panorama Route, from US$9,800 per person.

## Our Fly-In Safaris Compared

| Package | Where | Nights | Flights | From |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Okavango Water Safari | Okavango Delta | 4 | Light aircraft from Maun | US$3,600 pp |
| Singita Boulders & Lebombo | Sabi Sands and Kruger | 7 | Private charter and helicopter | US$9,800 pp |
| Botswana Wildlife Exclusive | Chobe, Okavango, Linyanti, Savuti | 9 | Light aircraft between camps | US$15,000 pp |
| Ultimate Zimbabwe Fly-In | Victoria Falls, Hwange, Mana Pools | 10 | Private charter | US$16,500 pp |
| Ultimate Namibia by Private Charter | Sossusvlei, Skeleton Coast, Kunene, Etosha | 12 | Private charter | US$18,500 pp |

![The Zambezi Valley escarpment above Mana Pools. Photo: Babakathy, CC0](/images/destinations/parks/mana-pools-escarpment.webp)

## Our Honest Tips for Flying on Safari

**Take the morning flights where you can.** The air is cooler and smoother in the morning. Afternoon thermals can make for a bumpy ride, and if you are prone to motion sickness, take something before you board.

**Sit by the window and look down.** Some of our favourite sightings have been from the plane: elephants crossing a channel, a giraffe running, hippos packed into a pool.

**Pack light, then lighter.** We say it again because it matters. A soft bag, laundry at the lodges and a small camera kit will make your life much easier.

**Be honest about your weight.** Some charter companies ask for passenger weights so the pilot can balance the aircraft. Nobody judges. It is a safety thing.

**Leave room for weather.** Occasionally a flight is delayed by storms or wind. Build a little slack into your international connections and never book the last flight home on the same day as a bush flight if you can avoid it.

> A short flight is not a luxury. It is the difference between watching Africa through a car window and being out there in it.

## Plan Your Fly-In Safari with Us

Tell us how many nights you have, which places are on your list and if you would prefer scheduled flights or a plane to yourselves. We will design the route so every flight earns its place, check the luggage limits for every leg and make sure the time you win back is spent where it counts: in the bush.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is a fly-in safari?

A fly-in safari uses small light aircraft to move you between camps instead of long drives. You land on a gravel or grass airstrip, your guide meets you beside the plane and you are often on a game drive within the hour. In places like the Okavango Delta, there is no realistic alternative, because many camps cannot be reached by road.

### What is the luggage limit on a fly-in safari?

Usually somewhere between 15 and 20 kg per person, including hand luggage and camera gear, and it must be a soft bag with no wheels or frame so it can be squeezed into the small hold. The exact limit depends on the country and the aircraft, and we confirm it in writing for every trip. If you need more, an extra seat can sometimes be booked for your bags.

### Are fly-in safaris safe?

Yes. Safari flights are run by licensed air charter companies with experienced bush pilots, many of whom fly the same routes every day. Aircraft are regularly maintained and most flights are short, often 20 to 45 minutes. As with any small plane, the ride can be bumpy on hot afternoons, so morning flights are smoother.

### Why are fly-in safaris more expensive?

Partly the flights themselves, and partly because fly-in safaris tend to go to remote, low-density areas where camps are small and exclusive. But they often save money in another way: you spend fewer nights travelling and more nights in the bush. A short flight can replace two days of driving and two nights of accommodation along the way.

### What is the difference between a scheduled and a private charter flight?

Scheduled safari flights follow a set daily circuit between airstrips and you share the plane with other guests, often stopping at one or two other camps along the way. A private charter is yours alone, flies when you want and goes direct, which is wonderful for families, couples and photographers with extra gear, but costs considerably more.

### How much does a fly-in safari cost?

Our fly-in safaris start at US$3,600 per person sharing for four nights in the Okavango Delta, including light-aircraft flights from Maun. A Singita charter safari in the Greater Kruger is from US$9,800 for seven nights, Botswana's finest camps by air from US$15,000 for nine nights, and our private charter journeys through Zimbabwe and Namibia from US$16,500. International flights and gratuities are extra.