Castro Bonzo, founder of The Guide Safaris.

Every trip is planned for the people on it

Castro's starting point is simple, and the whole company follows from it: a safari isn't a product you can issue twice. It's a week of somebody's life. The route, the timing, the pace and the guide get chosen for the people travelling, or they're not really chosen at all.

That's why there's no catalogue here. What you'll find are routes that have worked, published so you've got somewhere to start.

Comfort is what makes the hard days work

The best safari days are often the least comfortable ones: out before light, cold on the crater rim, still parked at the same riverbank four hours later. Good coffee at five in the morning, a vehicle that handles the track and a guide who knows that waiting is the plan are what make those days possible.

One park done properly beats three rushed

From the Serengeti plains to the Ngorongoro Crater and the baobab country of Tarangire, Castro's view is that these places reward time rather than speed. People who stay a day longer in one park almost always come home with the better week.

What he'd rather be judged on

Not thread count, and not a score. Whether the guide was worth the money. Whether the itinerary suited the people on it. Whether what we promised in writing is what happened on the ground. You can check all three.