Expeditions · Safari operator reviews 2026
andBeyond Review 2026: Is It Worth It, What It Costs, and Who Runs It
andBeyond is worth it for travellers who want one operator's own lodges across three continents at a consistent, owner-operated standard, scoring 78/100 on six published criteria, with rooms from around R16,250 (about USD 880) per person sharing a night at Phinda Mountain Lodge in South Africa to around USD 3,280 per person a night at peak season at Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge in Botswana. Founded in 1991 as Conservation Corporation Africa and renamed andBeyond in 2008, the company is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, and owns and operates 29 lodges and camps across Africa, Asia and South America.
Verified 22 September 2026 · andbeyond.com · Trustpilot · Tripadvisor · SafariBookings · re-read at source
| Criterion | Max | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| First-hand African expertise | 25 | 23 | Operating in Africa since 1991 (35 years), Johannesburg headquarters, own guide-training academy and 29 owned lodges and camps. Deducted 2 for day-to-day leadership increasingly split between Johannesburg and a London-based chief executive. |
| Independent review evidence | 20 | 13 | Group-level Trustpilot is thin and polarised (3.0/5, 21 reviews); SafariBookings shows no reviews recorded. Deducted 7 for the lack of a strong, independent, operator-level review base, offset only partly by strong individual lodge ratings on Tripadvisor. |
| Destination breadth | 15 | 14 | Around 12 African countries per its Africa Tourism Association listing, plus tailor-made tours in Asia and South America. Deducted 1 because 2026 availability at its best-known Tanzania property, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, is zero (closed for rebuild). |
| Pricing transparency | 15 | 11 | Per-person-per-night rates and inclusions are published on individual lodge pages on andbeyond.com. Deducted 4 because there is no single from-price for the operator, currencies vary by country (rand and US dollars across the portfolio), and a reader must check each of 29 lodges individually. |
| Service model and support hours | 15 | 12 | Nightly rates clearly state what is included (meals, most drinks, twice-daily activities, laundry, transfers, VAT); andBeyond also tailor-makes multi-lodge tours. Deducted 3 because office hours and time-zone coverage for the tour-operating side are not published on the contact page. |
| Ownership transparency | 10 | 5 | Founders and current CEO and President are named and dated, and a head office address is public via its ATTA listing. Deducted 5 because current shareholders are not published; the only sourced ownership detail found (Getty Foundation and the AECI Pension Fund as early shareholders) dates to 2007 and cannot be confirmed as current. |
| Total | 100 | 78 | Sum of the six criteria above. |
Is andBeyond worth it?
andBeyond earns its price for readers who value owning the lodge as well as the itinerary: one company builds, staffs and runs all 29 properties, rather than booking third-party camps on a client's behalf. That model means consistent service standards from Phinda in South Africa to the Okavango Delta in Botswana, guides trained through andBeyond's own academy, and a conservation record, anchored by the 1991 founding of Phinda, that is structural to the business rather than a marketing overlay. The trade-off is scale: some camps, such as the 40-tent Kichwa Tembo in the Masai Mara, prioritise capacity over the intimacy of a boutique operator such as Great Plains Conservation, and andBeyond's most photographed property, Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, is closed for a full rebuild through 2026.
For a first safari built around the Big Five with low malaria risk, Phinda in KwaZulu-Natal is the natural entry point; for migration-season travel, Grumeti, Serengeti Under Canvas or Klein's Camp in Tanzania and Bateleur Camp or Kichwa Tembo in Kenya are the andBeyond options. Readers weighing andBeyond against a more exclusive, lower-density operator should read the comparison with Singita further down this page.
How much does an andBeyond safari cost?
andBeyond publishes per-person, per-night rates on each lodge's own page on andbeyond.com, ranging from around R16,250 (roughly USD 880) at Phinda Mountain Lodge in South Africa to around USD 3,280 at peak season at Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge in Botswana, all quoted per person sharing a room. Rates are set lodge by lodge in the local operating currency (South African rand at the Phinda and Sossusvlei properties, US dollars in Kenya and Botswana), which this review has converted to an approximate US dollar range at mid-2026 exchange rates for comparison; always check the live rate on andbeyond.com before booking.
| Lodge | Region | Rooms | From (pp/night) | 2026 season quoted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phinda Mountain Lodge | Phinda, South Africa | Cottages and suites | R16,250 to 17,750 (approx. USD 880 to 960) | 11 Jan 2026 to 10 Jan 2027 |
| Phinda Forest Lodge | Phinda, South Africa | Glass-walled suites | R18,100 (approx. USD 980) | Festive, 11 Jan 2026 to 10 Jan 2027 |
| Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp | Masai Mara, Kenya | 40 tents | USD 590 to 1,075 | Shoulder (Nov to Dec) to peak migration (Jul to Oct) |
| Bateleur Camp | Masai Mara, Kenya | 18 suites | USD 1,250 to 2,210 | Shoulder to peak migration |
| Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge | Okavango Delta, Botswana | 12 suites | USD 2,145 to 3,280 | Nov to Dec shoulder to Jun to Oct peak |
| Sossusvlei Desert Lodge | Namib, Namibia | 10 suites plus Star Dune Suite | R36,750 (approx. USD 1,985) | Peak/migration, 1 Jun to 31 Oct 2026 |
Every rate above includes accommodation, three meals daily, most drinks, laundry, twice-daily guided activities and road or air transfers from the nearest airstrip; premium wines, international flights, gratuities and specialist activities such as scuba are generally additional. Full detail and current pricing sit on each lodge's own rates page on andbeyond.com. For budget context by country, see this site's South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and what a safari costs by budget guides.
What do andBeyond reviews say?
andBeyond's group-level Trustpilot rating is weak and thinly sampled at 3.0 out of 5 from 21 reviews, but individual lodges carry far stronger and larger independent review bases on Tripadvisor. There is no single operator-wide review profile that covers all 29 properties; the table below shows the group profile plus one representative lodge.
| Platform | Rating & count | Newest review | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trustpilot (group) | 3.0/5 from 21 reviews, claimed | 6 Aug 2026 | View profile |
| Tripadvisor (Sandibe Okavango) | 4.8/5 from 329 reviews | May 2026 | View lodge reviews |
| SafariBookings | No reviews recorded | Not applicable | View profile |
The polarised Trustpilot split (52% five-star, 38% one-star, per Trustpilot's own distribution chart) suggests a small sample dominated by two very different experiences rather than a stable average; readers should weigh it accordingly and check reviews for the specific lodge they are considering rather than the group score alone.
andBeyond's awards, dated where they can be
andBeyond's own site states it was recognised as a leading Specialist Tour Operator in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards, with 15 lodges named, on a page last updated 10 March 2026, though the specific award year is not stated on that page. This review could not independently date that recognition to a single year and states that gap plainly rather than filling it. No other dated, independently verifiable 2025 or 2026 award was found for the group at operator level during research; individual lodges, including Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge, separately hold a Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice award for 2026.
Where andBeyond travels, and its journey styles
andBeyond's 29 lodges cluster around nine core regions, from its founding reserve at Phinda to the Okavango Delta, the Serengeti and the Namib, each suited to a different kind of trip.
| Region | Where | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phinda | KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa | First-time and family safaris; Big Five, low malaria risk, six lodges at different price points | Not a true wilderness feel next to Botswana's remote concessions |
| Sabi Sand & Greater Kruger | South Africa | Leopard-led Big Five viewing at Tengile River Lodge and Ngala | Ngala's 20 cottages are larger and less exclusive than Sabi Sand's boutique camps |
| Serengeti | Tanzania | Migration-led trips; Serengeti Under Canvas moves with the herds, Klein's Camp permits walking and night drives | Grumeti's western corridor location is not always on the main migration route |
| Ngorongoro Crater | Tanzania | Normally the group's single most dramatic lodge-and-landscape pairing | Closed for a full rebuild through 2026; not bookable for any 2026 date, reopening January 2027 |
| Okavango Delta | Botswana | Water-based safari; Sandibe for architecture, Nxabega and Xaranna for classic tented Delta camps | Highest per-night rates in the portfolio, USD 2,145 and up in 2026 |
| Sossusvlei & the Namib | Namibia | Design and dark-sky landscape over Big Five; best as a two- or three-night add-on | Desert-adapted wildlife only, not a primary game-viewing stop |
| Masai Mara | Kenya | Kenyan side of the migration on a private concession; Bateleur for intimacy, Kichwa Tembo for families | Kichwa Tembo's 40 tents are the largest camp in the andBeyond portfolio |
| Victoria Falls & the Zambezi | Zimbabwe | Pairing the Falls with a private 55,000-hectare Zambezi reserve at Matetsi River Lodge | Furthest of the core lodges from andBeyond's other regions; usually a bookend trip |
Who owns andBeyond?
andBeyond was founded in 1991 by Dave Varty and Alan Bernstein as Conservation Corporation Africa, converting degraded farmland into what became the Phinda Private Game Reserve, and was renamed andBeyond in 2008. Joss Kent, son of Abercrombie & Kent founder Geoffrey Kent, has led the company as CEO (see the leadership announcement) and, since a January 2026 leadership restructure, as Executive Chairman and CEO, with day-to-day operations under new President Mark Wheeler, previously the company's chief operating officer. andBeyond's head office is in Johannesburg, South Africa.
andBeyond is privately held and does not publish a current shareholder register on andbeyond.com. The only sourced historical ownership detail this review could find names the Getty Foundation and the AECI Pension Fund as early shareholders, in a source dated 2007; it could not be confirmed as current, and this review found no independently verifiable source connecting present-day andBeyond ownership to any specific family or insurance group, so no such claim is made here. Readers who want to verify ownership claims on any safari operator before booking can use this site's operator verification guide.
andBeyond vs Wilderness, Singita and Great Plains Conservation
Against its closest rivals, andBeyond's edge is breadth and ownership consistency; Singita and Great Plains are more exclusive on density, and Wilderness has deeper Botswana coverage. Singita runs around 18 lodges and camps, weighted toward exclusive-use concessions and lower guest densities, and generally sits a tier above andBeyond on ultra-premium positioning. Wilderness operates more than 60 camps and holds the deepest concession footprint in Botswana specifically, at smaller, more remote camps than andBeyond's Delta lodges. Great Plains Conservation, founded by Dereck and Beverly Joubert, is andBeyond's partner in the Rhinos Without Borders coalition and runs a smaller, more conservation-first portfolio. Full side-by-side detail sits at andBeyond vs Wilderness and Singita vs andBeyond vs Wilderness.
How to price a comparable safari
Three practical routes exist to price a safari at andBeyond's level, from booking directly to comparing quotes across specialists. andBeyond is not bookable through this site; the two links below are affiliate links to specialists that can quote and book a comparable safari, and pay this site a commission if a reader books, at no extra cost to the reader.
| Route | Best for | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Direct with andBeyond | Readers who already know which lodge they want and are comfortable booking without a third-party quote | andbeyond.com |
| Specialist quote via Go2Africa | Multi-lodge, multi-country itineraries built and quoted by a specialist | Go2Africa (affiliate) |
| Platform comparison via Safari.com and BookAllSafaris | Readers still shortlisting, who want to compare andBeyond lodges against other operators before requesting quotes | Safari.com (affiliate) · BookAllSafaris (affiliate) |
What changed in 2026
Four dated changes shape this year's andBeyond picture: a leadership restructure, a flagship lodge closure, a stated but undated award recognition, and a steady but thinly sampled review profile.
- 27 January 2026: andBeyond promoted chief operating officer Mark Wheeler to President, effective March 2026, while Joss Kent's role was formalised as Executive Chairman and CEO, focused on strategy and trade partnerships (source: Latte Luxury News, 27 January 2026).
- 2026: andBeyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, the group's best-known property, closed for a full rebuild and is not bookable for any 2026 date, with a stated reopening of January 2027 (source: andBeyond's own Ngorongoro Crater Lodge page and third-party trade coverage).
- 10 March 2026 (page update date): andbeyond.com's own award page states recognition as a leading Specialist Tour Operator in the Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Choice Awards, naming 15 lodges, though the specific award year is not stated (source: andbeyond.com).
- 6 August 2026: andBeyond's most recent dated Trustpilot review was posted, with the group rating holding at 3.0 out of 5 from 21 reviews at verification (source: Trustpilot).
Conservation record, verified factually. andBeyond's founding act in 1991 was converting former agricultural and hunting land into what is now part of the Munywana Conservancy, home to Phinda, spanning roughly 28,500 hectares (andBeyond's own materials state around 74,000 acres). The company co-founded the Rhinos Without Borders coalition with Great Plains Conservation, which states it has translocated more than 100 rhinos with over 60 calves born since. The Africa Foundation, founded in 1992, states it has built more than 170 classrooms and funded more than 250 tertiary scholarships across the communities around andBeyond's reserves. Phinda has also been associated with Temminck's pangolin reintroduction research alongside the African Pangolin Working Group.
Straight answers to the questions readers ask
Is andBeyond worth it?
For travellers who want one operator's own lodges across three continents at a consistent, owner-operated standard, yes. andBeyond scores 78/100 on six published criteria here, held back mainly by opaque current ownership and a thin Trustpilot sample (3.0 out of 5 from 21 reviews), against strong per-lodge Tripadvisor evidence, 29 owned properties and a 35-year conservation record built around Phinda.
How much does an andBeyond safari cost?
Published 2026 rates run from around R16,250 (about USD 880) per person sharing a night at Phinda Mountain Lodge in South Africa to around USD 3,280 per person a night at peak season at Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge in Botswana, before international flights and gratuities. Rates are set per lodge, in the local operating currency (rand in South Africa and Namibia, US dollars in Kenya and Botswana), and published on andbeyond.com and its retail partners.
Who owns andBeyond?
andBeyond was founded in 1991 by Dave Varty and Alan Bernstein as Conservation Corporation Africa, renamed andBeyond in 2008, and is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. Joss Kent is Executive Chairman and CEO and Mark Wheeler was promoted to President in January 2026. andBeyond is a privately held company; its current shareholder register is not published on andbeyond.com, and this review could not independently verify any specific family or insurance-group ownership claim, so none is stated here.
What do andBeyond reviews say?
andBeyond's Trustpilot profile is claimed and shows 3.0 out of 5 from 21 reviews, newest dated 6 August 2026, with a polarised split (52% five-star, 38% one-star). Reviews are stronger at the property level: andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge holds 4.8 out of 5 from 329 Tripadvisor reviews and a Travelers' Choice award. SafariBookings lists andBeyond's profile with no reviews recorded at the time of verification.
Is andBeyond legitimate, and is it ATOL or ABTOT protected?
andBeyond is a long-established operator, founded in 1991, headquartered in Johannesburg and a member of the Africa Tourism Association (ATTA). It does not publish an ATOL or ABTOT number on andbeyond.com that this review could verify; UK travellers booking through a UK-based ATOL or ABTOT-holding agent would carry that agent's financial protection rather than andBeyond's own.
What is included in the price?
Across the portfolio, andBeyond's published nightly rates typically include accommodation, all meals, most drinks (premium wines and champagnes can be extra), twice-daily guided game activities, laundry, road or air transfers from the nearest airstrip, and VAT. International and regional flights, gratuities, premium beverages and specialist activities such as scuba diving are generally additional, per the inclusions listed on individual lodge rate pages.
Which countries does andBeyond cover?
andBeyond operates lodges, camps and tours across roughly 12 African countries, per its Africa Tourism Association membership listing, with its own properties concentrated in South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe, plus Mnemba Island off Zanzibar. It also tailor-makes tours in Asia, including Sri Lanka and India, and in South America.
Can I book andBeyond through Uncompromised Travel?
No. andBeyond is not bookable through this site. For a comparable, affiliate-linked route to price and book a safari, this page's "How to price a comparable safari" section links to Go2Africa, Safari.com and BookAllSafaris, each labelled as an affiliate link.
Read next
This page contains no affiliate links. Rankings are scored against published criteria. Partners are labelled. Sources verified 22 September 2026: andbeyond.com, andbeyond.com lodge rate and history pages, andbeyond.com/conde-nast-winner, Trustpilot, Tripadvisor, SafariBookings, ATTA (atta.travel), Wikipedia (Phinda Private Game Reserve), Latte Luxury News, theorg.com, Wikimedia Commons.