Safari Consultants Review 2026: Is It Worth It, What It Costs, and Who Owns It

Safari Consultants, the Suffolk-based Africa specialist trading since 1983, scores 87/100 on our six-criterion operator review, joint third of the thirteen operators reviewed with Expert Africa and Yellow Zebra Safaris: full marks for destination breadth and ownership transparency, and 18 of 20 for independent reviews. Trustpilot rates it 5.0 from 439 reviews and AITO 100% from 493; it publishes its full booking terms, ATOL 3783 and ABTOT 5246, and prices for 18 itineraries. It loses points for having no office in Africa, for price ranges with no season or year, and for not promising one consultant throughout.

Verified 24 September 2026 · Safari Consultants' own pages and July 2026 terms · Companies House record 02094642 · Trustpilot, AITO and SafariBookings · Endole · MoneyWeek

Safari Consultants at a glance: the company record

Safari Consultants is Safari Consultants Limited, company 02094642, incorporated in January 1987 and based at Africa House in Great Cornard, near Sudbury in Suffolk; it sells only Africa and its islands. Every row below links to its source and was checked on the date shown.

Is Safari Consultants worth it?

Safari Consultants scores 87/100: it is an Africa-only specialist with more than four decades of trading, 932 independent reviews rated 5.0 and 100% on two platforms, and every term a buyer needs set out on its site. Managing director and majority owner Rob Slater has spent "35 years travelling to Africa", director Michele Seamark is, in the company's words, its "resident Zimbabwean", and its consultants "spend at least 5-6 weeks a year in Africa, usually spread over 3 separate trips". The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, in a line the company quotes, said "Ask directors Michele and Rob where to see wild dogs ... and not only will they tell you the prime spots, but they'll name the very best guides". It loses 5 points on expertise for having no office in Africa, 3 on pricing for giving no season or year with its ranges, and 3 on service for not promising one consultant throughout.

Where Safari Consultants stands on Uncompromised Travel

At 87/100, Safari Consultants is joint third of the 13 safari operators reviewed on these six criteria, level with Expert Africa and Yellow Zebra Safaris and two points below Go2Africa. This record is its first appearance on Uncompromised Travel: it has not been assessed on our safari planner index, payment terms index or UK and US operator comparison, where its published terms and protection would be scored.

How much does a Safari Consultants safari cost?

Safari Consultants prices 18 itineraries on its Kenya and Botswana pages per person sharing, from US$3,725 for six nights on the Chobe River and in the Okavango Delta to US$39,895 for the top of its nine-night Best of Botswana range, and says typical safaris cost upwards of £8,000 per person without international flights. Its guide to safari costs puts 10 to 14 days in Africa at between UK£5,000 or US$6,000 and UK£25,000 or US$30,000 per person, adding "we do not offer budget safaris, but we do offer excellent value for money". Each itinerary page lists what is included: Big Game of Kenya, for one, includes full board, house drinks, laundry, light aircraft flights, airstrip transfers, park fees and guided activities. The ranges carry no season or year. Our Kenya safari cost guide and Botswana safari cost guide set these prices against the market.

Ranges as shown on its Kenya and Botswana itinerary pages on 24 September 2026, excluding international flights.

Who plans Safari Consultants trips?

Safari Consultants' team page names 15 people: its two directors, five specialist consultants, a flights specialist, sales support, finance, product and sustainability, and social media and marketing. Its site describes "a small company offering a very personal service" and says every consultant "travels to Africa three or four times per year personally experiencing camps, lodges, guides and game sightings"; it does not promise one consultant from enquiry to return. The team page links to fuller profiles that could not be opened for this record.

What do Safari Consultants reviews say?

Safari Consultants is rated 5.0 on Trustpilot from 439 reviews, the newest from 14 April 2026, and 100% on AITO from 493 client reviews, 487 of them rated excellent. Trustpilot reviewers say it "fully understood our requirements and offered us a value for money itinerary" and that "everything ran like clockwork"; its AITO reviews page quotes clients such as "We were delighted with your super slick and 100% reliable organisation" (Namibia, June 2023). Its about page gives lower counts, "Over 300 Trustpilot reviews" and "Over 460 AITO client reviews". Our safari operator review index explains how we weigh platforms.

Safari Consultants' awards and press

Safari Consultants has no awards page; the recognition it quotes on its reviews and terms pages is "No. 1 for safari in the Sunday Times Travel Magazine" in October 2019, which could not be checked on The Times' site for this record. The one press mention confirmed at source is a MoneyWeek travel piece of February 2019, "On safari in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi", which says "Our trip was arranged by Safari Consultants". Its media page also lists The Telegraph, The Independent, Condé Nast Traveller, TripSavvy and Travel Africa, without dates. AITO's listing describes it as "the oldest specialist Tour Operator dealing specifically with Africa in the UK".

Where Safari Consultants goes, and its safari styles

Safari Consultants sells only Africa and its islands: 14 destinations, from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda to Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Malawi and Mozambique, plus Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. It says it is "not tied to working with specific safari operators, so our expert advice is always 100% independent". Its special-interest pages cover walking, horse riding, gorillas and other primates, Kilimanjaro, the migration, water-based and flying safaris, photography and birding, with self-drive, rafting and rail journeys among other activities.

Who owns Safari Consultants?

Companies House records Robert James Slater, Safari Consultants' managing director, as holding between 50% and 75% of the shares and votes since April 2016. William Baddeley Adams, a director from before 1991, held the same band until 30 January 2019, when he left the board and Slater became company secretary. Slater has been a director since April 2006 and Michele Seamark since April 2016. The company was incorporated in January 1987 as Safari Holdings Limited and renamed Safari Consultants Limited in 1993; its site and AITO date the business to 1983, but neither names its founders. In 2024 it satisfied its three registered charges and cancelled and bought back shares.

Safari Consultants' booking terms and financial protection

Safari Consultants' July 2026 terms ask for a deposit of up to 40% when booking more than 10 weeks ahead and the balance 10 weeks before departure; cancelling 85 or more days ahead costs 40%, 84 to 61 days 80%, and 60 days or fewer the full price. Its terms give ATOL 3783, name Safari Consultants Limited, registration number "209 4642", and offer AITO's independent dispute settlement service; its financial security page adds ABTOT membership 5246, which "provides for a refund in the event you have not yet travelled or repatriation if transportation was included", and an IATA licence. Comprehensive insurance is required when the deposit is paid. Our guide to safari deposits and payment terms compares these with the market.

What the public record does not show

Six things a buyer might look for could not be found or did not match on 24 September 2026. Each is listed so it can be answered; if Safari Consultants publishes or corrects any of them, this record will change with a dated note.

• Who founded the company in 1983: neither its site nor AITO names the founders.
• The season or year its price ranges apply to.
• Opening times and a response time: it gives "during UK working hours".
• One named consultant from enquiry to return, stated as a promise.
• Up-to-date review counts on its about page, which gives "Over 300" Trustpilot and "Over 460" AITO reviews against 439 and 493 on the platforms.
• Confirmation of the Sunday Times Travel Magazine "No. 1 for safari" at source, and of ABTOT 5246 on ABTOT's register, neither of which could be checked for this record.

Safari Consultants vs Expert Africa, Yellow Zebra Safaris and Scott Dunn

Against three UK safari specialists we have reviewed, Safari Consultants ties Expert Africa and Yellow Zebra Safaris on 87, scores higher than Expert Africa on reviews and lower than both on pricing detail.

How to price a comparable safari

The fair test of any quote from Safari Consultants is a like-for-like quote for the same camps, nights and season from a second specialist and a comparison platform. Ask each for the same lodges by name, the same room category and the same inclusions, then compare the per-person total with international flights excluded.

Get a second specialist quote from Go2Africa →

Compare safari operators' prices on BookAllSafaris →

Browse priced safaris on Safari.com →

What changed

Five dated changes shape Safari Consultants' public record today.

30 January 2019. William Adams left the board, leaving Rob Slater as the only person with significant control.

3 June 2024. Its three registered charges were satisfied.

September 2024. It cancelled shares and bought back its own shares.

July 2026. Its current terms were issued.

24 September 2026. This record opened with a score of 87/100.