On September 15, 2025, Uber Safari began offering app-based day and night trips in Nairobi, sparking access and conservation debates.
On September 15, 2025, a new service called Uber Safari drew attention across East Africa, offering tourists and locals the ability to book day or night trips into Nairobi National Park. For KES 25,000 (about $200), up to seven passengers can ride in safari-ready Land Cruisers driven by licensed guides, with pricing shown upfront on the same app many use for city rides. Night safaris cost KES 40,000 (about $320) for up to five passengers. Park entry fees are paid separately. The promise is convenience: no need for long-term packages or travel agents, just a few taps on a phone. The service is currently available only within Nairobi County, with bookings allowed up to 90 days in advance and a minimum of two days for day trips, five for night trips.
For decades, African safaris were sold through tour operators, travel agents, and hotels, often as multi-day, expensive packages tailored to high-end travelers. Uber Safari disrupts that model by integrating safaris into a global technology platform. The Kenya Wildlife Service, the Tourism Regulatory Authority, and Magical Kenya are already partners, ensuring guides are licensed, conservation fees are collected, and vehicles are compliant. On paper, the system brings professionalism, safety, and accessibility.
The attraction is obvious. Local guides and drivers can tap into a global customer base without waiting for seasonal bookings. Families in Nairobi who once thought of safaris as an elite pursuit can now spend a Saturday in the park with an affordable group ride. Kenya’s tourism sector, projected at about $4.3 billion in 2025, gains a new revenue channel while expanding global visibility for local operators. For some, this feels like a win: jobs created, services modernized, and wildlife experiences made less exclusive.
Yet convenience has a cost. The risk of increased vehicle density in sensitive conservation areas looms large. Nairobi National Park has always balanced urban proximity with ecological fragility. App-based services could tip that balance if hundreds of vehicles line up daily for quick wildlife snapshots. Overtourism disturbs animals, erodes habitats, and undermines the slow, immersive safari experience many consider the essence of East African tourism. A safari is more than seeing lions or elephants; it is about quiet observation and patience, values at odds with the on-demand logic of a ride-hailing app.
The bigger question is cultural. When wildlife viewing becomes something ordered as casually as a pizza delivery, does the meaning of a safari change? For generations, safaris were journeys shaped by guides who acted as cultural interpreters as much as drivers. Short, app-based bookings may reduce guides to gig workers, stripping away the storytelling and depth that made safaris memorable. A two-hour game drive for a viral video risks commodifying an experience that once demanded time, humility, and respect.
There are ways to make the model more responsible. Conservation fees should be automatically integrated into bookings so that every ride contributes to protecting the very ecosystems attracting visitors. Vehicle caps inside parks must be enforced to prevent overcrowding. Guide quotas can protect local livelihoods, ensuring that communities benefit alongside the tech platform. These measures would slow down the tendency toward unchecked growth and maintain the integrity of safari traditions.
The rise of Uber Safari signals a new chapter in African tourism. Technology has opened doors, but without careful management, those doors could lead to overexploitation. Policymakers, conservationists, and communities now face a choice: let convenience dictate the safari experience or build rules that protect both wildlife and the people who make safaris possible. The service could expand opportunity or erode the very heritage it depends on. The decision will not be made by the app itself, but by how East Africa chooses to regulate and shape this new reality.
