Lies, Marketing, and the Safari Experience

It shouldn't be about the money

By Alexandro Lacadena Gómez

January 30^th, 2026

I usually keep my head down and focus on what we do at GoThombi: building trips that feel personal, ethical, and genuinely unforgettable. Not “growth hacks.” Not shiny promises. Just the work.

But every now and then a thought hits me so hard it’s impossible to ignore:

Some people are selling safaris with lies — and travelers pay the price.

Let me explain what I mean. This is about safari companies, guides, and qualifications. And yes, I know it’s uncomfortable. Please bear with me.

For us, creating a unique safari for each traveler comes with a huge responsibility. We’re not in this just to make money (of course we need to be profitable — we’re a company). But profit is not the point. The point is to deliver outstanding experiences while respecting the places and wildlife that make those experiences possible.

And yet, a lot of the industry doesn’t work that way.

Some companies chase money no matter what. And ironically, the biggest names can be the worst offenders: paying drivers five dollars a day in Tanzania, not covering food or accommodation while they’re working, dodging taxes and park fees, bribing rangers to get in…

But the one that really gets under my skin (actually all of them boil my blood, but for this posts...) — the one that directly ruins the traveler’s experience — is this:

They don’t hire professional safari guides.

They hire “normal” people with no training in wildlife, conservation, ecosystems, or guiding. People who are good at being friendly, maybe good at talking, but not qualified to interpret the bush, read animal behavior, or explain what’s actually happening in front of you.

As a medical clinic owner, would you hire a random person off the street to treat wounds? To diagnose a patient? Of course not.

So why is it acceptable in travel?

Because they can. Legally.

And because many of them don’t care about the experience — they care about the margin.

I’m a romantic. I believe a safari can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I refuse to be the reason someone goes home feeling disappointed, misled, or (worse) thinking that wildlife is just a checklist of animals.

Let me share a personal story.

I was in Tanzania with my family, not working on that trip. But we were doing the itinerary with my coordinator as our guide — an outstanding professional who also happens to be an elephant expert. We were staying at a lodge in Manyara (a beautiful, underrated corner of Tanzania). My family went back to the tent to rest, and I stayed with him at his tent, having a beer and talking through ideas to improve our trips.

And when I say “tent”, I mean the kind of luxury safari glamping tent that makes you forget you’re in the bush: spacious, beautiful, and built for comfort without losing that wild feeling and nature connection.

Five minutes in, a woman walked past. My coordinator recognized her: a Spanish “safari guide”.

I put “guide” in quotes because… she wasn’t.

We started chatting. She was leading a group of 19 travelers on a truck (yes, a truck — guests sitting high up on a modified vehicle). I asked her how she got into guiding. Her answer was basically this:

She’d wanted to do a safari years ago but couldn’t afford it. So she messaged safari companies in Spain asking for a job as a guide. One replied saying they needed guides, and she could start if she wanted.

I was surprised and asked: Have you studied tourism, guiding, biology, conservation — anything related?

No.

Nothing.

No training beyond secondary school.

She told me she’d looked up some information online about wildlife and that was it. Imagine my face. That was the “guide” for the group. And here’s the part that still makes my blood boil: each traveler had paid €7,500 for that trip.

They were traveling on a truck, sleeping most nights in basic camping tents (not safari glamping — proper basic camping), sharing toilets and showers, and eating simple meals cooked by a chef riding with the truck. I know for a fact the cost of that trip for the company was around €2,500 per person.

That’s €5,000 profit per traveler.

Now you understand how some companies can throw around 10–20% discounts on Black Friday like it’s nothing.

But let’s come back to the experience — because that’s what matters.

Imagine being one of those travelers. You’ve saved for years to see Tanzania. You’re expecting a gorgeous safari. And instead of being close to the ground, feeling immersed in the landscape, you’re watching wildlife from three meters up like you’re on a moving balcony.

And the person responsible for interpreting everything you’re seeing — the person who should turn sightings into meaning — can’t go beyond:

“The lion has four legs. The male has lots of fur around the head. The female doesn’t.”

Meanwhile, what you could be learning is how male lions rub their heads, cheeks, and bodies against bushes, trees, and rocks to leave chemical signals — pheromones that mark territory and communicate identity, reproductive status, and physical condition, and how those chemical signals affect other wildlife behaviour.

And I’m not even a professional safari guide.

That’s the problem.

When companies lie about who is guiding you, they’re not just cutting a corner. They’re stealing the depth of the experience. They’re turning something sacred into something shallow.

A safari isn’t only about seeing animals.

It’s about understanding them.

It’s about being in the presence of a living ecosystem and having someone qualified enough — and humble enough — to help you read it.

So if you’re planning a safari, ask uncomfortable questions:

Who will actually guide us on the ground?
What training and certifications do they have?
How long have they worked in that ecosystem?
Do they have real knowledge of wildlife behavior and conservation — or just a good sales script?

And since I’m writing this from my own corner of the industry, I’ll be transparent about where we stand.

At GoThombi, we only work with professional safari guides — trained, certified, and holding the highest qualifications available (plus an almost ridiculous level of passion for what they do). I’m genuinely proud of that, even if other companies eat our market share by playing the “mega-offer” game, stacking absurd margins, and then spending big on marketing to convince people they’re getting a deal.

We don’t do that.

We don’t discount a safari like it’s a toaster.

We don’t try to persuade you with noise.

We let the experience speak.

And yes — we’re also one of the very few companies with a fully qualified professional safari guide as a codirector, with all licenses and permits secured, and the highest levels of certification achieved.