Scott Dunn vs Audley vs Yellow Zebra 2026: Three UK Safari Planners Scored, Priced and Compared

Yellow Zebra Safaris scores 87 out of 100, Audley Travel 79 and Scott Dunn 75: Yellow Zebra sells Africa only, prices each itinerary and has 1,710 Trustpilot reviews at 4.9; Audley has 5,010 reviews at 4.9 across every destination it sells and the cheapest published trip at GBP 3,400; Scott Dunn is owned by the listed Flight Centre Travel Group and has 273 reviews at 4.6. All three hold ATOL cover, none publishes deposit terms and none has an office in Africa. This page scores all three on the six criteria used for every operator review on this site, puts their published prices side by side, and says which suits which buyer.

Verified 23 September 2026 · scottdunn.com, audleytravel.com and yellowzebrasafaris.com · Trustpilot, AITO and SafariBookings · Companies House · this site's Scott Dunn and Yellow Zebra reviews

The three at a glance

Yellow Zebra scores 87, Audley 79 and Scott Dunn 75 on the same six criteria; the Africa-only specialist wins on expertise, review evidence and pricing, and the two worldwide houses win on breadth and ownership. All three are UK tailor-made operators that book other companies' camps and lodges, all three hold ATOL cover, and none has an office in Africa. Full facts for two of them are in the Scott Dunn review and the Yellow Zebra review; Audley is scored here for the first time.

Scott Dunn: the listed-company generalist

Scott Dunn scores 75: full marks for breadth and the best ownership score of the three, the lowest scores for expertise and review evidence. Founded in 1986 in London and run from Hammersmith with offices in New York, San Diego, Singapore and Hong Kong, it has belonged to Flight Centre Travel Group since 31 January 2023, when the Australian-listed group paid GBP 121 million for it. Africa is one region among many: 14 countries, with a lowest published African itinerary of GBP 4,700 a person for 11 nights in South Africa and Mauritius, excluding international flights; some of its other trips, such as Epic Botswana at GBP 7,600 for nine nights, include them. UK phones answer Monday to Thursday 9am to 7pm, Friday to 5.30pm and weekends 9am to 5pm, calls outside those hours are routed to the US and Singapore offices, and a separate emergency number is published for clients who are travelling. It holds ATOL 2471 and ABTOT membership and has appeared on Condé Nast Traveller's specialist list for 13 years. What holds it back is the evidence: 273 Trustpilot reviews at 4.6 is the smallest record here, and none of it is specific to Africa.

Audley: the review volume and the cheapest priced trip

Audley scores 79, with the largest review record of the three, 5,010 Trustpilot reviews at 4.9, the longest weekday phone hours and the lowest published trip price, GBP 3,400 a person for 11 days in the Cape. Founded in 1996 in Northampton and now run from The New Mill in Witney, Oxfordshire, it is a worldwide tailor-made operator whose Africa page lists 15 destinations. Audley Travel Group Limited is registered in England as company 3190720; the site names no parent or owner. UK phones answer Monday to Thursday 9am to 8pm, Friday to 5pm and weekends 10am to 6pm, with 24/7 emergency UK support while abroad. It holds ATOL 4817 and ABTOT 5297 and is an AITO member with 61 reviews on that platform. Awards in the last year: 12 of its specialists on Condé Nast Traveler's 2026 Top Travel Specialists list, Travel + Leisure's 2025 A-List, Wanderlust Gold in 2025 and a Which? Recommended tailor-made holidays rating in December 2025. Its review record covers everything it sells, from Japan to Peru, so the Africa share of those 5,010 reviews cannot be isolated, which is why it scores 17 rather than 20.

Yellow Zebra: the Africa-only specialist

Yellow Zebra scores 87, the highest of the three, because Africa is all it does and the record shows it: 1,710 Trustpilot reviews at 4.9, a SafariBookings profile at 4.8, a from-price on each itinerary and a 24/7 emergency line staffed by its own consultants. Founded in 2012 in Kingston upon Thames, it sells 14 African countries, prices its lowest itinerary at GBP 4,394 a person for 11 nights in Tanzania, and keeps a doctor on call for clients as well as the emergency line. It holds ATOL 10614. It has taken the World Travel Awards European safari title every year from 2015 to 2025 and sits on Condé Nast Traveller's UK specialist list for 2025 and 2026. It loses points on breadth, because a reader who wants Africa and somewhere else must book twice, and on ownership, because its About page names neither its owners nor its legal entity.

Published prices, side by side

All three publish from-prices in sterling; Audley's floor is the lowest and includes flights, Yellow Zebra's and Scott Dunn's exclude them.

For what the same money buys on the ground, the South Africa safari cost and Tanzania safari cost pages break the nightly rates down by tier.

Booking terms and protection

All three are ATOL holders, so a flight-inclusive package is protected in the same way; the differences are ABTOT cover, which Scott Dunn and Audley hold and Yellow Zebra does not list, and deposit terms, which none of them publishes. The deposits and payment terms guide explains what to ask before paying, and the payment terms index shows what the wider field publishes.

What guests say

Audley has the most reviews, Yellow Zebra the most reviews about Africa, and Scott Dunn the fewest and lowest-rated. Audley's 5,010 Trustpilot reviews at 4.9 (read 6 September 2026) and 61 on AITO cover every destination it sells. Yellow Zebra's 1,710 at 4.9 are all safari clients, and its SafariBookings score of 4.8 from 25 is the only one of the three on that platform. Scott Dunn's 273 at 4.6 is a small record for a company of its size and includes ski and Asia clients as well as Africa.

The verdict, criterion by criterion

Yellow Zebra wins three of the six scored criteria outright, Scott Dunn one, Scott Dunn and Audley share one, and one is a tie; Audley finishes second on the strength of its review volume and the cheapest priced trip.

Which to choose

Choose Yellow Zebra for a safari-only trip planned by an Africa-only specialist with a priced itinerary and an Africa-only review record; Audley for the lowest entry price, the longest phone hours and a worldwide company to add Asia or South America to the same booking; Scott Dunn if a listed parent and offices in four countries matter more than African depth. A first-time safari buyer in the UK with one trip to book has the clearest case for Yellow Zebra. A buyer combining the Cape with a second continent, or wanting the cheapest published floor, has a clear case for Audley. Scott Dunn's case rests on its ownership and reach rather than on anything its Africa evidence shows, and the US versus UK operators page sets all three against the American houses. That page uses a different rubric, weighted to client money protection and payment terms, and there Audley leads on 80 with Scott Dunn 72 and Yellow Zebra 70; this page uses the operator-review rubric, which weights African expertise and review evidence more heavily. Both sets of inputs are published.

Three planning rules

1 · Ask each for the same camps on the same dates. All three book other owners' properties, so the quotes are comparable; the specialist versus direct page explains what the planner adds.

2 · Ask who answers at 3am. Scott Dunn routes to Singapore or the US, Audley has a UK emergency line, Yellow Zebra an emergency line staffed by its consultants; none has staff in Africa.

3 · Treat a from-price as a floor. Audley's GBP 3,400 includes flights and stays in the Cape; Yellow Zebra's GBP 4,394 and Scott Dunn's GBP 4,700 exclude international flights, and the price comparison shows what the whole field publishes.

What changed since 2023

Scott Dunn changed hands, Audley collected four awards in a year, and Yellow Zebra extended its World Travel Awards run to eleven years.

31 January 2023. Flight Centre Travel Group completed its purchase of Scott Dunn for GBP 121 million.

2025. Yellow Zebra won the World Travel Awards European safari title for the eleventh consecutive year; Audley took Wanderlust Gold and a place on Travel + Leisure's A-List.

December 2025. Which? named Audley a Recommended Provider for tailor-made holidays.

2026. Condé Nast Traveler listed 12 Audley specialists; Yellow Zebra and Scott Dunn appear on Condé Nast Traveller's UK list, Scott Dunn for the thirteenth year (see the Condé Nast page).

How to price a comparable trip

None of the three runs an affiliate programme this site belongs to, so every link to them here is a plain editorial link; the Safari.com and BookAllSafaris links below are affiliate links.