Each year we spend weeks scouting camps, lodges and reserves with special attention to the wealth of game in each area and quality of the activities, guides and staff to ensure that our custom safaris offer not just the best of the best in African safaris, but also an experience that truly immerses you in the rich history, incredible people and up-close wildlife encounters that shows Africa at her finest.
We are a boutique, woman-owned business with over 30 years of combined experience designing bespoke safaris to Africa. We are dedicated to providing experiences that not only advance our travelers’ knowledge of Africa’s diverse countries, but that also aid in conservation and give back to the communities who share their land with us.
Casey is co-founder of Travel Theory, a luxury travel company focused on custom itinerary creation for travelers who are looking for adventures that are both intrepid and indulgent. She draws from her own experiences combined with strong industry connections and applies her own unique lens to the trips she designs for her clients, resulting in travel experiences that are curated and hyper-personalized. Over time, she has developed a loyal client base and was recently honored as a Condé Nast Top Traveler Specialist for 2023. With the recent addition of African Safari Company to the Travel Theory portfolio, she is excited to expand her knowledge and experience in Africa.
Kitte experienced her first safari while on her honeymoon to Southern Africa. Her passion and expertise in transformative travel stems from having opportunities to explore diverse regions and interact with local communities. With travel in Africa, Kitte focuses on helping clients understand the value of their spend and the positive impact it has on wildlife and local populations, encouraging conscientious travel throughout their journeys.
Julia’s summers as a child were spent exploring her grandparent’s farm in Zimbabwe, game parks throughout the region and visiting family in South Africa. These experiences shaped her more than she could have imagined, and in her early 20s she packed her bags and headed to Zambia to manage a camp in the South Luangwa Valley. After running the Africa department for another Seattle-based travel company for a few years, Julia re-joined African Safari Company as Director of Sales in 2011 and has been an integral part of the company ever since.
Julia has traveled countless times to Africa: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania and Morocco vetting safari lodges, meeting guides and exploring game reserves and her favorite African cities (Cape Town being her top pick!). Even after venturing to so many places, she can still easily pick her favorite African safari experiences, one being Kiba Point in the Selous National Park in Tanzania. “Incredible wildlife, amazing guides, the river, sleep outs, hot springs…it has it all!” She has also visited Ecuador and the Galapagos, Peru, the Bahamas, France, Mexico and Jamaica, and is always looking for the next opportunity to explore exotic locales. While her in-depth knowledge spans the continent, we consider her to be our resident Zambia, South Africa and Tanzania safari expert.
Natalie has spent over 30 years crafting unforgettable journeys inspired by her deep love of travel and nature. Based in the lush landscapes of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, she brings a lifetime of firsthand experience to every itinerary she designs. From horseback safaris alongside giraffe to sunrise game drives and river moments on the Zambezi, Natalie’s immersive knowledge of Africa shines through in her thoughtful planning.
In South Africa’s bustling and vibrant city of Cape Town you can explore the with the newly christened World Wonder Table Mountain, endless night life, a rising food scene and artisan shopping. The lights of the city then give way to the beautiful Cape Peninsula, rolling Winelands and the epic coastline of the Garden Route, where a safari goer can spend days shark diving, wine tasting, whale watching and so much more.
South Africa also lays claim to the famous Kruger National Park and the amazing private reserves and concessions in and around it. Abundant game, including the Big Five, reside in spectacular numbers throughout safari destinations such as the Sabi Sands Private Game Reserve, best known for the dense leopard population, and Phinda Private Game Reserve, which features not only amazing wildlife experiences like tracking rhinos on foot, but is also just a few hours away from white sand beaches and a relaxing day spent by the Indian Ocean.
For the true girth of this magnificent country, just catch a hopper flight to the sprawling Kalahari Desert to visit a completely different eco-system and the incredible desert-adapted wildlife that travels its arid ground.
One of Africa’s biggest boasting points is the varying landscapes, not only from one country to another, but often from one camp to the next. On a Botswana safari one can begin the day on the dry, cracked pans of the Makgadikgadi and, after a scenic light aircraft flight, be boarding a mokoro to float through the rich waterways of the Okavango Delta by lunchtime, watching elephants at the reeds edge having a drink, and grumpy hippos popping their heads up to make sure you haven’t forgotten that they’re there.
Tanzania is home to the well known Ngorongoro Crater, where a concentration of wildlife meander happily ensconced within the soaring walls of the massive caldera. The grasses of the Serengeti provide the ever so important role as the vast stage for the Great Migration. Throughout the year, millions of wildebeest and zebra continue along their never-ending circular path in search of new grazing grounds; peak seasons offer those on an epic African migration safari adventure the opportunity of front row seats to the drama of river crossings, the calving season and the constant battle with the predators that stalk these rich hunting grounds.
The less-visited Selous Game Reserve has a wealth of landscapes, from swamps to riverine forest, rocky acacia-clad hills to open grasslands, and harbors some of the most significant concentrations of elephant and wild dog, amongst many other species. Isolated in the thick forests of the Mahale Mountains, accessible only after a few small flights and hour-long dhow ride down the shores of Lake Tanganyika, passing fishing villages along the way, Greystoke Mahale and the scientists that call the area home are the caretakers of the chimpanzee families that reside on the mountain.
Neighboring country of Tanzania, Kenya shares spectacular views of Tanzania’s snowcapped Mt. Kilimanjaro is also home to the Great Migration as the herds travels through the equally famous Maasai Mara. Rich with wildlife, including the Big Five, the lush grasses of this renowned national reserve are the beating heart of Kenya safari.
Authentic cultural experiences abound with the Samburu and Maasai during off-the-beaten path village and school visits, as well as participation in community projects. At almost any lodge you will find yourself side by side with a local guide in search of the day’s wildlife sightings and toasting at the dinner table at night, captivated by stories of this great country and time spent in it. Needless to say, in terms of a luxury African safari, Kenya is at the top of it’s game.
Zambia is perhaps most often visited while on safari to Victoria Falls as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the world, but this vast country is also home to amazing parks and reserves, many of whose unexplored areas still outweigh those housing safari camps and lodges. North and South Luangwa tell a story of what a walking safari once was so many years ago, while Kasanka is home to a fruit bat migration, one of the largest mammal migrations on earth.
Lower Zambezi is small and still relatively undeveloped yet affords the opportunities to get close to game wandering in and out of the Zambezi channels while Kafue is one of the world’s largest parks with a permanent river ensuring its wealth of game.
Uganda and Rwanda are perhaps the least visited of popular African safari destinations but also offer perhaps the most rewarding experience when sitting side by side with endangered mountain gorillas! Treks are often long and not for the faint of heart, but once you’ve found the gorillas and are nestled into the spot from which you will spend your time with them, the heart will know nothing else. Safaris to both Rwanda and Uganda also offer plenty of other wildlife and primates as well.
Uganda’s Bwindi Forest is one of the richest eco-systems in Africa and, along with being a haven for the mountain gorilla, is also habitat for 120 species of mammals including elephants and antelopes, 348 species of birds, 220 species of butterflies, 27 species of frogs, chameleons and geckos and Queen Elizabeth National Park boasts tree climbing lions and hippo lined banks along the Kazinga Channel. Akagera National Park in Rwanda is home to many large plains wildlife including elephant, Cape buffalo, topi, zebra, waterbuck, roan antelope and eland. Other antelope that may be found in this region are duiker, oribi, bohor reedbuck, klipspringer, bushbuck and impala as well as larger predators like leopard, hyaena and side-striped jackal.
Out of the bush and onto the beach! Africa’s coasts are home to an incredible array of marine wildlife including seals, sea lions, sea turtles, an enormous array of birds, whales, dolphins, sharks and even penguins! An African safari, while unforgettable and soul-lifting, is also essentially a wildlife excursion with busy days searching for that next exceptional wildlife moment and long nights spent by the fire staring up at the giant African sky blanketed with stars. That said, once again, Africa does not disappoint in it’s diversity of adventures.
From Mozambique to Zanzibar, South Africa to the Seychelles, the continent’s East coast is lined with white sand beaches and crystal blue waters to bring the perfect end to a perfect expedition.
Capture user preferences before routing them to our travel designers.
