Castaway Chris helps travelers plan better African safaris and wildlife-focused trips with practical guides to safari destinations, costs, lodges, Kruger, gear, safety, ethics, and what is actually worth booking.
The main focus of this site is African safari planning. I write for travelers who are comparing countries, trying to understand safari costs, deciding between lodges and self-drive trips, looking at Kruger, or wondering whether a safari package, guide, or wildlife experience is actually worth the money.
About Chris
I’m Chris Wilson, a traveler, writer, photographer, and wildlife artist based in San Diego.
I started traveling more seriously because I wanted to gather my own wildlife reference photos and draw animals from real experience, not just from secondhand images. My first major wildlife encounter was seeing wild elephants in Sri Lanka. That trip changed the way I thought about travel.
After Sri Lanka, I went to Borneo, then kept seeking out more wildlife experiences around the world. Safaris, rainforests, national parks, wild beaches, animal reserves, and remote natural places became the trips I cared about most.
That background shapes the way I write Castaway Chris. I’m not just interested in where to stay or what to book. I care about the animals, the setting, the ethics, the guide quality, the cost, and whether the experience actually feels connected to the wild place you traveled so far to see.
What Castaway Chris Is About
Castaway Chris is mainly about helping travelers plan African safaris with more confidence.
Start with my safari planning guides if you are still figuring out where to go, how much to spend, what kind of safari to book, or whether a safari is right for you.
The site covers classic safari destinations like South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Uganda, and Rwanda.
I also write a lot about Kruger National Park because South Africa is one of the easiest places to start if you want strong wildlife viewing, flexible budgets, self-drive options, and a wide range of safari styles.
My Travel Style
I like practical, adventurous travel, but I am not trying to make everything as hard as possible.
For wildlife trips, I care more about access to animals, good guides, ethical experiences, and smart logistics than luxury for its own sake. Sometimes that means choosing a simple national park camp. Sometimes it means paying more for a better location, a better guide, or a lodge that gives you more time around wildlife.
I would rather spend money on a meaningful safari, a strong wildlife guide, a lodge near a national park, or an ethical animal experience than on a fancy hotel that could be anywhere.
Why I Write These Guides
Safari planning can get confusing fast.
The cheapest option is not always the best value. The most famous destination is not always the right fit. Some animal encounters are marketed as ethical when they are not. Safari costs can vary wildly depending on the country, season, lodge, park fees, vehicle, guide, and how private or packaged the trip is.
I write guides to make those decisions easier.
My goal is to help you understand what a trip is actually like before you book it: what wildlife is realistic to see, what costs are normal, what is worth paying for, what might be overrated, and what choices can make a safari feel more ethical, exciting, and worthwhile.
Wildlife Beyond Safaris
Although African safaris are the main focus of Castaway Chris, I also keep supporting wildlife content on the site.
My ecotourism guides cover nature-based travel and wildlife-focused destinations. My cats in the wild section is for wild cat behavior, ranges, and species comparisons. Wildlife conservation covers issues related to protecting animals and habitats. Animals in mythology is where I keep animal folklore, symbolism, and cultural stories.
Those topics support the bigger purpose of the site: helping people think more carefully about animals, travel, wild places, and the way humans interact with wildlife.
How I Create Castaway Chris Guides
Castaway Chris is written to help travelers make better decisions about safaris, wildlife travel, national parks, animal encounters, and nature-focused trips.
I focus on realistic expectations, timing, wildlife viewing, logistics, cost, safety, ethics, and what is actually worth planning around.
You can read more about my editorial process.