If you are new to safaris and are just starting your search for an African travel agent to book with, we wanted to give you an honest Go2Africa review as they will no doubt pop up in the searches.
Booking a dream African holiday is a big decision. You will be spending a significant amount of money but also travel to Africa requires some consideration. It is not as straightforward as travelling to somewhere like Europe.
You need to be sure that the company you book with is reputable and that they will be there to help you should you need any assistance.
There aren’t many Go2Africa reviews out there so our review of Go2Africa aims to cover every aspect of our experience with them from enquiry to booking to after sales.
You can find lots of information on travelling to Africa with kids on our site. Some of our most read posts are:
What clothes do kids wear on safari and a complete safari packing list for families. See also our post on best countries in Africa for a family safari. We have been to all of them and booked most of them through Go2Africa!
This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and book or buy something, we may earn a small commission but this will be at no extra cost to you.
So who is Go2Africa?
Go2Africa is a luxury tour operator that has been selling tailor made African itineraries since 1998. They are based in Cape Town in South Africa.
They partner with more than 3,000 leading accommodation, transport and experience companies across Africa to create the ultimate experience, and they offer 24/7 assistance for all clients.
Just as a side note, on a previous safari with Go2Africa we received a Thornybush / Go2Africa co-branded safari cap as a welcome gift which was a nice touch and we’ve been using it ever since. Thornybush is just one of the many amazing safari accommodation partners that Go2Africa use.
Go2Africa’s expert knowledge covers 15 countries in Africa and the Indian Ocean (Botswana, Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe).
Lots of their travel advisors (all African born and raised) have been recognised by Condé Nast as top travel specialists. Go2Africa has also been named World Travel Awards as Africa’s Leading Luxury Tour Operator in 2024.
Why did we use Go2Africa for our Kenyan safari?
We are a pretty adventurous family when it comes to travel destinations and we usually book our own travel but independent travel in Africa is not easy.
Actually independent travel in South Africa and Namibia is easy and we highly recommend them for self-drive safari holidays. But as soon as you venture into other African countries, the travel becomes a little less straightforward.
We once backpacked for 4 months through Africa taking only public transport and we faced a lot of challenges.
This was fine when we had all the time in the world but now that we have school aged kids and only travel during the school holidays, waiting days for a public bus to maybe show up just wasn’t an option.
Couple that with the complexities of finding family-friendly safari lodges that would allow the kids on game drives and organising transportation between the various lodges, we just felt that we needed some help with organising our Kenya vacation with kids.
Cue Go2Africa.
Our Go2Africa review
Initial enquiry with Go2Africa
Your first contact with Go2Africa is via a simple click on their ‘Enquire Now’ button on their website.
You then enter:
- Your destination.
- Your budget per person (you can put not sure – but maybe read this post we wrote to get an idea of the cost of a safari and also this to help you bring down the cost of your safari if that is a concern – although your Go2Africa contact will run through cost saving ideas with you).
- The year and month you want to travel.
- How long you want to travel for.
- Who you will be traveling with.
- Put your contact details in.
Go2Africa will then get in touch with you within a few hours or a day depending on where you are based. They are based in Cape Town so you need to be aware that their working hours may be different to yours.
This initial contact is usually followed up by a call with one of the sales team who will be an expert on the area you are interested in travelling to. You can go into much more detail on this call about your requirements.
If you’re not sure at this point where you even want to go in Africa, you will get guidance.
Things that you may want to consider before having your first call:
- Know your rough budget. A dream safari holiday is not cheap.
- Plan well ahead. Most safari lodges will be booked up months in advance during the peak season so don’t expect to be able to book a last minute break.
- Be flexible with your itinerary and listen to the experts.
- Do a little research yourself if you know the destination you’re interested in so that you make the most of your call.
Kenya Rough Guide, South Africa Rough Guide, Namibia Rough Guide, Botswana Lonely Planet
Finally, once you have decided on your itinerary, you pay by bank transfer or credit card. We paid for everything using our credit card. Any big purchases always go on our credit card for the extra buyer protection we get.
Just a word on financial protection. Booking with Go2Africa you are covered by their supplier default insurance and they are accredited by the South Africa Tourism Services Association.
Our experience booking with Go2Africa
So, in the end Go2Africa booked our entire 9 day Kenya itinerary for us. I know that we could have booked things like the hotel in Nairobi ourselves but they have great relationships with many partners through Africa and often they can negotiate better rates so we left it all to them.
Our itinerary looked like this:
- Day 1 – arrive Nairobi 6am and transfer to Ololo Safari Lodge in Nairobi National Park
- Day 2 – morning and afternoon safari in Nairobi National Park and exploring Ololo
- Day 3 – transfer to Hemingways in Nairobi
- Day 4 – Visit the Giraffe Sanctuary and Giraffe Manor
- Day 5 – transfer to Naboisho Camp in the Masai Mara (by ground)
- Day 6 – Naboisho Camp
- Day 7 – Naboisho Camp
- Day 8 – Naboisho Camp
- Day 9 – Transfer to airport (by ground)
We discussed taking ground transfers over flying to the Masai Mara as it saved us hundreds of dollars. These are things you can discuss with your Go2Africa consultant as they will tailor your holiday to suit your needs (and budget!)
It was an incredible experience for our family. We have done many safaris in South Africa and Namibia with the kids but this was our first time with them in East Africa. It was very different and we loved it.
The whole itinerary was planned to perfection with only one minor issue regarding transfer timings which was easily sorted.
It allowed us enough time in Nairobi to catch up with some friends who live there and gave us just enough days on safari. Our top tip for safaris with kids – less is more!
Our Kenyan family holiday with Go2Africa
Although this is a Go2Africa review, we thought you’d like to know a little about our Kenyan holiday in case you want to do something similar. We’ll keep it brief because we have a detailed itinerary here.
We landed in Nairobi airport from an overnight flight at around 6am. Once we cleared immigration and grabbed our bags we were met by our driver from Asilia (the ground handler for Go2Africa) who drove us to Nairobi National Park.
Here we were handed over to the Ololo safari guide who looked after us for the next 48 hours.
I just want to say how incredible it is that you can get off an international flight and be on safari within a couple of hours (sooner if you only have hand luggage).
Nairobi National Park is just on the outskirts of the city and if you are jetlagged, it is a great idea to spend a night or two here (at the beautiful Ololo Safari Lodge) to acclimatise before heading off on your true safari. By the way – this is the only malaria free safari destination in Kenya.
I can’t think of anywhere else in Africa where you can do this – or see wildlife with a city skyline behind!
Ololo Safari Lodge is just gorgeous. Reached by a suspension bridge, it is a little oasis of colonial charm. Cannot recommend it enough.
After our stay at Ololo we were dropped at the famous Hemingways hotel and left to our own devices to catch up with friends and chill. We used Ubers in Nairobi which were easy to book.
We were lucky enough to be given a guided tour of Giraffe Manor. We didn’t stay there as we hadn’t booked early enough (you need to book a year in advance for peak season stays) and it was soooo expensive so no iconic photos of the giraffe eating from our breakfast table I’m afraid!
We did visit the Giraffe Centre next door though and fed some giraffe. If we had more time we would have included a visit to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. By the way, if you’re visiting Kenya then ‘An African Love Story‘ by Daphne Sheldrick is a must read!
The next morning we transferred to the Masai Mara.
The drive took 5 hours but we got to experience incredible views travelling along the escarpment road looking out over the Great Rift Valley. We also stopped at an obligatory tourist trinket place to stretch our legs and have lunch.
Our stay at Naboisho Camp was amazing in every way. The staff there looked after us so well and as camp was pretty quiet (it was green season / low season just before the Christmas holidays), we had our game drives to ourselves.
All too soon our Kenyan holiday was over and it was time to transfer straight back to the airport but not before sponsoring and planting a tree in the Naboisho grounds.
We didn’t need to have contact Go2Africa during our stay but it was good to know that they were availabe 24/7 if we needed them.
Would I recommend Go2Africa?
Personally, Go2Africa’s advice in the pulling together the itinerary was excellent. It would have taken lots of time to research all of the lodges and arrange the ground transportation.
As you are booking a package with them there is the added financial protection which along with the 24/7 support gave us peace of mind.
We were really impressed with Go2Africa’s approach to our family holiday in Kenya. Honestly, if they can’t find a suitable family holiday in Africa for you, I’m not sure anyone can.
