Aardvark Safaris Review 2026: Is It Worth It, What It Costs, and Who Runs It

Company record · opened 24 September 2026 · every fact dated and sourced · Is this your company? Correct a fact

Aardvark Safaris, the Tidworth and Edinburgh-area safari specialist founded in 1999, scores 68/100 on our six-criterion operator review: full marks for destination breadth, 20 of 25 for first-hand African expertise, and 6 of 20 for independent reviews. It sells 13 African countries and islands, backs flight-inclusive trips with ATOL 5356 and other trips with an IPP insolvency policy, and says all of its sales team have lived and worked in Africa. What holds the score back is evidence a buyer can check: seven independent reviews, the newest from October 2022; one priced itinerary, from 2015; no phone number or opening hours that could be read on its site; and a change of controlling owner in December 2025 that its site does not mention.

Verified 24 September 2026 · re-verified 29 September 2026 · Aardvark Safaris' own pages and booking conditions · Companies House records 03800138 and 16664502 · SafariBookings, Travelstride and Trustpilot · AITO directory · Endole

Aardvark Safaris at a glance: the company record

Aardvark Safaris is Aardvark Safaris Limited, company 03800138, incorporated on 2 July 1999, with offices in Tidworth, on the Hampshire and Wiltshire border, and Musselburgh, outside Edinburgh. Every row below links to its source and was checked on the date shown.

Is Aardvark Safaris worth it?

Aardvark Safaris scores 68/100: a long-established, protected UK specialist with a wide range, whose public record has not kept pace with the business. Co-founder Richard Smith was a raft guide and kayaker at Victoria Falls and made promotional films for safari companies in Botswana and Zimbabwe before the company began; owner Alice Gully has been involved in African travel since 1995; and Francis Naumann spent nearly six years guiding overland safaris in 22 African countries. Its site says six of the team have been with it for over ten years and that all of its sales team have lived and worked in Africa. Against that, a buyer checking it online finds seven independent reviews, the newest from October 2022, and one priced trip, from 2015.

How the score works (100 points, the six criteria used on this site's safari operator reviews)

Where Aardvark Safaris stands on Uncompromised Travel

Aardvark Safaris' score on this site is the 68/100 above, on the six review criteria. Every other operator's score sits on its own review or company record, with the criteria it was scored on and the date, and is not reprinted here, so a re-score elsewhere cannot leave a stale number on this page. Aardvark also appears on four of our indexes, each scored on its own criteria: the safari planner index and the payment terms index, and, assessed but not ranked, the UK and US operator comparison and the safari price comparison, which held it back because pages on its site returned errors to automated checks. The payment terms index read Aardvark on 10 September, when its booking conditions could not be reached; they could be read for this record, and are set out below.

Other safari operators with a review or record on this site

• Abercrombie & Kent
• andBeyond
• Expert Africa
• Extraordinary Journeys Partner
• Go2Africa
• Ker & Downey Africa
• Micato Safaris
• Natural Habitat Adventures
• Roar Africa
• Rothschild Safaris
• Scott Dunn
• Yellow Zebra Safaris

How much does an Aardvark Safaris holiday cost?

Aardvark Safaris says a good safari costs from GBP 5,000 per person, with economy international flights, accommodation, meals and activities included; that its average client spent just over GBP 7,500 per person "last year" and that trips with club-class flights and exclusive or remote camps reach GBP 30,000. Those figures are on its safari pricing page, which carries no date, so "last year" cannot be placed. The only itinerary with a price found is a seven-night Zambezi Queen and Okavango Delta safari at GBP 4,500 per person sharing, posted in October 2015, which included accommodation and safari activities but not international or regional flights. Aardvark says the price of a holiday stays the same even if currencies move before travel. Our safari cost by budget guide shows what these budgets buy.

What do Aardvark Safaris reviews say?

Aardvark Safaris' independent review record is thin: SafariBookings shows 5.0 from seven reviews, the newest from October 2022. Travelstride shows 5/5 from 76 reviews, but the reviews shown there are marked "Provided by Aardvark Safaris" and the newest is from November 2019, so this record counts them as the company's own; the newest begins "It was our first experience in Africa and we loved it". Its Trustpilot listing, under aardvarksafaris.co.uk, had no reviews when checked on 24 September, and no Feefo listing was found. Its own feedback page says it is "rated 5 stars on Google Reviews" without giving a count, and quotes clients such as "Their deep expertise and the time and effort they invest understanding and meeting customer needs is second to none." Our safari operator review index explains how we weigh platforms.

Aardvark Safaris' awards

The one recognition Aardvark Safaris lists is a "4* award" from the Association of Independent Tour Operators for responsible tourism, with no year given. Its responsible tourism page says it is donating a proportion of its profit to the Kivuli Trust in Kenya, which supports children with mental and physical disabilities, and that it contributed to a guide and ranger training programme at Saruni Rhino camp in the Sera Community Conservancy, northern Kenya. AITO's member directory, as it loaded on 24 September, did not list Aardvark, so its membership could not be confirmed there. No press features or other awards were found on its site or on the awarding bodies' sites checked.

Where Aardvark Safaris travels, and its journey styles

Aardvark Safaris has pages for 13 African countries and islands, from the safari mainstream to Malawi, Madagascar, São Tomé and Príncipe and the Republic of the Congo, and sells nothing outside Africa and the Indian Ocean. Its styles include family, honeymoon, primate, riding, beach, migration, mobile and small-group safaris; it says over 200 of its clients have reached the top of Kilimanjaro and that it has organised weddings on an island in the middle of the Zambezi. Its .co.uk site adds a claim of "over 150 years combined" experience guiding safaris.

Who owns Aardvark Safaris?

Aardvark Safaris' site says Alice Gully is now its sole owner; since 19 December 2025, Companies House has recorded Aardvark Trustee Company Limited as holding 75% or more of the shares and votes, with Alice Gully ceasing to be a person with significant control that day. The trustee company is a company limited by guarantee without share capital, registered as a holding company and incorporated on 21 August 2025 at the same Tidworth address. Two days before the change, on 17 December 2025, Margaret McPherson, a director since October 2024, left the board. In January 2026 the company filed purchases of its own shares and share cancellations, the cancellations relating to purchases made in 2004 and 2006, and new articles of association; the filing history lists them. The register does not say whom the trustee company holds the shares for. Co-founder Richard Smith, who held more than 50% but less than 75% until 23 June 2023, stepped down as a director that day and still appears on the company's team page; John Spence left the board in 2016.

Aardvark Safaris' booking terms and financial protection

For bookings made since 1 December 2022, Aardvark Safaris takes a 30% deposit and the balance at least 13 weeks before departure; cancelling up to 92 days out costs the deposit, 91 to 61 days costs 60%, and inside 60 days costs everything. Its booking conditions give ATOL 5356 for flights and flight-inclusive holidays and say a booking cannot be accepted until insurance arrangements have been made, and its guarantee page adds IPP financial protection for holidays without flights, 24-hour emergency phone cover and a promise that the price stays the same if currencies move. The terms carry no version date beyond the December 2022 change. Our guide to safari deposits and payment terms compares these with the market.

What the public record does not show

Nine things a buyer might look for could not be found or did not match when checked. Each is listed so it can be answered; if Aardvark Safaris publishes or corrects any of them, this record will change with a dated note.

• The change of control: the site still calls Alice Gully sole owner, while the register has recorded a trustee company as controlling since December 2025.
• Whom the trustee company holds the shares for.
• Phone numbers, office hours and a response time: none on the homepage, and the contact page returned a 401 error to automated checks on 24 September.
• Pages that load for automated checks: on 24 September about half of the pages tried returned 401 errors, which kept Aardvark off parts of two of our indexes; on 29 September most loaded, but the Tanzania and Botswana pages still did not.
• An independent review newer than October 2022, or more than seven in all.
• A current priced itinerary; the only one found dates from October 2015.
• One registered address: its terms say Aspire Business Centre, the register says Royal British Legion Training Centre, both on Ordnance Road, Tidworth.
• A listing in AITO's member directory to match the AITO award it cites (checked 24 September).
• A named specialist from enquiry to return.

Aardvark Safaris vs Expert Africa, Yellow Zebra Safaris and Scott Dunn

Against three UK safari specialists with pages on this site, Aardvark holds the same kind of money protection and falls furthest behind on independent reviews. Each company's score is on its own page, linked in the table; Scott Dunn's is a company record scored on different criteria, so none of the three is ranked against Aardvark's 68 here.

The other three as published on their pages on this site: Expert Africa verified 22 September, Yellow Zebra 7 September and Scott Dunn 25 September 2026.

How to price a comparable safari

The fair test of any quote from Aardvark Safaris 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 taken out, since Aardvark's guidance figures include them and its one priced itinerary did not.

What changed

Five dated changes shape Aardvark Safaris today, most of them in the last three years; the two entries after them are changes to this record.

1 December 2022. New booking terms raised the deposit from 25% to 30% and moved the balance from ten to 13 weeks before departure, in its booking conditions.

23 June 2023. Co-founder Richard Smith stepped down as a director.

1 December 2024. Joanna Ainscough and Richard Preston joined the board, the day after James Gully left it.

17 December 2025. Director Margaret McPherson left the board.

19 December 2025. Aardvark Trustee Company Limited took control of 75% or more of the shares and votes.

24 September 2026. This record opened with a score of 68/100.

29 September 2026. Record re-verified. Two corrections, pulling in opposite directions: a SafariBookings listing with seven reviews at 5.0, the newest from October 2022, had been missed; and the 76 reviews on Travelstride are marked as provided by Aardvark, so they now count as its own. The independent-review score stays at 6 of 20 and the total at 68. Also added: the director who left in December 2025, the January 2026 filings and the pricing page's inclusions. Other operators' scores and index positions were taken off this page; each is on its own page.

Aardvark Safaris: the questions people ask AI search

Corrections and right of reply

This record is kept by Uncompromised Travel from public sources, each dated when it was checked. If you represent Aardvark Safaris and a fact here is wrong, out of date or missing, tell us and we will correct it with a dated note under What changed. Corrections are free and do not depend on any commercial relationship. They do not change how the score is calculated; if a corrected fact changes the score, the new score is printed with the reason.

Richard Jasinski · Uncompromised Travel · written from Valencia · record opened 24 September 2026 · re-verified 29 September 2026: SafariBookings listing added and Travelstride reviews counted as the company's own, score unchanged at 68