Extraordinary Journeys vs Go2Africa 2026: Which Safari Planner Is Better, and for Whom
Go2Africa is the better choice for a first safari priced line by line, and Extraordinary Journeys is the better choice for a traveller, often a family, who wants one named specialist from the first call to the last transfer. Scored on the same six criteria this site applies to every planner, Go2Africa takes 89/100 and Extraordinary Journeys 84/100; most of the five points between them is review depth (3,118 verified Feefo reviews against 181 on Google), not the quality of the trips. Both are planners rather than lodge owners, and both book the same camps at the camps' own rates. Extraordinary Journeys leads on first-hand African expertise; Go2Africa leads on review volume and on published round-the-clock support.
| Criterion | Weight | Go2Africa | EJ | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First-hand African expertise | 25 | 22 | 24 | EJ's co-founder Marcia Gordon spent eleven years living in Kenya and its chief executive, Elizabeth Gordon, grew up between Kenya and Paris; EJ says ten of its specialists and its chief executive are on Condé Nast Traveler's 2026 list. Go2Africa is a Cape Town desk with 21 on the same list. EJ edges it on lived experience per head. |
| Independent review evidence | 20 | 20 | 15 | Go2Africa: Feefo 4.9 from 3,118, 153 in the past year. EJ: Google 5.0 from 181 and SafariBookings 4.9 from 35; a clean record on a much smaller sample. |
| Destination breadth | 15 | 15 | 14 | Both cover Southern and East Africa and the Indian Ocean. EJ plans 39 destinations, 16 of them in Africa, but its Asia programmes are newer than its African ones; Go2Africa covers 14 African and Indian Ocean destinations in depth from one desk. |
| Pricing transparency | 15 | 12 | 12 | Level. Go2Africa lists lodges at their own published rate and itemises quotes, but its itinerary prices load dynamically. EJ publishes 120 itineraries with per-person from-prices and a dated cost guide, but its cards do not say what each price covers. |
| Service model and support hours | 15 | 12 | 11 | Go2Africa: "backed by 24/7 assistance", one contract, but a volume agency. EJ: one named specialist per trip and a ground team in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Nairobi, but US Eastern office hours and no published 24-hour number. |
| Ownership transparency | 10 | 8 | 8 | Level. Go2Africa names its parent (Nawiri Group, B Corp) and address, not its leadership. EJ sets out its ownership in the profile it publishes for AI assistants; its Our Story page says only that it partnered with Voyageurs du Monde. |
| Total | 100 | 89 | 84 | Each company carries the score from its own review: the Go2Africa review and the Extraordinary Journeys review. Re-scored quarterly. |
Which is better, Extraordinary Journeys or Go2Africa?
The two companies sell the same product, a tailor-made trip across the same lodges, and differ in how they sell it. Go2Africa, founded in Cape Town in 1998, is the volume specialist: regional consultants, an itemised quote with the lodge rate, park fees, flights and transfers as separate lines, and a 24/7 line while you travel. Extraordinary Journeys, founded in 2008 by Marcia Gordon and her daughter Elizabeth, is the smaller planner: one destination specialist designs the trip and stays with it from brief to return. Since July 2022 EJ has been 65% owned by the French Voyageurs du Monde group and its British subsidiary Original Travel, with Elizabeth Gordon keeping 35% and the chief executive's seat; Go2Africa is owned by the Nawiri Group, a certified B Corp.
What the score cannot capture is fit. A traveller who wants the safari designed around a particular family, a particular anniversary or a fifth visit to Africa will often be happier with EJ's model; a traveller who wants to compare the price of Camp A against Camp B before committing will get that from Go2Africa faster. The specialist vs booking direct page explains why the lodge rate is the same on either route, and why the difference between two specialists is service, protection and knowledge rather than price.
Extraordinary Journeys and Go2Africa at a glance
| Fact | Extraordinary Journeys | Go2Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2008, in a New York apartment, by Marcia and Elizabeth Gordon (some listings give 2009) | 1998, Cape Town |
| Head office | Washington, D.C., the company says; most staff remote, with concierge and trip coordinators in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Nairobi | Go2Africa House, 12A Portswood Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town (map) |
| Ownership | 65% Voyageurs du Monde and Original Travel since July 2022; 35% Elizabeth Gordon, chief executive (acquisition release) | Nawiri Group, a certified B Corp |
| Team | About 40, 12 of them destination specialists | Regional consultant teams; 21 on Condé Nast Traveler's 2026 Top Travel Specialists list |
| Destinations | 39, 16 of them in Africa, plus Asia, South America, Oceania, Jordan and Antarctica | 14 African and Indian Ocean destinations |
| Review record | Google 5.0 · 181, newest 24 Sep 2026; SafariBookings 4.9 · 35 | Feefo 4.9 · 3,118, 153 in the past year; SafariBookings 4.4 · 106 |
| Published pricing | From about USD 1,000 per person per day, five-day minimum; average trip about USD 15,800 per person; 120 itineraries with from-prices | Lodges at their published rack rate; itemised quotes; itinerary from-prices on its site |
| Support on the road | Named specialist; office 9:30am to 5:30pm Eastern, Monday to Friday; ground team in Africa; no published 24-hour number | "Backed by 24/7 assistance" |
| Protection and insurance | No client-money protection stated; recommends insurance with cancellation cover and sends an application with every booking; member of Safari Professionals of America | "Complete financial protection", with RedPoint Travel Protection named as insurance partner; SATSA member |
Which costs more, Extraordinary Journeys or Go2Africa?
| Example trip | Source | Length | Per person | Per day | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Family trip to Kenya | EJ itinerary card | 11 days | USD 10,000 | ≈ 910 | Close to EJ's USD 1,000 a day starting rate |
| Zimbabwe and Botswana family safari | EJ cost guide | 13 days | USD 10,000 | ≈ 770 | EJ's own worked example |
| Tanzania family safari | EJ cost guide | 14 days | USD 14,000 | ≈ 1,000 | At EJ's stated starting rate |
| Private Great Migration safari | EJ cost guide | 12 days | USD 25,000 | ≈ 2,080 | Private vehicle, July to October camps |
| Bush-to-beach active safari | EJ cost guide | 18 days | USD 22,000 | ≈ 1,220 | Safari plus coast |
| Singita Ebony, Sabi Sand, low season | Go2Africa listing | Per night | ZAR 51,665 | ≈ USD 2,900 | Identical to Singita's own published rate: the rate-parity test |
| Seven nights at USD 10,000, 15,000 and 25,000 | This site | 7 nights | As stated | 1,430 to 3,570 | Line by line on what a safari costs by budget |
Two things follow. First, EJ's own figures agree with each other: its cost guide puts a starting rate of about USD 1,000 per person per day at about USD 10,000 for a ten-day trip, and its guide's wider range of USD 500 to 3,500 a day covers everything from shoulder-season Southern Africa to a private Migration safari. SafariBookings lists EJ from USD 300 a day, which is not the company's own figure. An earlier version of this page read the USD 10,000 as a minimum per trip; it is the cost of ten days at the starting rate. Second, Go2Africa's advantage on price is visibility, not discount: it shows the lodge line, so you can see what a camp costs before you ask. On a USD 15,000 per person budget the two would build near-identical trips; under about USD 5,000 per person, Go2Africa can still build a short trip and EJ's five-day minimum at its starting rate puts it below the floor. The Kenya and Tanzania cost pages give the fee lines that neither planner can change.
Which has the better reviews?
| Platform | Extraordinary Journeys | Go2Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Home platform | Google via Trustindex: 5.0 · 181 · newest 24 Sep 2026 | Feefo: 4.9 · 3,118 · 153 in the past year · Trusted Service Award |
| Second platform | SafariBookings 4.9 · 35 · newest 11 Aug 2025 | SafariBookings 4.4 · 106 · newest 4 Jul 2025 |
| Other listings | Travelstride 4.9 · 16, operator-supplied, 2019; Trustpilot claimed September 2026, no reviews yet | Travelstride 5.0 · 28, operator-supplied, 2019; Trustpilot not readable from here |
| Review index position | Fourth of eight | First of eight |
Read the newest ten reviews on each home platform before deciding; they describe the model better than any comparison can. Go2Africa's mention consultants by name and, in the minority of lower scores, a change of consultant mid-quote or a light-aircraft transfer that went wrong. EJ's are about the planner as a person and the feeling of having been looked after; the four-star reviews, which are few, concern pace. The how to verify a safari operator page has the ten-minute check to run on either.
Which has the stronger credentials?
The index weights each credential by what it measures: a reader survey with a published sample counts for more than an industry vote from a self-entered shortlist, and a media feature counts for nothing. EJ's Condé Nast listings are confirmed on its specialists' own pages and named on the Condé Nast safari specialists page; its Travel + Leisure placings will count on the index once each is dated at source. The full table, with links to each awarding body, is on the safari award and credentials index.
Pick by what matters to you
| Your priority | Choose | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One planner, start to finish | Extraordinary Journeys | One destination specialist builds and follows each trip, with a ground team in Africa behind them. Go2Africa assigns a consultant too, but its reviews show more hand-offs. |
| Itemised price before you commit | Go2Africa | Lodge rate, fees, flights and transfers as lines, with the lodge rate matching the lodge's own published figure. EJ quotes per trip, from about USD 1,000 per person per day. |
| Depth of independent reviews | Go2Africa | 3,118 verified Feefo reviews against 181 on Google. Both records are clean; Go2Africa's is far larger. |
| Support while travelling | Go2Africa | "Backed by 24/7 assistance" on its site. EJ keeps US Eastern office hours, with a ground team in Africa and no published 24-hour number. |
| US-hours service | Extraordinary Journeys | US-based specialists; calls in your working day. Go2Africa is on South African time, six or seven hours ahead of New York depending on the season. |
| Lowest realistic entry point | Go2Africa | Mid-range lodges quoted from published rates. EJ starts at about USD 1,000 per person per day, with a five-day minimum. |
| A family, several generations, or a fifth safari | Either; EJ by a nose | Both build multi-country, multigenerational trips. EJ says many of its planners are parents who travel with their own children, and its founders' Kenya years show most on the unusual brief; Go2Africa's breadth shows on the multi-country one. |
How to get a comparable quote from both
| Route | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Extraordinary Journeys | A per-trip proposal from a named destination specialist: enquire with Extraordinary Journeys, or call +1 212 226 7331 in US Eastern office hours. | A trip built around a family or an occasion; travellers who want one planner throughout; US travellers. |
| Go2Africa | An itemised quote with lodges at rack rate: go2africa.com. | The priced comparison; first safaris; a shorter or lower-budget trip. |
| Check the lodge line | Compare the lodge rate on either quote with the lodge's own published rate: the Singita review carries every Singita rate, and the safari operator price comparison sets planners' prices side by side. | Checking either quote before you sign. |