Time + Tide Review 2026: Ten Camps in Zambia and Madagascar Scored, Every Rate Listed

By Richard Jasinski·Updated 20 October 2026

Time + Tide scores 63 out of 100 on the 2026 luxury safari operator index, two points below the bar of 65, so it is not among the ten listed. It is a family-owned owner-operator with ten properties in two countries: five camps in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park, three at the Chongwe–Zambezi confluence in the Lower Zambezi and two in Madagascar, the private island of Miavana and the Tsara Komba lodge on Nosy Komba. Published 2026 rates run from USD 810 a person a night at Chongwe Camp in the green season to USD 1,840 at Chinzombo in the July–October safari season, with a USD 100 a night park-fee-and-levy on top; Miavana is USD 3,700 a person a night all year plus USD 300 in fees and a helicopter. The 2027 sheet is already published and holds every rate flat. Guests rate Chongwe Camp 4.9 from 286 Tripadvisor reviews and Chinzombo 4.8 from 103. What holds the score down is the shape of the portfolio: two countries score 7 of 15 for coverage, the Zambian camps stand inside national parks and a game management area rather than on private land (12 of 20) and the four seasonal bush camps are simple by design (20 of 30 for property). What it does as well as anyone on the index is publish and reinvest: full rates for two years, four rebuilds since 2022 and a Foundation that prints its beneficiary numbers.

Safari operator index 2026 · five published criteria · 14 September 2026

63/100 · not listed

Criterion	Weight	Time + Tide	Why
Property quality	30	20	Chinzombo, Chongwe House and Miavana at the top of the market; four seasonal bush camps of four or five rooms are deliberately simple, so the buyer chooses the camp, not the brand
Conservation substance	25	15	Foundation since 2017 with published 2026 beneficiary numbers and a ring-fenced levy; community-led rather than land-led, no reserve of its own in Zambia, no certification
Private concession access	20	12	Zambian camps sit inside South Luangwa National Park and the Chiawa game management area; Nosy Ankao is a private island
Country coverage	15	7	Zambia and Madagascar; eight of ten properties close between mid-November and April or May
Pricing transparency	10	9	2026 and 2027 rates for every property, fees, child policy, supplements and private-vehicle costs on one page

The bar for a listed place on the safari operator index is 65 points and an evidence confidence of 50. Time + Tide scored 63 and is assessed but not listed; ten are listed. Scores are this site’s, from a dated evidence record of 26 attributes and are re-scored quarterly.

On this page

The evidence record
Who Time + Tide is
The ten properties
Rates 2026 and 2027
What the rate does not include
Booking terms
Conservation and the Foundation
What guests and awards say
The case for and against
What changed in 2025–26
Time + Tide against its peers
Who should book it
Questions readers ask
Time + Tide: the facts on record

The evidence record

Attribute	Value	Source · grade
Legal entity	Time and Tide Group: Time and Tide (S) Ltd, Time and Tide SA (Pty) Ltd, Kapani Ltd, Chongwe River Lodge Ltd, High Spirit Lodges and Ankao Management S.A. contracts under the law of Mauritius	Booking terms · A
Founded	Brand unified 2018 from Norman Carr Safaris (heritage 1950), Chongwe Safaris (1996) and the Miavana project (2013–17); renamed Time + Tide Safaris 2021	Our story · A
Ownership	Private, family-owned; Thierry Dalais, founder and chairman; founding families Liebenberg, Peyre and Dalais	Our story · A
Chief executive	Bruce Simpson, formerly of Londolozi, andBeyond, Singita, Wilderness and North Island, Seychelles	XO Private · B
Head office	No street address on the company site; registered office Calebasses, Mauritius per SafariBookings; main telephone is a South African +27 number; enquiries [email protected]; a guest emergency line is published	Contact · A/B
Countries · properties	Zambia, Madagascar · 10	timeandtideafrica.com · A
Staff	250 or more, per the company’s SafariBookings listing; not stated on its own site	SafariBookings · B
Pricing disclosure	Publishes rates: every property, 2026 and 2027, on one page	Rates · A
Lowest published rate	USD 810 a person a night, Chongwe Camp, 2026 green season; Tsara Komba in Madagascar from EUR 385	Rates · A
Conservation levy	USD 100 a person a night park fees and conservation levy at every Zambian camp; USD 300 at Miavana; EUR 75 a night at Tsara Komba	Rates · A
Certifications	None found (no B Corp, Fair Trade Tourism or Travelife)	Our impact · A
Deposit · balance	20% non-refundable commitment fee within 14 days; balance 45 days before arrival; 100% for bookings made inside 45 days	Booking terms · A
Client fund protection	None disclosed; guests must hold comprehensive travel, medical, cancellation and evacuation insurance	Booking terms · A
Trade memberships	ATTA, APTA, Zambia Tourism Board	SafariBookings · B
Review platforms	Tripadvisor: Chongwe Camp 4.9 from 286, Chinzombo 4.8 from 103, Miavana 5.0 from 19; Expert Africa: Chinzombo 98% from 13; SafariBookings 5.0 from 1; no Trustpilot profile	Tripadvisor · B
Evidence confidence	80 of 100: 23 of 26 attributes verified, 16 from the company’s own documents (grade A), seven from platforms and press (grade B)	Uncompromised Travel evidence database, 14 September 2026

Grade A is the company’s own document or a registry; grade B a platform, trade body or major title; nothing on this page rests on grade C. Two errors in circulation were checked and excluded: Kings Pool is a Wilderness camp in Botswana and has never been a Time + Tide property; no 2025–26 rebuild of Chinzombo could be found; the recent rebuilds are Chongwe House (2025) and the three bush camps (2022). Time + Tide can correct any line through the contact page; corrections are logged with the previous value kept.

A giraffe bending down to drink at a waterhole in the Zambian savanna, dry grass and scattered trees behind it — Dry-season Zambia. Time + Tide’s four South Luangwa bush camps open on 20 May and close on 15 November, the window in which the Luangwa Valley’s walking safaris run. Photo: Harvey Sapir / Pexels.

Who Time + Tide is

Time + Tide is what three older Zambian businesses became when the Dalais family put them under one name in 2018. The oldest line runs to 1950, when Norman Carr and Paramount Chief Nsefu set up Zambia’s first photographic safari company in the South Luangwa, the valley where the walking safari was invented; Norman Carr Safaris and its camps, Chinzombo, Mchenja, Kakuli, Nsolo and Luwi, are the South Luangwa half of the portfolio. The second line is Chongwe Safaris, founded by the Liebenberg family in 1996 at the point where the Chongwe river meets the Zambezi, now Chongwe Camp, Chongwe Suites and Chongwe House. The third is Miavana, a private-island resort developed between 2013 and 2017 on Nosy Ankao off the north-east coast of Madagascar, to which the Tsara Komba lodge on Nosy Komba was added by acquisition in May 2024. The company’s own timeline is the source for all of this and is unusually complete.

It describes itself, accurately, as “a family run and owned luxury safari and island business”. Thierry Dalais is founder and chairman; the chief executive is Bruce Simpson, whose career, Londolozi, andBeyond, Singita, Wilderness and North Island in the Seychelles, is a tour of the operators this site scores above it. The group is a cluster of six named companies; the contract a guest signs is governed by the law of Mauritius, with a South African telephone number as the main line and no street address published anywhere on the site. That is not unusual for an Indian Ocean holding structure, but a British or American buyer should know that redress, if it ever came to that, sits in a Mauritian court.

One thing the site does not say: King Lewanika Lodge in Liuwa Plain, marketed for years as Time + Tide King Lewanika and still listed that way by some agents, reopened in August 2026 under Ker & Downey Zambia. Liuwa is no longer in the portfolio; the ten properties described below are the ten the company itself lists.

The ten properties

Property	Where	Rooms	Open	2026 rate, pp/night sharing
Chinzombo	Luangwa River, South Luangwa NP; an hour’s game-drive transfer from Mfuwe airport (map)	6 tents (5 one-bedroom, 1 two-bedroom family), each with private pool; completed 2013, architects Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens	All year	USD 1,330 green · USD 1,840 safari season
Mchenja	Ebony grove on the Luangwa, South Luangwa NP; 2.5 hours from Mfuwe	5 (4 safari rooms, 1 family); redesigned 2022	20 May–15 Nov	USD 880 · USD 1,200
Kakuli	Raised bank of the Luangwa, South Luangwa NP; 2 hours from Mfuwe	5 (4 safari rooms, 1 family); redesigned 2022	20 May–15 Nov	USD 880 · USD 1,200
Nsolo	Bend of the seasonal Luwi River, South Luangwa NP; 2 hours from Mfuwe	5 safari rooms on raised platforms	20 May–15 Nov	USD 840 · USD 1,030
Luwi	Deep in the park on the ephemeral Luwi River; 2 hours from Mfuwe	4 tents; rebuilt 2022	20 May–15 Nov	USD 840 · USD 1,030
Chongwe Camp	Confluence of the Chongwe and Zambezi rivers, Lower Zambezi; 20 minutes from Royal airstrip (map)	8 tents; refurbished 2025–26	1 Apr–15 Nov	USD 810 · USD 990
Chongwe Suites	Same site, with private guiding	2 suites: Cassia (1 bedroom), Albida (2 bedrooms, minimum 4 adults)	1 Apr–15 Nov	USD 950 · USD 1,330
Chongwe House	Private stretch of the Chongwe River	Sole-use house, 4 bedrooms, 8 adults plus children; rebuilt, reopened 1 May 2025; minimum 4 adults (5 in 2027)	1 Apr–15 Nov	USD 900 · USD 1,270
Miavana	Private island of Nosy Ankao, about 10 km², north-east Madagascar; helicopter from Antsiranana or Nosy Be (map)	14 ocean-front villas of one to three bedrooms (the resort’s own site says 13 in one place and 14 in another); opened 2017	All year	USD 3,700 all year; exclusive use USD 140,000 a night, minimum 5 nights
Tsara Komba	Hillside on Nosy Komba, 20 minutes by boat from Nosy Be	8: 6 ocean-view rooms of 90 m² and 2 suites of 120 m²; acquired May 2024	All year	EUR 385–466 sharing; EUR 578–699 single

Read the table as three products. Chinzombo is the year-round flagship: six tents with private pools by the architects of North Island, priced like it. The four bush camps behind it are the real Norman Carr inheritance: four or five rooms each, open for six months, linked on foot along the Luangwa and the Luwi and priced at USD 840 to 1,200 a night, which is the best published rate for a walking safari of this pedigree that this site has on record. The Lower Zambezi cluster is a different river and a different rhythm, canoeing and tiger-fishing rather than walking; Chongwe House, rebuilt and reopened in May 2025, took Best Safari House in Africa at the 2026 Safari Awards. Madagascar is a fourth thing entirely: Miavana at USD 3,700 competes with North Island and Benguerra, not with anything in Zambia.

Rates 2026 and 2027, every property

All rates are per person a night sharing, read from timeandtideafrica.com on 14 September 2026. Zambia is in US dollars; Tsara Komba in euros. Green season in the South Luangwa is January to June and November to December; in the Lower Zambezi, April to June and November. Safari season is July to October everywhere in Zambia. The 2027 sheet is published and identical to 2026 at every property; the only changes are a five-adult minimum at Chongwe House and a wider Tsara Komba peak. Rates include game activities, meals, house drinks, laundry and, in Zambia, transfers from the nearest airstrip. They exclude the items in the next section.

Source: timeandtideafrica.com/rates. Tsara Komba peak is 1–10 January, 9 July–31 August and 19–31 December in 2026, widened to 1 June–30 September in 2027; single rates EUR 578–699. Miavana exclusive use, up to 42 guests, is USD 140,000 a night with a five-night minimum. Children 3–17 pay 50% in Zambia, under-threes travel free.
Property	2026 green season	2026 safari season	2027 green	2027 safari	Fees and levy, pp/night
Chinzombo	USD 1,330	USD 1,840	USD 1,330	USD 1,840	USD 100
Mchenja	USD 880	USD 1,200	USD 880	USD 1,200	USD 100
Kakuli	USD 880	USD 1,200	USD 880	USD 1,200	USD 100
Nsolo	USD 840	USD 1,030	USD 840	USD 1,030	USD 100
Luwi	USD 840	USD 1,030	USD 840	USD 1,030	USD 100
Chongwe Camp	USD 810	USD 990	USD 810	USD 990	USD 100
Chongwe Suites (Cassia, Albida)	USD 950	USD 1,330	USD 950	USD 1,330	USD 100
Chongwe House (min 4 adults; 5 in 2027)	USD 900	USD 1,270	USD 900	USD 1,270	USD 100
Miavana, villas	USD 3,700	USD 3,700	USD 3,700	USD 3,700	USD 300
Tsara Komba, room / suite	EUR 385 / 450	EUR 403 / 466	EUR 385 / 450	EUR 403 / 466	EUR 75 a night

The flat 2027 sheet is the most useful fact on this page for anyone planning eighteen months out. Angama’s 2027 sheet in Kenya rises up to 32% at some properties; Singita and Wilderness reprice annually, while Time + Tide has simply published the same numbers again. Two other things to notice. The safari-season premium at the bush camps is modest, USD 190 to 320 a night, so the July to October walking season is not the financial cliff it is in the Mara; and the Chongwe Suites, at USD 950 to 1,330 with a private guide and vehicle included, are cheaper than adding a private vehicle to a Chongwe Camp booking at USD 570 a night.

What the rate does not include

Source: timeandtideafrica.com/rates and booking terms, read 14 September 2026.
Item	Amount	Applies to
Park fees and conservation levy	USD 100 a person a night	Every Zambian camp, every guest; the split between park fee and levy is not itemised
Ankao fee and conservation levy	USD 300 a person a night	Miavana
Conservation levy	EUR 75 a night	Tsara Komba
Helicopter to Miavana	USD 800 a person each way from Antsiranana; USD 1,200 from Nosy Be	Miavana
Single supplement	50%	Zambia; Tsara Komba publishes separate single rates
Private vehicle · private guide and vehicle	USD 570 · USD 750 a night	Zambia camps; included at Chongwe Suites and Chongwe House
Sleep-out	USD 275 a person a night, minimum 2	South Luangwa
Credit-card fee; bank transfer charges; gratuities; premium drinks	4% on cards; payer bears transfer fees	All bookings

Worked through for a couple on a classic six-night Zambia circuit in August, three nights at Chinzombo and three at Chongwe Camp on shared vehicles: USD 11,040 plus USD 5,940 in accommodation, USD 1,200 in fees and levy, so USD 18,180 before the Mfuwe–Lusaka–Royal flights, tips and the 4% if paid by card. The same six nights at Luwi, Nsolo and Chongwe Camp, the walking version, come to USD 13,320. In green season the Chinzombo–Chongwe pair is USD 14,040. Those figures sit near the middle of the Zambia safari cost ranges and well under the equivalent week in the Mara or the Okavango, which is the whole argument for Zambia.

Booking terms

Source: Time + Tide booking terms and conditions, read 14 September 2026.
Term	Time + Tide
Deposit	20% non-refundable commitment fee, due within 14 days of confirmation; 100% for a booking made within 45 days of arrival
Balance due	45 days before arrival
Cancellation	46 days or more before arrival: 20% of the booking value forfeited; 45 days or less: 100%. Flights and third-party deposits non-refundable unless confirmed in writing
Payment	Bank transfer, payer bears the charges; credit card with a 4% fee
Client fund protection	None disclosed; comprehensive travel, medical, cancellation, evacuation and repatriation insurance is a condition of booking
Governing law	Republic of Mauritius; Mauritian courts

These terms are middle of the field for an owner-operator and stricter than a bonded planner’s: the deposit is gone on any cancellation; the cliff to 100% at 45 days is fifteen days later than the 30-day median on the payment terms index. The 4% card fee is worth avoiding on a USD 18,000 booking; a bank transfer costs less. The practical point is the same as for every unbonded operator on this site: insurance to the full trip value at the moment of deposit; for a peak-season booking where the 20% is real money, a bonded planner is the safer route, which is the case made in specialist vs booking direct.

Elephants among green trees and grass in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia, in late November — Green-season Zambia. Chinzombo, Miavana and Tsara Komba stay open all year; the bush camps and the Lower Zambezi cluster close from mid-November. Photo: Lightonphiri / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Conservation and the Time + Tide Foundation

The Time + Tide Foundation, established in 2017, is a community foundation before it is a wildlife one; it publishes the numbers that most safari foundations do not: 570 primary beneficiaries and 8,900 secondary in 2026, more than 19,000 residents reached across 300 villages and 30 schools in Zambia and 1,300 residents supported directly in Madagascar’s Loky-Manambato protected area with 5,500 indirectly. The programmes are weekly girls’ clubs, student sponsorship, home-based education for children with developmental differences, health support and women’s professional development, alongside biodiversity work. Every property runs on solar. The council is chaired by Mark Carnegie, with the founder Thierry Dalais among its members; the Foundation took the We Are Africa Empower Africa award in 2026, the Pure Awards community award in 2024 and a Regenerative Travel Impact award for education the same year.

The money comes in through the levy, USD 100 a person a night in Zambia and USD 300 at Miavana, though the site does not itemise how much of the Zambian USD 100 is the national park fee and how much the levy. Where Time + Tide scores 15 of 25 rather than the 20-plus of Great Plains, Tswalu or Singita is on land: it holds no reserve of its own in Zambia, its camps stand inside a national park and a game management area run by the state and it carries no third-party certification. On Nosy Ankao it has planted more than 100,000 endemic plants and trees across a 10 km² island, which is the closest the group comes to land stewardship in its own name.

What guests and awards say

The guest record is strong where it is deep. Chongwe Camp holds 4.9 from 286 Tripadvisor reviews and is first of seven properties in the Chiawa area; Chinzombo 4.8 from 103 and 98% from 13 reviews on Expert Africa, whose reviews are verified against bookings; Miavana 5.0 from 19. The 2025–26 Chongwe Camp reviews are the useful ones, because they describe the refurbished tents and lounge first-hand. Where the record is thin is at company level: one review on SafariBookings and no Trustpilot profile at all, which is why Time + Tide is a weak entry on the review evidence index despite the property scores.

The awards page is long and, for 2025–26, verifiable against the awarding bodies: Chongwe House was Best Safari House in Africa at the 2026 Safari Awards; Chongwe House, Tsara Komba and Miavana are in Tatler’s 101 Best Hotels 2026; Chongwe Camp, Chinzombo and Miavana were in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards 2025; Miavana is on Robb Report’s 2025 list of the greatest luxury hotels and was on the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List in 2024. Further back, the group took Best Walking Safari Experience and Best Guiding Team in Africa at the 2018 Safari Awards, the two titles that matter most for the South Luangwa product. The awards and credentials index weighs these against the field.

The case for and the case against

For

Two years of rates on one page. Every property, both seasons, fees, child policy, supplements and private-vehicle costs, 2026 and 2027, with 2027 held flat.
The South Luangwa lineage. A direct line from Norman Carr’s 1950 company to the walking circuit between Luwi, Nsolo, Kakuli and Mchenja, at USD 840 to 1,200 a night.
Guest scores where the sample is real. Chongwe Camp 4.9 from 286; Chinzombo 4.8 from 103 and 98% on Expert Africa.
A Foundation that publishes its numbers. 570 primary and 8,900 secondary beneficiaries in 2026, a ring-fenced levy and a 2026 Empower Africa award.
Continuous reinvestment. Three bush camps rebuilt in 2022, Chongwe House rebuilt for May 2025 and named Best Safari House in Africa 2026, Chongwe Camp refurbished 2025–26, Tsara Komba added 2024.

Against

Two countries, mostly seasonal. Eight of ten properties close from mid-November to April or May; a green-season or multi-country trip needs other operators.
No land of its own in Zambia. Camps sit in a national park and a game management area; the concession score is 12 of 20 against 17–20 for the private-reserve operators.
Unbonded, offshore terms. 20% forfeited on any cancellation, 100% inside 45 days, a 4% card fee, no client-money protection and a contract under Mauritian law.
Thin company-level record. No street address on the site, staff numbers only via a third-party listing, one SafariBookings review, no Trustpilot profile and the resort’s own site disagreeing with itself on Miavana’s villa count.
Portfolio changes unannounced. King Lewanika in Liuwa Plain passed to Ker & Downey Zambia in August 2026 with nothing said on timeandtideafrica.com; agents still list it under the old name.

What changed in 2025–26

When	What	Source
May 2024	Tsara Komba on Nosy Komba acquired; the second Madagascar property	Africa Beat
February 2025	Chongwe House rebuilt with drop-down tented fronts, pool and boma; reopened 1 May 2025 from USD 900 a person a night	Globetrender
October 2025	Chongwe Camp, Chinzombo and Miavana named in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards	Press and awards
2025–26	Chongwe Camp refurbished; guests describe new tents and main lounge	Tripadvisor
2026	Chongwe House wins Best Safari House in Africa at the Safari Awards; Chongwe House, Tsara Komba and Miavana in Tatler’s 101 Best Hotels; Foundation wins We Are Africa Empower Africa	Press and awards
2026	2027 rates published and held at 2026 levels; Chongwe House minimum rises to five adults; Tsara Komba peak widened to June–September	Rates
August 2026	King Lewanika Lodge, Liuwa Plain, reopens under Ker & Downey Zambia; no longer a Time + Tide property	EIN Presswire
September 2026	Assessed for the first time on this site’s safari operator index: 63 of 100, below the bar of 65, not listed	Safari operator index 2026

Victoria Falls in full flow, a wide curtain of water cascading over dark cliffs with spray rising from the gorge below — Victoria Falls from the Zambian side. Time + Tide has no Livingstone property; most itineraries pair its Luangwa and Zambezi camps with a Livingstone lodge from another operator. Photo: Benjamin Olivier Schaeuffele / Pexels.

Time + Tide against its peers

A buyer looking at Time + Tide in Zambia is comparing it with the other family owner-operators on the same two rivers, or with a pan-African group that can add Botswana or Zimbabwe to the same booking. Scores are from the safari operator index where the operator has been assessed.

Operator	Index score	Zambia footprint	Where it beats Time + Tide	Where Time + Tide beats it
Robin Pope Safaris	Not assessed	South Luangwa camps and Livingstone	The other original walking-safari name in the valley; adds a Victoria Falls property under the same brand	A Lower Zambezi cluster and Madagascar under one contract; Chinzombo’s private pools
Chiawa Safaris (Chiawa Camp, Old Mondoro)	Not assessed	Lower Zambezi	The direct Lower Zambezi rival at the same tier, family-owned, inside the national park itself	South Luangwa on the same booking; the rebuilt Chongwe House for a sole-use group
The Bushcamp Company	Not assessed	Mfuwe Lodge and six South Luangwa bush camps	A larger walking circuit in the same park; generally lower price points	Chinzombo as a flagship; two-year published rates; the Foundation’s published numbers
Wilderness	85, listed 2nd	Toka Leya (Livingstone) and Shumba (Kafue), within an eight-country portfolio	Eight countries on one booking; every rate published; the deepest Trustpilot record among owner-operators	South Luangwa and Lower Zambezi, which Wilderness does not have; lower entry rates
A&K Sanctuary	69, listed 10th	Sussi & Chuma (Livingstone) and Puku Ridge (South Luangwa)	Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda under one brand; Abercrombie & Kent behind the booking	Five South Luangwa camps to one; the Lower Zambezi; a walking circuit

The pattern is the same as it was for Angama in Kenya: Time + Tide wins on the product it controls (the camps, the guides, the rate sheet) and loses index points on the things a two-country family company cannot buy, private land and continental reach. For a first safari that needs the Big Five in a week, that matters. For the specific thing Zambia does, walking between small camps on the Luangwa and canoeing the Zambezi, it matters much less; the Zambia cost guide treats the owner-operators here as the reference point rather than the exception.

Who should book Time + Tide and who should not

You are	Verdict	Book	Why
Walking safari, second or third trip to Africa	Book it	Luwi, Nsolo and Kakuli or Mchenja, June to October, on foot between camps	The valley where walking began, at USD 840–1,200 a night; the 2018 Best Walking Safari and Best Guiding Team awards were for this circuit
Two rivers in one week, comfort first	Book it	3 nights Chinzombo + 3 nights Chongwe Camp or Suites	USD 18,180 for a couple in August all in bar flights; the Suites include a private guide for less than a private vehicle costs
Family or friends, sole-use house	Book it	Chongwe House, April to November, from USD 900 a person	Best Safari House in Africa 2026, four bedrooms, private guiding and vehicle included; minimum four adults (five in 2027)
Bush and beach at the very top of the market	Book it if the budget allows	Zambia camps then Miavana	USD 3,700 a night plus USD 300 in fees and a USD 800–1,200 helicopter each way; the Madagascar alternative is Tsara Komba at EUR 385–466
Travelling December to April	Mostly closed	Chinzombo only in Zambia; Miavana or Tsara Komba	Eight of ten properties are shut; the green-season Chinzombo rate of USD 1,330 is the one Zambian option
First safari, want the Big Five and three countries	Look elsewhere, or combine	Wilderness, or a planner pairing Time + Tide with Botswana	Two countries only; the Luangwa is a walking and leopard destination rather than a Big Five tick-list; the planner index scores the specialists who build the rest

On how to book: Time + Tide sells direct and through the trade at the same published rate, so a planner costs nothing extra and adds financial protection, the internal flights and the Livingstone or Botswana legs the portfolio lacks. Go2Africa lists the Zambian camps with a bonded contract; the planners on the safari planner index all sell the South Luangwa. The direct-versus-planner arithmetic is in specialist vs booking direct; the wider price context in what a safari costs by budget.

Time + Tide: the facts on record, read 19 October 2026

59 facts about Time + Tide were read from its own website, the award publishers and the review platforms on 19 October 2026; every one below says who stated it, where it was read and when. “Not stated on their website” means the right page was read and the fact is not there; “Could not access” means the page would not open; “No profile found” means the platform has no listing. None of the three means the company does not have it. The same 59-fact form is kept for every safari camp owner on this site; its first 35 facts match the safari planner form, so each line can be set beside any other company’s. Where a line here differs from an older line on this page, this one, read later, is the current reading.

Who they are

Trading name and legal entity

Trading name 'Time + Tide'. The privacy policy names 'Time and Tide Limited registered in Mauritius', headquarters at Office 11, 1st Floor, Block 3, The Strand, Lakeside District, Beau Plan, Mauritius 21001. The booking terms say bookings are made through Time and Tide (S) Ltd, Time and Tide SA (Pty) Ltd, Kapani Ltd, Chongwe River Lodge Ltd, High Spirit Lodges or Ankao Management S.A. (the 'Time and Tide Group'). No registration numbers are given.

Source: Company · privacy policy, booking terms conditions · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Where it is based

Headquarters in Beau Plan, Mauritius (the privacy policy address). The contact page gives phone lines in South Africa (+27 87 700 6555) plus toll-free USA and UK numbers, but no other office addresses are published.

Source: Company · privacy policy, contact · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Year founded

No single founding year for the company. Our Story says the story 'goes back to the 1950s' (Norman Carr pioneered walking safaris in South Luangwa), the 1990s (Liebenberg family on the Chongwe, Chongwe Safaris set up in 2006) and Miavana development started in 2013. 'Time + Tide was brought together by Thierry Dalais', named Founder and Chairman. Our Story says the family of properties 'officially comes together as the Time + Tide brand' without giving a date.

Source: Company · our story · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Owner or parent

'Time + Tide is a family-owned business.' Thierry Dalais is Founder and Chairman; the Peyre and wider Dalais family developed Miavana. The legal entity is Time and Tide Limited (Mauritius) with the Time and Tide Group companies listed in the booking terms. No outside investors are named.

Source: Company · our story, privacy policy, booking terms conditions · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

What it is (camp owner / planner / both)

Camp owner. The site sells stays at its own camps and lodges in Zambia and Madagascar and journeys that combine only Time + Tide properties (for example the 9-night Honeymoon and 7-night Walking Safari). 'Travel Designers' plan these; no other companies' camps are shown.

Source: Company · home page, honeymoon on safari, walking safari · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Team

Not stated on their website: no team size or management list. Only Thierry Dalais is named (Founder and Chairman, quoted on the home and Our Story pages) and he is not described as still active day to day. The Foundation reaches 30 schools, which is a programme figure, not staff.

Source: Company · home page, our story · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Where it sells

Direct to guests through enquiry forms, email ([email protected]) and phone, with 'Travel Designers'. Also through agents: an 'Agent Page' in the menu and the booking terms and rates refer to agents and 'commissionable' extras. Resident rates: 'SADC / Resident Rates' are mentioned but no amounts are published.

Source: Company · home page, booking terms conditions, rates · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

In its own words

'Time + Tide's family-owned properties are pioneers in luxury safaris in Zambia and Madagascar. We have a legacy of responsible tourism and offer modern-day explorers the luxury of space and the chance to feel truly alive.' Tagline: 'COME TOUCH THE EARTH.'

Source: Company · home page · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Response time and named contact

Not stated on their website: no promised reply time and no named reservations contact. Contacts given: booking enquiries [email protected], +27 87 700 6555, toll-free USA +1 312 702 4028 and UK +44 80 8196 5740.

Source: Company · contact · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Reviews, by platform

Google

4.7 out of 5, 42 reviews. listing 'TIME + TIDE CHINZOMBO' (Lodge), Luangwa River South Luangwa National Park, Zambia (Bright Data sd_mvgad5nx15fhy4rwb9); the company's main listing, camps listed separately not totalled

Source: Independent source · Google · crawl · 20 Oct 2026

Trustpilot

No profile found: no Trustpilot listing for the company was found on 19 October 2026.

Source: Independent source · Trustpilot · crawl · 19 Oct 2026

Tripadvisor

Could not access: Tripadvisor could not be read automatically on 19 October 2026.