I don’t think OP has ever returned to this thread. It should probably end.

My extended family knows l love to travel and have the money to do so. I’m the go to companion when they have a trip of a lifetime they want to do but nobody to go with, because their spouse doesn’t want to go or their best friend doesn’t have the money etc etc.

One case was a safari, my aunt really wanted to go but my uncle didn’t. He paid for the trip and the 2 of us went. I paid for a few splurges like an awesome hotel in Cape Town at the end for a couple of nights.

Another case, my mom wanted to go to Tahiti which is $$$ and couldn’t convince my dad - sounds similar to your husband - didn’t want to go or spend the money. This one l paid for myself, and my mom paid for herself.

So if you have the money, maybe pay for a younger friend or relative to accompany you, that could be less awkward than paying for a same age friend.

Do not force DH to go. No trip is perfect and you want someone who wants to be there with you.

Go, OP! I don't think it's right to make your husband go if he feels uncomfortable. I also wouldn't want to go alone, not for safety reasons, but for comfort. You have other options. Look into a tour group. If you have friends who would want to go but can't spend the $, could you subsidize it for them? For example, book the safari lodge/provider and they just have to get their airfare and expenses in the city before you transfer to the countryside for the safari? Or would your mom or a relative want to go?

This is a luxury but affordable option.

https://www.heretodayafricatomorrow.com/pages/journeys

If you can afford to, do this one:

https://www.roarafrica.com/emirates-gsoe-2023

Experience Africa in the very best way possible -“beyond first class” our Greatest Safari on Earth will return in 2024 with two life-changing trips, Aug 10 – 22 and Aug 25 – Sept 6. The Greatest Safari on Earth begins in Dubai on board the sumptuous Emirates Executive Private jet.

Then, a 12-day sojourn visiting 4 of Africa’s most iconic destinations; Matetsi Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Xigera Safari Lodge in Botswana, Angama Mara in Kenya, and the One&Only Gorilla’s Nest (trip one) or Singita Kwitonda (trip two) in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.

The best of the very best in Africa, hosted by the very best expert guides in Africa.

Do a luxury trip like this - I’m sure they have a safari one.

https://www.indagare.com/destinations/africa/morocco/insidertrips/magical-morocco/

Nobody should go on a safari if they don't want to and nobody should not go because their spouse doesn't want to.

OP, I thought about this thread when having a conversation with my mother this afternoon. My mother was one of those people who always felt it was "right" that she had to travel with my father and that to go on her own, or even with a friend, wasn't "right." She couldn't explain why but that was how she approached travel for the last 50 years. So all their trips were always trips my father would do and she passed up opportunities to go with a friend to places my father didn't want to go. My father had no interest in the great national parks of the west, for example, so she's never been to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone even if she has been to Rome half a dozen times.

And now my father has Parkinsons and cannot travel. She is effectively stuck with him 24/7 as his primary caregiver. But my sister and I are helping out. She's going to Ireland on her own to visit an old friend, and will spend five days in Iceland as part of that trip, on her own. We're signing her up on a local tour. She's excited because she's always wanted to see Iceland, another place my father wasn't interested in. And today she was saying how sorry she was to pass up all the possible trips when she was younger and still more active and to parts of the world my father refused to contemplate. And that is the biggest regret of the last 50 years of an otherwise happy marriage.

You are only going to get older. And the day will come when you won't be able to travel any more. Healthwise, you never know what will happen. No one expected my father to develop Parkinsons and become homebound. If you really want to see a wonderful African safari, go. Just do it. Tours are out there. There's no shame in traveling solo. There's no need to be fearful. And I think married couples can too quickly forget the pleasures of being on your own for a bit and going on a trip by yourself for a bit. You won't regret it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s totally being an ass. My husband is game for trips with me, but I push the boundaries and I know he’s worried beforehand. Like staying in huts in Africa, camping in wadi rum. But he knows I want it and knows I’m not stupid and that’s I’ve planned it to be safe. It probably was something I should have done before meeting Dh but we met young. I did spend a summer backpacking Europe and sleeping under bridges.

Why wouldn’t a girlfriend go?

OP here. My friends don’t spend very much on vacation….I would feel very odd asking anyone to join a trip that would probably be $1500+/night, and no one would be willing to spend that much.

So pay for them. You have the money. If the alternative is it’s no safari, or safari with annoyed and unhappy husband, just pay for the friend too.

Do not do this unless you want the friendship to be over. Honestly that would be too much. Just join a women's group tour

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Join a group trip. Not fair to make your husband go on such a big trip he has no interest in because you want to.

This is the correct answer.

+1 I would hate a trip like this and be miserable the whole time. Who wants that? Nobody wants that.

I love travelling, but safari just doesn't call to me. I'm a woman by the way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe OP doesn’t want to go to Africa and have to get all those shots.

Right, because seeing elephants nudging their young to the water's edge, watching cheetah run in the wild, hearing male lions call to each other at dusk, looking up into a tree and seeing a leopard lazing on a branch -- none of that is worth getting a yellow fever shot.

Sounds terrible to me all around. Plus the flight?

This is a huge ask for a spouse who doesn’t share the same interest.

I went totally solo as a single woman 25 years ago on a Robin Pope Safari and it's still the best trip I ever took. I never felt unsafe In fact, I felt especially looked after since most people were in pairs or groups.

Anonymous wrote:Maybe OP doesn’t want to go to Africa and have to get all those shots.

Right, because seeing elephants nudging their young to the water's edge, watching cheetah run in the wild, hearing male lions call to each other at dusk, looking up into a tree and seeing a leopard lazing on a branch -- none of that is worth getting a yellow fever shot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

OMG. You cannot be serious.

Oops, I misspoke. It’s actually called the San Diego Zoo SAFARI Park now! Even better!

This is a good compromise.

Said someone who has never been on a safari.

Trust me, it's not even close.

I would not go either OP. Talk it up to your friends and family and I am sure you will find one person who will go, especially if you finance part of it.