Safari park fees by country (2026)
Park and conservation fees are one of the largest and most misunderstood parts of a safari quote. Each country runs its own authority, its own fee types and its own resident rules, and the amounts change from year to year. This reference explains how the fees are structured country by country so you know exactly what to build into a costing. The amounts themselves always live with you: whichever countries you sell, the fees in your quotes come from the figures you keep in your own library, confirmed against the authority, not from anything pre-loaded.
8 min read · Updated 24 July 2026
How park fees are usually structured
Before the country breakdown, it helps to know the shapes a park fee can take. Most authorities combine several of these:
- Entry / conservation fee: per person, per day (or per 24 hours from entry).
- Vehicle fee: per vehicle, per day, separate from the per-person entry.
- Concession or community fee: per person, per night, charged by some camps on private land.
- Special-area service fee: e.g. a crater service fee at Ngorongoro, on top of the conservation fee.
- Activity permits: per person, per activity, for high-demand experiences such as gorilla or chimp trekking.
- Residency tiers: different rates for non-residents, residents and (in East Africa) East African citizens.
Fee amounts live in your library, not on this page
Itero Desk's cost engine knows the fee mechanics, per person or per vehicle, by visitor category and age band, with day-visit logic. The parks and the actual figures are yours: you add them for whichever countries you sell, keep them current in your own library, and they compute into every quote from there. This guide explains the structure; the live amounts belong in your library, not hard-coded into a blog post.
Country by country
The table below maps the main safari countries to their principal authority and the fee types you should expect to cost. It is the structure that matters here; confirm the current rate for each before you quote.
| Country | Main authority | Typical fee types | Hub airport |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanzania | TANAPA (national parks), NCAA (Ngorongoro), SENAPA (Serengeti) | Per-person entry, vehicle fee, Ngorongoro crater service fee, concession fees | JRO (Kilimanjaro) |
| Kenya | KWS (Kenya Wildlife Service) + Maasai Mara conservancies | Per-person entry, separate conservancy fees on private land | NBO (Nairobi) |
| Uganda | UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) | Per-person entry, high-value gorilla & chimp trekking permits | EBB (Entebbe) |
| Rwanda | RDB (Rwanda Development Board) | Per-person entry, premium gorilla trekking permits | KGL (Kigali) |
| Zimbabwe | ZimParks | Per-person entry, vehicle fee | HRE (Harare) |
| Zambia | DNPW (Dept of National Parks & Wildlife) | Per-person entry, vehicle fee, bed levies on some rivers | LUN (Lusaka) |
| South Africa | SANParks + private reserves | Daily conservation fee, private-reserve levies | JNB (Johannesburg) |
| Botswana | DWNP (Dept of Wildlife & National Parks) | Per-person park fee, vehicle fee, community/concession fees | MUB (Maun) |
| Namibia | NWR (Namibia Wildlife Resorts) | Per-person park entry, per-day structure | WDH (Windhoek) |
| Mozambique | ANAC (national conservation authority) | Per-person entry, marine-reserve fees on the coast | MPM (Maputo) |
| Malawi | DNPW + African Parks reserves | Per-person entry, vehicle fee | LLW (Lilongwe) |
| Ethiopia | EWCA (Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority) | Per-person entry, mandatory scout/guide fees in some parks | ADD (Addis Ababa) |
| Madagascar | Madagascar National Parks | Per-person entry, mandatory local-guide fees | TNR (Antananarivo) |
Practical costing notes
Multi-country trips price per park
Your library is not limited to one country. Add destinations and parks from every country you sell, each with its own fee entries, and a cross-border itinerary, Kenya plus Tanzania, Zambia plus Botswana, safari plus an island add-on, prices each park from its own figures. The operating country you pick at signup only sets defaults such as the hub airport; it never limits where your trips can go.
Gate times, not calendar days
Several authorities charge per 24 hours from the time you enter the gate, not per calendar day. A late-afternoon entry and a full next day can count as one or two fee days depending on the exit time. Read the rule for each park; it changes the fee count on short stays.
Concessions bill on top
Camps on private concessions often add a per-person, per-night concession or community fee that is separate from both the park entry and the bed-night rate. It is easy to miss because it does not appear on the park tariff or the room rate.
Permits book early
High-demand permits, gorilla trekking in Uganda being the clearest example, are limited in number, expensive, and often sold out months ahead. Build them into both the price and the booking timeline early, not as an afterthought.
Keep fees current without the spreadsheet
Itero Desk's cost engine handles the per-vehicle scaling and concession rules for you; you keep the fee amounts themselves current in your own library instead of a spreadsheet. See the guide on pricing a safari itinerary for how park fees fit the wider cost stack.