The Best Safari Planners in 2026: 18 Specialists Scored on What They Publish
Yellow Zebra Safaris is the best safari planner in 2026, scoring 88 out of 100: the only company in the field that publishes a price range on every itinerary, holds its own ATOL licence and answers a 24-hour line. Audley Travel is second at 80, Go2Africa third at 79 on the deepest review record and the only African head office among the top three, and Micato and Scott Dunn tie at 77. Eighteen tailor-made safari planners were scored on the same five criteria; Abercrombie & Kent was assessed but could not be scored because its website returns no readable content. Twelve of the eighteen publish a price before you enquire; seven name no external financial-protection scheme at all. A planner designs and books a safari at camps other people own. This index scores the planners; the camps are scored on the luxury safari operator index.
| # | Planner · base | Lowest published price | Protection stated | Review record | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yellow Zebra SafarisKingston upon Thames, UK · founded 2012 | from £4,983 pp · 8 nights, Botswana | ATOL 10614 | Trustpilot 4.9 · 1,728 | 88 |
| 2 | Audley TravelWitney, UK · Boston · founded 1996 · B Corp | from £4,900 pp · 14 days, Namibia self-drive | ATOL 4817 · ABTOT 5297 · USTOA | Trustpilot 4.9 · 5,010 | 80 |
| 3 | Go2Africa AffiliateCape Town · Nairobi · 25+ years · Nawiri Group (B Corp) | per-night bands only, USD 1,650–5,000 pps (Botswana) | own money-back guarantee; no bond named | Feefo 4.9 · 3,118 | 79 |
| 4 | Micato SafarisNew York · Nairobi · founded 1966 · Pinto family | from USD 20,700 pp · 10 days, Tanzania | none stated | Google 5.0 · 751 | 77 |
| 5 | Scott DunnLondon · New York · Singapore · Hong Kong · founded 1986 · Flight Centre | from £7,600 pp · 9 nights, Botswana | ATOL 2471 · ABTOT 5222 · IATA · USTOA | Trustpilot 4.6 · 273 | 77 |
| 6 | Wild FrontiersLondon · founded 1998 · BGF-backed | from-prices per itinerary (tailor-made and group) | ATOL 5975 · ABTOT 5228 · AITO | Trustpilot 4.9 · 777 | 74 |
| 7 | Cazenove+LoydLondon · founded 1993 | £15,250 pp · 9 days, Okavango (itinerary pages only) | ATOL 3208 | Trustpilot 4.8 · 114 | 71 |
| 8 | Kensington ToursToronto · founded 2006 | from-prices per itinerary | TICO 50022233 (Ontario) | Trustpilot 4.8 · 2,679 | 71 |
| 9 | Original TravelLondon · founded 2003 · Voyageurs du Monde stake | from £5,550 · 13 days, South Africa and Botswana | ATOL 5922 · ABTA Y5632 · IATA | Feefo 4.9 · 67 in past year | 70 |
| 10 | Rhino AfricaCape Town · founded 2004 | “Starting from $NaN” on every tour card | own default insurance; SATSA 1184572 | Trustpilot 5.0 · 5,461 | 69 |
| 11 | Journeys by DesignBrighton, UK · bases Nanyuki and Maun · founded 1999 | none published | ATOL 9680 (licence in a different entity name) | none independent | 64 |
| 12 | Red SavannahCheltenham, UK · founded 2011 | from USD 4,232 pp · 7 days, Kenya | ATOL 10454 · ABTOT 5566 | none independent | 62 |
| 13 | Natural World SafarisBrighton, UK · founded 2005 | from USD 10,500 pp · Kenya photographic | ATOL claimed, number not published; Trust My Travel | Trustpilot 4.8 · 86 | 60 |
| 14 | Extraordinary JourneysNew York · founded 2009 · Voyageurs du Monde 65% | from USD 10,000 pp · 13 days, Zimbabwe and Botswana | none stated | Google 5.0 · 179 | 59 |
| 15 | Aardvark SafarisTidworth, UK · founded 1999 | none published | ATOL 5356 · ABTOT 5704 | Google widget only | 54 |
| 16 | ROAR AFRICAMiami Beach · founded 2005 | USD 39,950 pps · 6 days, Okavango (hosted) | none stated | SafariBookings 5.0 · 8 | 50 |
| 17 | Jacada TravelLondon · founded 2008 · Wilderness | “From $0 pp” on every itinerary | none stated; Puerto Rico law | Trustpilot 4.9 · 2,571 | 44 |
| 18 | Ker & Downey (Texas)Bellville, Texas · founded 1985 | budget tiers only, USD 5,000–30,000+ | none stated | Birdeye 4.8 · 52 | 34 |
How the eighteen are scored
| Criterion | Weight | What earns the points |
|---|---|---|
| Planning depth | 25 | African countries sold, whether the company sells Africa only or Africa among many, whether consultants are stated to have lived, guided or worked in Africa, and whether they are named. A generalist with a good Africa desk scores in the mid-teens; an Africa-only house whose consultants came from the camps scores above twenty. |
| On-the-ground cover | 20 | A 24-hour line with the number published (not just claimed), an office in Africa, and named ground staff. A claim of 24/7 with no number scores below a published number; weekday office hours in another time zone score lowest. |
| Pricing transparency | 20 | A per-person from-price on the itineraries themselves, with length and what is included. Per-night bands score in the low teens; a broken field such as “From $0 pp” or “Starting from $NaN” scores as no price. |
| Review evidence | 20 | Carried from the review evidence index where the planner is on it, and computed on the same bands (sample depth, recency, corroboration, listing integrity) where it is not. A planner with no independent record scores 8, not 0: absence of evidence is not evidence of poor service, but it is a reason to ask for referees. |
| Financial protection | 15 | ATOL plus ABTA or ABTOT with numbers, or USTOA membership, scores full marks. ATOL alone, or a scheme claimed without a number, scores partially. A company’s own guarantee with no external bond scores low. Nothing stated scores zero, whatever the company’s reputation. |
| Planner | Depth /25 | Ground /20 | Pricing /20 | Reviews /20 | Protection /15 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellow Zebra Safaris | 23 | 15 | 19 | 18 | 13 | 88 |
| Audley Travel | 17 | 13 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 80 |
| Go2Africa | 24 | 19 | 11 | 20 | 5 | 79 |
| Micato Safaris | 20 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 0 | 77 |
| Scott Dunn | 15 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 15 | 77 |
| Wild Frontiers | 14 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 74 |
| Cazenove+Loyd | 22 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 71 |
| Kensington Tours | 17 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 71 |
| Original Travel | 15 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 15 | 70 |
| Rhino Africa | 20 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 9 | 69 |
| Journeys by Design | 24 | 17 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 64 |
| Red Savannah | 14 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 14 | 62 |
| Natural World Safaris | 21 | 6 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 60 |
| Extraordinary Journeys | 19 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 59 |
| Aardvark Safaris | 22 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 54 |
| ROAR AFRICA | 17 | 13 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 50 |
| Jacada Travel | 16 | 9 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 44 |
| Ker & Downey (Texas) | 13 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 34 |
What the eighteen publish, and what they do not
The pattern across the field is that the companies who know the ground best often document least. Journeys by Design sells twenty-three African countries, including Chad, South Sudan and Gabon, from teams based in Nanyuki and Maun, and publishes not one price. Aardvark Safaris staffs its desk entirely with people who have lived and worked in Africa and shows a price only in a blog post. Meanwhile the generalists, Audley, Scott Dunn and Original Travel, print a from-price on every Africa itinerary and hold every UK protection scheme available, because they sell forty other countries the same way. A buyer is being asked to choose between depth and legibility, and the top of this index goes to the three companies that refuse the choice: Yellow Zebra, Go2Africa and Micato are Africa-only houses that also publish.
The second finding is about the 24-hour line. Twelve of the eighteen claim round-the-clock support somewhere on their site. Only three publish the number: Scott Dunn (+44 20 8682 5099), Original Travel (+44 20 7978 7333) and ROAR AFRICA (+1 855 666 7627). The rest issue it after you have paid, or, in the case of Aardvark, Red Savannah and Natural World Safaris, publish only the ABTOT or Trust My Travel helpline, which is for the company’s insolvency and not for a missed flight in Maun. This index scores a published number above a claim because a claim cannot be tested.
The third is protection, and it splits neatly by geography. Nine of the eleven UK-based planners publish an ATOL number, and six of those add ABTA or ABTOT; Natural World Safaris claims ATOL without a number, and Jacada, a London company, states nothing. The two South African planners, Go2Africa and Rhino Africa, each offer a guarantee of their own design with no external bond named, which is real but cannot be checked against any register. The four US-based planners, Micato, Extraordinary Journeys, ROAR AFRICA and Ker & Downey of Texas, state nothing, and none appears in the USTOA directory; Kensington Tours in Toronto states its Ontario TICO registration. The deposit and payment terms guide explains what each regime protects; the specialist versus direct comparison scores the regimes against each other.
The deepest record, priced at the lodge rate
Go2Africa scores 79 here on 3,118 Feefo reviews at 4.9, a Cape Town head office and 24/7 cover; it loses nine points on pricing because its itinerary prices load only on enquiry. It quotes the same third-party camps at the camps’ own rates with the lines itemised. Go2Africa is an affiliate of this site; its score is on the published rubric and the label did not move it.
Ask Go2Africa for an itemised quote →Read the Go2Africa reviewAffiliate link. Commission is paid by the operator; the lodge rate quoted is unchanged.
The eighteen, one by one
Each profile gives where the company is, what it sells, what it publishes and the case against. Every figure was read on the company’s own site or the named register on 14 September 2026; where this site has a full review, it is linked.
1. Yellow Zebra Safaris — 88/100
Kingston upon Thames, UK · 14 African and Indian Ocean countries · founded 2012 · Africa only · depth 23 · ground 15 · pricing 19 · reviews 18 · protection 13
The only planner in the field to do all three things a first-time buyer needs: a price range on every itinerary (Botswana’s best-known parks, eight nights, from £4,983 to £8,726 a person; the Tanzania northern circuit, nine nights, from £5,461), an ATOL licence in its own name (10614) and a 24-hour line with a WhatsApp concierge behind it. The consultants are ex-guides and camp managers from Londolozi, Wilderness, Robin Pope and Great Plains, and they are named on the homepage. Trustpilot 4.9 from 1,728 reviews, arriving daily. The case against: no office in Africa, no ABTA or ABTOT alongside the ATOL, and no postal address on its own contact page. Yellow Zebra review.
2. Audley Travel — 80/100
Witney, Oxfordshire and Boston · 15 African countries among many worldwide · founded 1996 · B Corp · depth 17 · ground 13 · pricing 19 · reviews 16 · protection 15
The generalist that documents everything. Every Africa itinerary carries a from-price (Namibia self-drive, 14 days, from £4,900; southern Tanzania safari and beach, 12 days, from £5,400; on the US site, Cape Town, Kruger and Victoria Falls, 11 days, from $14,310), the protection page lists ATOL 4817 and ABTOT 5297 with the numbers, the US arm sits in the USTOA directory, and the Trustpilot record is the largest in the field at 5,010 reviews and 4.9. Office hours run to 8pm on weekdays in both countries, with a 24/7 emergency line for travellers. It scores 17 on depth rather than 23 because Africa is one desk among many and the specialists are not named; the case against is the same as the case for: it is very good at Africa the way it is very good at Japan.
3. Go2Africa — 79/100 Affiliate
Cape Town and Nairobi · 15 countries · 25-plus years · Nawiri Group, B Corp certified · depth 24 · ground 19 · pricing 11 · reviews 20 · protection 5
The highest marks in the field on planning depth and on the ground: a head office on the V&A Waterfront, a second in Nairobi, consultants who live in the regions they sell, and 24/7 cover stated on the homepage. The review record is the deepest of any safari company this site has assessed, 4.9 from 3,118 Feefo reviews with 173 in the past year. Two things hold it to third. Its itinerary prices do not render (every trip page shows “Loading price”), so what is published is the per-night cost band, USD 1,650 to 5,000 a person sharing for Botswana; and its financial protection is a money-back guarantee of its own design with no external bond or scheme named. Both are documentation, both are fixable, and the score would move if they were. Go2Africa is an affiliate of this site. Go2Africa review · Go2Africa vs Yellow Zebra.
4. Micato Safaris — 77/100
New York and Nairobi · 8 countries · founded 1966 · Pinto family · depth 20 · ground 20 · pricing 19 · reviews 18 · protection 0
The only full score on the ground: own offices in Nairobi, Arusha, Cape Town and Johannesburg, its own Safari Directors averaging ten years in the bush, and a concierge on call around the clock. Every departure is priced on the site, from Tanzania Spectacular at USD 20,700 for ten days to the Grand Safari at USD 40,150 for fifteen, which is the hosted model: Micato travels with you, and charges for it. Google 5.0 from 751 reviews, the newest this month. The zero is for protection: the terms and conditions state no bond, trust, escrow or USTOA membership, and the USTOA directory does not list it. For a company sixty years old holding deposits of this size, that is the one line on its site a buyer should ask about before paying. Micato review · Micato vs A&K.
5. Scott Dunn — 77/100
London, New York, San Diego, Singapore, Hong Kong · 14 African countries among many · founded 1986 · Flight Centre Travel Group since 2023 · depth 15 · ground 15 · pricing 19 · reviews 13 · protection 15
The strongest protection stack in the field, ATOL 2471, ABTOT 5222, an IATA licence and USTOA membership, and one of only three planners to publish its 24-hour emergency number. Every Africa itinerary is priced: Epic Botswana, nine nights, from £7,600; Extraordinary Tanzania, eight nights, from £8,200; Ultimate Namibia, ten nights, from £13,800. Where it loses ground is depth, because Africa is one region of a global business and no Africa specialist is named, and reviews, where 273 Trustpilot reviews at 4.6 carry a 12 per cent one-star share and the Feefo profile lapsed six years ago. The right choice when the safari is one leg of a trip that continues to Asia or the Indian Ocean on a single bonded booking. Scott Dunn review.
6. Wild Frontiers — 74/100
London · 9 sub-Saharan destinations among 60-plus worldwide · founded 1998 · growth-funded by BGF in 2026 · depth 14 · ground 13 · pricing 15 · reviews 17 · protection 15
An adventure operator whose Africa is West Africa and Madagascar as much as Namibia and Tanzania: Benin, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, Togo and The Gambia are on the list, and Kenya, Botswana’s priced itineraries and Zambia are not. Group tours show land-only from-prices; tailor-made trips show a per-person figure for two travelling outside peak. ATOL 5975, ABTOT 5228 and AITO membership, with the numbers. Trustpilot 4.9 from 777 reviews and a 98 per cent AITO rating from 225. The ground score is capped by the model: support on trip comes through local partners with a 24-hour emergency number issued before departure, and the office runs UK hours. Wild Frontiers review.
7. Cazenove+Loyd — 71/100
London · 20 African countries · founded 1993 · depth 22 · ground 12 · pricing 13 · reviews 12 · protection 12
The deepest African coverage of any London house, twenty countries including Saint Helena, São Tomé and the Congo, sold by named specialists who grew up on it (Aisha Gross: “born and raised in Kenya”) under founders who were living in Botswana when they started. Prices exist but only on individual itinerary pages, not the destination hubs: Discovering the Okavango Delta, nine days, £15,250 a person excluding flights. The header says “call us 24/7” and the terms give no emergency number; the protection is ATOL 3208 alone, with the site’s own note that it “does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed”. Trustpilot 4.8 from 114. Several www. pages on the site loop on redirects, which an automated reader will report as a dead company; worth fixing.
8. Kensington Tours — 71/100
Toronto · Africa among 90-plus countries · founded 2006 · depth 17 · ground 14 · pricing 14 · reviews 17 · protection 9
A technology-led operator of record that connects clients to destination management companies worldwide, founded in 2006 by Jeff Willner. From-prices on the itineraries, 24/7 in-destination support stated on every one, and Trustpilot 4.8 from 2,679 reviews. The protection is Ontario’s TICO registration (50022233), a government compensation fund that applies to sales made under the Ontario registration; buyers outside Ontario should ask which entity they are contracting with. Its homepage returned no readable body to this site’s automated check on 14 September, which is the same fault that keeps Abercrombie & Kent off the scored list; it is scored here because its itinerary and terms pages do read. Kensington Tours review.
9. Original Travel — 70/100
London · 14 African countries · founded 2003 · Voyageurs du Monde strategic stake · depth 15 · ground 14 · pricing 15 · reviews 11 · protection 15
The only planner stating ABTA, ATOL and IATA together (ATOL 5922, ABTA Y5632, with the bond held at NatWest named in the terms), and one of three to publish its 24-hour number. Prices are shown as ranges on the itinerary cards, from £5,550 to £8,250 for thirteen days across urban South Africa and Botswana, though the card does not say per person, which a buyer has to assume. A concierge network on the ground includes South Africa but no office. Feefo 4.9 for service with 67 reviews in the past year; the Trustpilot profile is empty. A safe, well-bonded generalist rather than an Africa house.
10. Rhino Africa — 69/100
Cape Town · 13 countries · founded 2004 · owns Silvan Safari and Camissa House · depth 20 · ground 13 · pricing 8 · reviews 19 · protection 9
The largest review record of any planner here, Trustpilot 5.0 from 5,461 with a 4.9 from 771 on Tripadvisor beside it, and a Cape Town base and sites in five languages. The pricing score is the lowest of the top ten for a reason that has nothing to do with policy: every tour card on the English and German sites renders “Starting from $NaN per person”, a broken field, so what is actually published is an indicative band (South Africa USD 50 to 2,500 a person a night). The protection is its own financial-default insurance, unnamed underwriter, plus SATSA membership 1184572; no external bond. Support hours are not published. Rhino Africa review.
11. Journeys by Design — 64/100
Brighton, UK; exploration bases in Nanyuki and Maun · 23 African countries · founded 1999 · depth 24 · ground 17 · pricing 4 · reviews 8 · protection 11
The deepest Africa in the field: Chad, South Sudan, Eritrea, Gabon and the Central African Republic alongside the usual ten, sold by named specialists (Will Jones, Squack Evans, Kyle de Nobrega) who belong to the African Parks private guide network, with teams based in Kenya and Botswana. Then the page goes quiet: no price anywhere, no independent review platform, and an ATOL (9680) whose certificate names a different company, Black and Green Trading Ltd, from the one in the footer. Nothing on the site suggests anything but a serious company; everything on the site makes it impossible to verify from a distance. The single easiest fix on this page is a from-price on one itinerary.
12. Red Savannah — 62/100
Cheltenham, UK · 14 African countries · founded 2011 by a former A&K group managing director · depth 14 · ground 9 · pricing 17 · reviews 8 · protection 14
Publishes more than most: Kenya bush and beach, seven days, from USD 4,232; the Great Kenya Honeymoon, thirteen days, from USD 14,794; Botswana and Victoria Falls USD 12,804, with ATOL 10454 and ABTOT 5566 stated in full. The office runs 9 to 5.30 GMT weekdays; the site says it is a phone call away at any hour but publishes only the ABTOT insolvency line. No independent review record exists: the Trustpilot profile is unclaimed and empty and there is no Feefo page, so the 8 is the floor, not a verdict. A King’s Award for Enterprise in 2025 is claimed on the homepage.
13. Natural World Safaris — 60/100
Brighton, UK · 18 African countries · founded 2005 · depth 21 · ground 6 · pricing 15 · reviews 10 · protection 8
The frontier specialist, with Chad, Gabon, Mauritania, Saint Helena and both Congos on the list and a founder who led the first gorilla treks in Gabon. Prices are published (Kenya photographic safari from USD 10,500; luxury Kenya from USD 21,500) but the Botswana pages render “From 23000 per person” with no currency, which is half a price. The protection page says ATOL and Trust My Travel and gives no ATOL number, and the contact page gives no hours and no 24-hour claim at all, the only line published being Trust My Travel’s insolvency number. Trustpilot 4.8 from 86. Two documentation gaps, both fixable in an afternoon, are what separate this from the top ten.
14. Extraordinary Journeys — 59/100
New York · 16 African countries · founded 2009 · 65 per cent Voyageurs du Monde since 2022 · depth 19 · ground 6 · pricing 17 · reviews 17 · protection 0
A boutique with a Kenya-raised chief executive and the cleanest small review record in the field, Google 5.0 from 179, current to this month, and SafariBookings 4.9 from 35. Prices are on the destination pages (a Zimbabwe and Botswana family safari, thirteen days, USD 10,000 a person; Kenya, ten days, USD 12,000; a 23-day southern Africa trip at USD 60,000). The two zeros-in-effect are the reason it sits fourteenth rather than fourth: the contact page states 9.30 to 5.30 Eastern, weekdays, with no 24-hour claim, and the terms state no financial protection at all, the USTOA directory not listing it. On this site’s review rubric, which weighs first-hand expertise more heavily, it scores 76; on a rubric built around what a buyer can verify before paying, the same company scores 59. Both are true. Extraordinary Journeys review · EJ vs Go2Africa.
15. Aardvark Safaris — 54/100
Tidworth, Hampshire and Musselburgh · 18 African countries · founded 1999 · Africa and the Indian Ocean only · depth 22 · ground 6 · pricing 4 · reviews 8 · protection 14
Every member of the sales team has lived and worked in Africa (a Zambezi raft guide, a Zimbabwe riding guide, six years leading overland trips), the company sells nothing else, and it holds ATOL 5356 and ABTOT 5704 in full. Then: no price on any destination page, the only figure on the site being £2,400 for three nights at Kwandwe in a blog post; no support hours or 24-hour claim anywhere; a Google review widget on the homepage with no aggregate count and no Trustpilot page. The contact page returned a 401 error to this site’s reader. An Africa house of the old kind, scoring 54 for the same reason it would have scored 54 in 2005.
16. ROAR AFRICA — 50/100
Miami Beach · 12 countries · founded 2005 · depth 17 · ground 13 · pricing 15 · reviews 5 · protection 0
The hosted, priced end of the market: the Greatest Safari on Earth, twelve days by private jet across Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda, USD 187,500 a person sharing for the August 2027 departures; six days in the Okavango at USD 39,950; a Kilimanjaro climb at USD 31,500. One of three planners to publish a 24-hour number. What it does not publish is any financial protection (no terms page could be found on the site; the USTOA directory does not list it), and its independent review record is eight SafariBookings reviews, the newest from 2024, alongside celebrity testimonials. The custom safaris are priced only on enquiry. ROAR AFRICA review · ROAR AFRICA vs Micato.
17. Jacada Travel — 44/100
London; part of Wilderness since 2020 · 17 African countries · founded 2008 · depth 16 · ground 9 · pricing 3 · reviews 16 · protection 0
A 4.9 from 2,571 Trustpilot reviews, 243 in the past year, and a parent that owns sixty camps in eight countries: on paper a top-five planner. On the site, every single Botswana itinerary renders “From $0 pp” (Classic Botswana, eight days, $0; Ultra-luxe Zimbabwe and Botswana, thirteen days, $0), the contact page shows no address and an empty phone field, and the terms are now governed by the laws of Puerto Rico through two Wilderness special-economic-zone companies and a payments firm called itrvl, with no ATOL, ABTA, ABTOT or USTOA anywhere. A London company selling to British clients with no UK protection scheme stated is the finding; the $0 price field is the easiest sixteen points on this page to recover.
18. Ker & Downey, Texas — 34/100
Bellville, Texas · 28 African countries stated among a global range · founded 1985 · Travel Marketing Services, Inc. · depth 13 · ground 5 · pricing 6 · reviews 10 · protection 0
Scored because a buyer searching the name will find it, and because it says on its own About page that it is “independently owned and separate from Ker & Downey Africa”. It is a Texas travel agency with an Africa programme: no named Africa specialists, no support hours, no emergency line, no itinerary prices (a blog post gives budget tiers from USD 5,000 to 30,000-plus, land only), and no protection stated, with no USTOA listing. Birdeye shows 4.8 from 52 reviews. The company whose reviews this site scored at 51 on the review evidence index is a different one, Ker & Downey Africa of Cape Town, and its website now redirects to Ker & Downey Botswana, an owner-operator in Maun; see the note below. Four companies share the name and none of them is a Nairobi planner any more.
The right planner by traveller
| You are | First choice | Strong alternative | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking a first safari from the UK | Yellow Zebra (88) | Audley (80) | Both print a price before you enquire and both hold ATOL; Yellow Zebra’s consultants came from the camps, Audley adds ABTOT and a larger review record. |
| Booking from the US and want protection stated | Scott Dunn (77) | Audley (80) | The only two US-facing planners here in the USTOA directory with UK licences behind them. Micato, EJ and ROAR AFRICA state nothing. |
| Comparing lodge prices line by line | Go2Africa (79) | Rhino Africa (69) | Both Cape Town houses quote at the lodge’s own rate with the lines shown; Go2Africa has the deeper record and a Nairobi office. |
| Wanting to be hosted throughout | Micato (77) | ROAR AFRICA (50) | Micato’s Safari Directors and four African offices; ROAR’s private-jet departures are priced and hosted. Ask both for their protection wording in writing. |
| Going somewhere off the standard map | Journeys by Design (64) | Natural World Safaris (60) | Twenty-three and eighteen countries respectively, including Chad, Gabon and the Congos. Neither publishes enough; both know the ground. |
| Combining Africa with Asia or the Indian Ocean | Scott Dunn (77) | Original Travel (70) | One bonded booking, one 24-hour number published, offices in Singapore and Hong Kong (Scott Dunn) or a concierge network (Original). |
| Adding West Africa or Madagascar | Wild Frontiers (74) | Cazenove+Loyd (71) | Wild Frontiers prices Benin, Ghana and Senegal as group tours; Cazenove+Loyd sells São Tomé and Saint Helena tailor-made. |
| Wanting a specialist who has lived there, whatever the paperwork | Aardvark (54) | Extraordinary Journeys (59) | Both score highly on people and poorly on publication. Aardvark holds ATOL and ABTOT; EJ states nothing, so ask. |
Planner or owner-operator
A planner books camps that belong to Singita, Wilderness, Great Plains and the rest, at those camps’ rates, and adds design, flights, transfers and a person to call. An owner-operator sells its own camps and nothing else. The price at the lodge is the same either way, which is why the luxury safari operator index scores the camps on property, conservation and concession and this page scores the planners on what surrounds the booking. The specialist versus direct comparison scores the three routes against each other (specialist 90, platform 77, direct 59), and the Power Rankings place the biggest planners in the wider luxury field. For a planner to be on this page it must sell a safari it does not own; Rhino Africa, which owns two properties but sells across thirteen countries, qualifies.
Assessed but not scored
Ker & Downey Africa, the Cape Town planner scored 51 on the review evidence index, is no longer reachable as a planner: kerdowneyafrica.com now redirects to kerdowneybotswana.com, a Maun-based owner-operator of eight camps opening a ninth at Liuwa Plain in Zambia. That company belongs on the operator index, not here, and will be assessed there at the next re-score. Ker & Downey Safaris of Nairobi, founded 1946, has no assessable planning site. The Texas company is scored above because it is the one a search returns. The Ker & Downey review sets out which is which.
Not assessed, and eligible: Alluring Africa, Africa Adventure Consultants, Rothschild Safaris, Safari Architects, Mahlatini, Bench Africa, Steppes Travel, Ampersand Travel and Abercrombie & Kent Private Travel. Any of them can apply below.
Apply for evaluation
Any safari planner can be assessed on the same five criteria, free, with no obligation and no bearing on the result. Send the company name, the African countries sold, a link to one priced itinerary, the support hours and emergency number as published, and the financial-protection wording with any licence numbers. The assessment is added to the evidence record, the planner is told its score and where it lost points, and the row is published on merit. Planners already listed who change what they publish are re-scored on request.
Submit a planner for assessment