Uber has introduced “Uber Safari”, a service that allows riders to book guided game drives inside Nairobi National Park, the world’s only wildlife park located within a capital city. The service, which can be booked directly from the app, offers a three-hour safari experience in Uber-branded vans. Tus, the company is providing both locals and visitors with the opportunity to see lions, giraffes, and rhinos just minutes away from Nairobi’s city centre.
Marking a decade in Kenya, the world’s ride-hailing giant is repositioning itself as not just a transport operator, but as a provider of tourism experience as well. Uber Safari is aimed at exploiting opportunities in Kenya’s $4.3 billion tourism sector by targeting domestic tourists and corporate visitors who want an uncomplicated safari experience within short layovers in Nairobi.
Tourists can now reserve a three-hour game drive for about $190 (Ksh 25,000) through the Uber platform. An Uber safari van will transport them, drop them off at Nairobi National Park, and take them back home after the outing. The service is expected to give tourists an easy way to access wildlife in Kenya without having to reserve weeks earlier.
Nairobi National Park is famous for its unprecedented combination of savannah and urban landscape. Most tourists have the opportunity to see lions, giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, and more with the Nairobi skyline as their background. By integrating this experience into the Uber platform, the business is offering locals and foreigners an opportunity to visit the park without having to go through much inconvenience.
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Uber says that the service will run on a reserved model, meaning riders will be given notice of the price upfront and can prepare for the journey beforehand. Riders must be at least 18 years old in order to book Uber Safari, something consistent with the company’s practice that teen accounts created after April 2024 are not eligible for certain kinds of rides.
Uber Safari’s bet on growing tourism in Africa
Uber Safari’s Nairobi launch is part of the company’s larger ambitions to go beyond simple ride-hailing and into travel and tourism. The company has also been experimenting with upscale experiences through its ‘Go Anywhere’ series, where it is allowing customers to book bucket-list activities through the Uber app.
Less than a year ago, the company also launched a Safari experience in South Africa for commuters in Cape Town. The experience offers a day-long trip from Cape Town to the Aquila Private Game Reserve in an Uber Safari-branded vehicle. The experience offers a chance to see South Africa’s “Big Five”: lions, elephants, buffalo, leopards, and rhinos.
Costing $200 (over R3,000), the South African package runs from October to February on Fridays and Saturdays and has up to four riders per vehicle. It comes with a 2-3 hour game drive, lunch, welcome toast, and drop-off in Cape Town. The riders are able to book in advance up to 90 days, and booked rides can be cancelled for free 60 minutes before pick-up time.
Uber’s Middle East and Africa Regional General Manager, Frans Hiemstra, explained that the ‘Go Anywhere’ series of experiences was designed so riders are able to reach one-in-a-lifetime moments from within the app. Frans referred to Uber Safari as “one of our most wild experiences to date,” and noted that Reserve technology enables riders to easily unlock unforgettable travel experiences with the tap of a finger.
Piloting Kenya’s local economy and tourism
The tourism industry in Kenya is one of its biggest economic drivers, and Uber Safari can drive more tourists to the country by making safaris accessible to even individuals with tight schedules. By eliminating the planning barrier and offering a specific cost, Uber is enabling more visitors to visit the park without being saddled with complex logistics.
Safari operators have long dominated the Nairobi safari market, but Uber might diversify the market and induce app-conscious tourists who book online using their mobile phones. With the ease of the Uber platform, passengers can book airport transfers, city excursions, and now safaris within the same environment.
The traffic would also assist local tour guides and Uber drivers, creating more job opportunities that are linked to tourism. Nairobi National Park is already supporting wildlife conservation, and the increased traffic could channel extra revenues into park preservation and upkeep processes.
While Uber continues to stretch the limits of tourism commerce, the launch for now highlights the company’s effort to blur the line between travel and adventure on its core platform, making routine transit indistinguishable from leisure pursuits.
With the introduction of Uber Safari in Nairobi, Uber has essentially made the classic Kenyan safari an on-demand affair, just a few taps away.
