Gamewatchers Safaris is delighted to have been rated one of the Top Ten African Safari Companies in the World by National Geographic Adventurer Magazine, February 2009. 

  

For the second time in as many years, we’ve conducted an unprecedented survey of adventure travel companies, based on the idea that a traveler’s most important decision is not always where to go but who to go with. For the 2009 edition, we spoke to more guide services—and their clients—than ever before (248 in all). We contacted companies that lead 85,000 people a year and those that cater to a hundred. We surveyed paddling outfitters, trekking guides, safari specialists, and the ones that do it all. We evaluated companies that will take you places you’ve only dreamed of (the Tibetan Plateau, the Serengeti on foot) and those that specialize in your own backyard (the Grand Canyon, the Grand Tetons).

And after asking them the tough questions (Have you tested your risk management strategies? Are your guides trained to “leave no trace”?), we scored each one using criteria synonymous with National Geographic—environmental awareness, reliable service, local knowledge. Because in a time when travel dollars are stretched, it’s essential that an outfitter deliver the trip of a lifetime, the first time. These are the world’s leading travel specialists.

The Methodology: How We Did It

With assistance from the Adventure Council, Adventures in Travel Expo, the Adventure Travel Trade Association, and other travel and tourism organizations, we reached out to hundreds of tour companies around the world. The outfitters were asked to complete a comprehensive 28-question survey and were scored from 1 to 100 in each of the following categories:

• Education and Interpretation: This score reflects how effectively a company provides educational and interpretative information to trip participants about the geology, history, wildlife, cultures, etc., for the places in which it operates.
• Sustainability: How a company runs its trips often means the difference between tourism that safeguards a region’s cultural and natural heritage and tourism that serves as a threat to the chosen destination. This score indicates how engaged the company is with sustainable tourism practices.
• Quality of Service: This score represents the level of customer service that a company offers, from the nature of interactions with each client to the quality of gear provided for sport-specific trips and general amenities.
• Spirit of Adventure: From trying new food to visiting exotic locations, there are many ways for today’s active traveler to experience adventure. This score reflects how effectively a company brings the “spirit of adventure” to each trip itinerary.
• Client References: Researchers contacted client references for every company and generated a fifth score, also between 1 and 100, based on their feedback.

Each outfitter’s overall score represents the average of these five scores.

A team of Adventure editors, travel writers, and experts vetted those with overall scores of 80 and above and, from this pool of candidates, chose the “Best Outfitters on Earth”