Our Methodology

    SafariPlnr draws on verified data from authoritative open sources. This page explains what we use, how we process it, and where AI-assisted content fits in - so you can judge what to trust.

    Wildlife Data

    Species-park associations come from three primary sources:

    • GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) - Occurrence records with geographic coordinates matched to park boundaries
    • eBird (Cornell Lab of Ornithology) - Bird species checklists from over 6,300 species with 400,000+ park-level associations
    • iNaturalist - Community observations used for lodge-level wildlife enrichment (species within 20km radius)

    Conservation status comes directly from the IUCN Red List API, covering 94% of species in our database.

    Weather & Climate

    Monthly climate data uses Open-Meteo's historical weather archive, averaging 5 years of data for each park location. This gives reliable monthly averages for temperature, rainfall, and humidity. 7-day forecasts are fetched on demand from open weather APIs with a 6-hour cache.

    PlnrScore Algorithm

    Every lodge receives a PlnrScore from 0 to 100, calculated from:

    • Google Places rating and review count (weighted by recency and volume)
    • Expert Africa rating percentage and review count
    • Nearby wildlife density (mammal and bird species counts within 20km)
    • Elevation and climate suitability

    The score is algorithmic and cannot be purchased or influenced by lodge operators.

    Lodge Data

    Lodge information is aggregated from multiple public sources including Google Places, Expert Africa, and Go2Africa. We cross-reference data points (name, coordinates, ratings) to build comprehensive profiles. Lodges flagged as duplicates or non-operational are hidden but not deleted.

    Entry Fees

    Park entry fees are sourced directly from official government systems where available. Currently: Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) via the eCitizen API (27 parks with fees by visitor category). We are expanding to Tanzania (TANAPA), Zimbabwe (ZimParks), Uganda (UWA), and Rwanda (RDB).

    AI-Assisted Content

    Some descriptive panels (park FAQs, visitor tips, safari calendars, and ecosystem descriptions) are written with the help of Google Gemini, grounded in our verified database and not invented. We use a consistent editorial voice and can regenerate panels when guidelines are updated. Data panels (wildlife records, weather, entry fees, ratings) are always sourced directly from the APIs listed above.

    Update Frequency

    Our enrichment pipeline runs nightly, processing data in batches across 27 scheduled tasks. This includes lodge descriptions, wildlife data, weather updates, ratings, and content panels. The full pipeline is managed via our admin interface with job tracking.

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