Luxury African Safari Tours: 8 Operators and What They Cost

The best luxury African safari tours come from an operator that puts a named planner on your trip, lists the camps it will use, publishes real prices, and can tell you who it is not for. Our picks split by traveler. Extra Miles Unique Adventures suits private East Africa trips at a lower price point. Micato Safaris and Abercrombie & Kent suit fully hosted small-group journeys. andBeyond and Wilderness suit travelers who want one owner's camps. Asilia Africa suits migration trips across Kenya and Tanzania. Go2Africa and Stanley Safaris suit multi-country, bespoke planning.

The problem is that every operator says luxury, and the numbers disagree wildly. The published starting prices below run from $1,944 to $45,100, and the label on the brochure rarely explains the gap. Is it the room, the guide, the private vehicle, the flights, or the brand name?

This guide compares eight operators on what they run, who they suit, and what they cost. It then shows you how to price and vet any operator yourself. Extra Miles is our own company, based in Nairobi since 2007, so it is listed first and you should weigh that. Every other figure comes from the operator's published information, so confirm current rates before you book.

1. Extra Miles Unique Adventures

What they offer

Extra Miles Unique Adventures is a Kenya-based tour operator in Nairobi that has run private, tailor-made safaris since 2007. It focuses on Kenya and Tanzania and also arranges Uganda and Rwanda, including gorilla tracking.

Every trip follows three steps. You share your dates, group size, parks and style, you receive a custom itinerary and quote that is refined with you, and you travel with support from the team. Enquiries get a reply within 24 hours, and you can reach named staff on WhatsApp. The company holds a 5.0 rating on Google from verified guests.

Lodges named in its luxury itineraries include Mara Serena Safari Lodge, Ol Tukai Lodge in Amboseli, Soroi Mara Bush Camp, and Sopa Lodges on the premium circuit. Several trips use pop-up roof 4x4 Land Cruisers and scenic flights between parks, which cuts long road days. Its luxury flying safaris page shows the fly-in options.

Who it suits

Choose Extra Miles when you want a private trip built around your pace, not a seat on a shared departure. It works well for these travelers:

• Couples and honeymooners who want the Masai Mara with a fly-in leg
• Families who need a flexible pace
• Photographers and birders who want time at sightings
• Travelers who want Kenya and Tanzania in one itinerary

Skip it if you want a Botswana or Zambia circuit. Those sit outside its East Africa focus.

Extra Miles lists its luxury Kenya and Tanzania trips from $1,944 to $6,519, planned by a team on the ground.

Pricing and trade-offs

The table lists the published from-prices for its luxury and premium trips. Your quote sets the final figure for your dates, lodges and party size.

The trade-off is scope. It covers East Africa only, so a southern Africa circuit means another operator. Compare the exact lodges in your quote against any rival's, because the tier of the property matters more than the word luxury.

2. Micato Safaris

What they offer

Micato Safaris is a family-run luxury tour operator founded in 1966, with offices in New York and East Africa. It is best known for luxury small-group classic safaris on scheduled departures, and it runs private journeys alongside them.

Hosting is the product. A team handles every detail, and reviewers keep returning to the organization and personal service. Travel + Leisure readers ranked Micato seventh among safari outfitters in the 2025 World's Best Awards, with a reader score of 98.75.

Who it suits

Micato fits travelers who want a fully hosted trip, strongest in East Africa, and who are happy to follow a set route.

• Best for: hosted luxury small-group safaris with nothing to arrange yourself
• Skip if: you are a photographer, or you want to stay with a sighting instead of moving on, because a scheduled departure runs to its own clock

Pricing and trade-offs

Published journeys run from $20,700 per person for the 10-day Tanzania Spectacular to $45,100 for the 17-day African Splendour. That is the top of this list, and budgets under about $20,000 per person are not a fit.

The cost buys polish, but the trade-off is a set route and pace. Private journeys are the separate option if you want room to wander, so ask for a private quote beside the group one. Then ask what the premium buys that a smaller operator would not provide.

Micato sells certainty and service at the highest price on this list.

3. Abercrombie & Kent

What they offer

Abercrombie & Kent is a luxury tour operator with UK and US offices and its own teams on the ground across Africa. It also runs lodges under its Sanctuary brand. Journeys include small-group, private and tailor-made options across more than ten African countries.

Its strength is network. A large ground operation means transfers, guides and local problem-solving sit inside one company. That helps most on structured itineraries with several moving parts.

Who it suits

Abercrombie & Kent suits travelers who want a structured small-group journey backed by a big on-the-ground presence.

• Best for: first-time luxury travelers who want a managed departure with one accountable company
• Skip if: you are a photographer, or you want a vehicle to yourself on a group departure, because scheduled trips run to a fixed clock

Pricing and trade-offs

Prices are not published on the trip pages that list its Africa range, so ask for the current per-person rate up front. Also ask for the group size cap on your specific departure.

The range runs from short group journeys to long private ones, so the experience varies a lot by product. Compare the itinerary, not the brand, and line up the quote against one private proposal.

With a company this large, the specific itinerary matters more than the name on it.

4. andBeyond

What they offer

andBeyond owns lodges and also plans trips and runs small-group journeys, with personalized safaris in 12 African countries. It is the pick for travelers who want one high standard from camp to camp.

Conservation is the visible theme. At Phinda in South Africa, the reserve was farmland before it was restored, and you notice that in the land and in how the guides talk about it.

Who it suits

andBeyond suits conservation-minded travelers who want the classic safari lodge done properly. Its camps share a house style, which is part of the appeal.

• Best for: a single high standard across several lodges, with conservation at the center
• Skip if: you are on a tighter budget, because the camps are excellent and priced that way

Pricing and trade-offs

Rates and small-group size caps are not published, so request both in writing. Expect premium pricing for the headline lodges.

Reviews attach to each lodge rather than the company, so there is no single score to check. Judge the specific properties in your proposal instead of assuming every camp feels the same, or that they all feel different.

Judge andBeyond lodge by lodge, because no single score covers the company.

5. Wilderness

What they offer

Wilderness is a lodge-owning operator with more than 55 camps, its own air service, and offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. It runs fly-in circuits across several camps and countries in southern and East Africa.

Its own air service means the transfers between camps are Wilderness transfers too, which is why multi-camp Botswana trips tend to run smoothly. In Condé Nast Traveler's 2025 Readers' Choice Awards, two Wilderness camps, DumaTau and Vumbura Plains, took first and third in the Rest of Africa category.

Who it suits

Wilderness suits travelers who want fly-in safaris across several camps, run to one operator's standards throughout.

• Best for: Botswana and other southern Africa circuits with guiding and logistics handled in-house
• Skip if: you are on a tighter budget, or you want a camp it does not own, in which case ask whether it can include other lodges

Pricing and trade-offs

Its site publishes from-prices by itinerary. Botswana's Wildest Regions, 8 nights across 3 camps, starts at $14,469 per person, excluding international flights, gratuities, insurance and visas.

Rates are premium in the headline concessions, and the portfolio is big enough that the specific camps matter more than the brand. Ask why each camp was chosen for your dates.

At 55-plus camps, ask which three Wilderness is putting you in and why.

6. Asilia Africa

What they offer

Asilia Africa is an East African lodge operator with offices in Cape Town, Arusha, Nairobi and Kampala. It focuses on migration and big-five trips across Kenya and Tanzania, with guiding standards consistent across the border.

It also runs hosted small-group departures in its own camps on fixed dates. Group sizes run from 4 to 16 guests, the Untamed edition is capped at 6, and a minimum of four is needed for a tour to run.

Who it suits

Asilia suits travelers who want Kenya and Tanzania under one operator, with guiding as the reason to go rather than the biggest suite.

• Best for: the migration and big-five wildlife in two countries on one booking
• Skip if: you want southern Africa, where it does not operate, or the most opulent rooms in East Africa

Pricing and trade-offs

The 11-day Untamed edition carries a from-price of $9,250 per person sharing. Individual departures price higher, so ask for the figure on your dates instead of the headline.

The camps sit at upper-mid to luxury level. You pay for location and guiding. Confirm in writing which camp you are booked into and what happens if plans change.

Asilia is the cleaner East Africa choice when you want fixed-date group trips with small group caps.

7. Go2Africa

What they offer

Go2Africa is a Cape Town-based safari planner with more than 25 years of experience designing tailor-made African journeys. Its Africa Safari Experts compare destinations, seasons, lodges and routing with you, then coordinate the trip end to end.

Planners like this book lodges owned by other companies, and they are typically paid by those lodges. That gives you one accountable person and a wide choice of camps, plus someone to call when a flight moves.

Who it suits

Go2Africa works best for trips where several countries and styles need to fit together.

• Best for: first safaris, multi-country routes, and safari-and-beach combinations
• Skip if: you already know the one lodge you want, because booking that lodge directly is simpler

Pricing and trade-offs

It advertises luxury safaris from $8,500. The listing does not state the trip length or the per-person basis, so ask what that figure covers before you compare it with anything else.

Its value sits in planning depth, not lowest cost. When you compare it with another planner, line up equivalent inclusions and terms, because two headline totals rarely mean the same thing.

Use a planner when the trip has more moving parts than any single company owns.

8. Stanley Safaris

What they offer

Stanley Safaris is a bespoke safari planner headquartered in Cape Town that works with boutique, privately owned camps. Its trips are built as a narrative rather than a list of nights.

Each camp has a different owner, so each has its own character, and the route lets you feel that change from place to place. That is the appeal for experiential safaris in small, owner-run camps.

Who it suits

Stanley suits travelers who care more about atmosphere and guiding than about the best-known lodge names.

• Best for: couples and repeat safari-goers who want small, personal camps
• Skip if: you want the classic big-name lodges, where a camp-owning operator is the more natural fit

Pricing and trade-offs

Its own enquiry page puts safaris from about $1,000 per person per night, with the high-end lodges it favors running $1,000 to $3,000. That is a published starting point rather than a hard floor, so ask what it will build within your budget.

Tighter budgets are the main mismatch. For an eight-night trip, the starting rate alone is $8,000 per person before flights to Africa.

Stanley is a boutique-camp specialist, and its published rates reflect that.

What a luxury African safari costs

A luxury African safari typically costs from the low thousands to well over $40,000 per person, depending on operator type, season and trip length. The published figures in this list show how wide the spread is.

Published prices side by side

Read these as ranges, not quotes. Wilderness lists international flights, gratuities, insurance and visas as excluded, and you should assume the same for any operator until the quote says otherwise. Also ask whether a figure is per person and whether it assumes two sharing.

A published from-price is a starting point for a date and a party size, not a total.

What moves the price

Six factors explain most of the gap between a $1,944 trip and a $45,100 one.

• Season: For most of East and Southern Africa, June to October gives the easiest game viewing and carries the highest rates. The green season is cheaper, quieter, and better for birds and newborn animals.
• Lodge tier: Headline concessions and ultra-exclusive camps cost more than comfortable lodges in the same park.
• Flying or driving: Scenic flights between parks save road hours and add cost.
• Vehicle: In much of southern Africa, sharing the lodge's game-drive vehicle is the default even on a private booking, and an exclusive vehicle is a paid extra. In Kenya and Tanzania a private guide and vehicle often stay with you from camp to camp.
• Group size: Hosted small groups are cheaper at the lower end, but luxury escorted journeys can cost more than a private trip at the top.
• Exclusions: International flights, gratuities, insurance and visas.

A worked example for two travelers

Take a couple who want about eight nights and have a land budget of $24,000 for both. Divide by two travelers and then by eight nights, and you get $1,500 per person per night. That planning figure tells an operator what is open to you.

The first two fit inside $24,000 with room for flights and tips, while the third does not. The length of the Extra Miles trip is eight days rather than eight nights, so compare the lodges, not just the totals.

How to choose and vet a luxury safari operator

Choose the operator type first, then test the individual operator with specific questions. The company name tells you less than who plans your trip and which camps they name.

Planner, operator or camp owner

The eight operators fall into three types, and each suits a different trip.

• Planners (Go2Africa, Stanley Safaris) design the whole trip and book lodges owned by others. Pick one when the route spans several countries.
• Tour operators (Extra Miles, Micato, Abercrombie & Kent) run journeys with their own ground staff. Pick one when you want one company on the road with you.
• Camp owners (andBeyond, Wilderness, Asilia) host you in camps they own. Pick one when the camps themselves are the draw.

If your destination is still open, start with someone who can compare alternatives honestly. If the region is settled, a specialist there is often the better value. Everyone in this industry is paid by someone, so ask questions that test the advice.

Questions to ask before you pay

1. Who, personally, is planning this trip, and when were they last in the places they recommend?
2. Which exact camps, and why those in that month? Do not pay until the camps are named.
3. Is the vehicle private or shared, and are transfers private too?
4. What does your fee add? Ask what the premium buys over a smaller operator using the same camps.
5. Do you own any of the camps you are recommending? Owning camps is fine. Not saying so is not.
6. Which accreditations do you hold? Look for KATO in Kenya, TATO in Tanzania, or SATSA in southern Africa.
7. How is my money protected? Ask which legal entity you are contracting with, and pay deposits by credit card where you can.

Also pay attention to how quickly and clearly an operator answers before you have paid. It is the best preview of how they will behave after.

Checking ethical practice

Ethical claims are easy to make and hard to check, so ask for specifics. Which conservation or community projects does the operator fund, and how much of your fee goes to them? Who owns and staffs the camps? Conservation-led camps, such as andBeyond's Phinda on restored farmland, show what the claim looks like on the ground.

Then look at footprint. Small group sizes, fewer vehicles at sightings, and local guides all matter more than a sustainability badge. An operator that can answer these questions in a paragraph is usually doing the work.

Ask for named projects and numbers, because an ethical claim that cannot be specific is marketing.

Choosing your operator

Luxury African safari tours range from $1,944 to $45,100 because operators sell different things. Hosted small groups sell service, camp owners sell consistency, planners sell routing, and a local operator sells direct access to the people running your trip. Decide which of those you need, ask for a named planner and named camps, and compare quotes line by line.

If you want a private luxury trip in Kenya or Tanzania, request a tailored luxury quote from Extra Miles. Share your dates, group size, preferred style and budget, and the team will send an itinerary you can compare with any other operator's.