It’s impossible to avoid falling in love with Africa. I did from when I first visited Africa as an adult more than 30 years ago, travelling through Tanzania and Kenya before spending some time working in the fruit farms of South Africa. Today I have more than 25 years of visiting such remote locations as Ethiopia, Mahale, Lake Victoria and Gorongosa to name but a few. What brings me back to Africa time and time again is that no experience is ever the same and the peoples are some of the warmest and most inviting on the planet.
Having been originally born in South Africa, moving back to the UK at the age of 4, travel was in my life from the very start. I can’t really remember a time when we weren’t travelling somewhere or meeting up with friends of the family from around the world.
After studying French and Philosophy at University and spending a year in the south of France, I packed a ruck sack and spent the next year travelling extensively through South America, Australasia and South East Asia.
My work career started in 2001 with Trailfinders where I learnt about things like flight booking systems and general management systems for large travel companies… I must admit that it wasn’t the favourite part of my career as the focus was on quick turnover of clients and properties and itineraries sold from a brochure.
Having left them in 2004 and developed properties for a year, I then went and worked for a specialist Africa and South America operator with the view to setting up my own company one day…and here we are!
To date I have spent time all over the world with a recent focus on South America and Africa…there are, of course, a few destinations that are still on the list but I am getting there!
Some travel Q&A’s with Nick...
Where was your last trip?
My last trip was in 2025 to Uganda to trek with the gorillas of Bwindi and the chimps of Kibale. Uganda is such a great country and is often overlooked in favour of its neighbour, Rwanda, but, with a growing range of higher end properties and guides and staff who have been in tourism for 20 years or more, it is a great destination for those wanting something a little less “trodden”!
Where is your next trip?
I try to spread my time equally across the African countries that we offer and so, in all likelihood, I will probably be looking to spend a little time back in Botswana which is one of my favourite countries in Africa for a safari. This year is a peak year for water in the Okavango Delta from what we are hearing and, as such, it will be a predominantly water based trip I think, but you never know!
What is the one thing you have to take with you on every trip?
I guess I am a bit superstitious as I was given a simple wooden carving of a giraffe when I first went to Kenya and I take it on every trip I go on these days!
I also always council clients that going and buying your own pair of 12×42 binoculars is one of the best purchases you will make as it brings the whole experience into focus in more ways than one. I currently have a pair of Opticron “bins” that are always the first thing in the bag!
What’s your favourite camp?
I have always been a sucker for Beho Beho in Nyerere National Park, Tanzania and it is where I took my wife when we went on our honeymoon a few years ago…there is something about the place!
I must admit, though, that there are thousands! Old Mondoro in Zambia, Azura in Mozambique, Tierra Patagonia in Chile, Las Balsas in Argentina…not really answering the question am I!?
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten on your travels?
I have eaten all sorts of game meat in Kenya and South Africa, but I would say the strangest thing was in Vietnam drinking shots of the local bootleg whisky out of a bottle that had a cobra biting a viper in it. Apparently, the more deadly the snakes that are in the bottle the more prized the whisky…needless to say I don’t remember too much more of what was told me that night!
Where would you recommend for a family safari?
As a father of two animal mad sons, this is a question I often consider. We went on our first safari together a couple of years ago, when my youngest was 6 and my elder was 8. I must admit that I was a bit worried about how they would take to a safari which can involve a lot of vehicle time and an appreciation of the smaller elements of the bush when the larger, more famous game is not around.
Luckily we went to the Mara North Conservancy in Kenya’s Masai Mara and, with easy flights from the UK and very good game throughout the year, our 4 nights in the bush and week on the Kenya coast was perfect. I distinctly remember our last drive back to the airstrip at the end of the safari time and both boys were no longer interested at all in the wildlife and were just pummeling each other in the back…I think we timed it just right! 🙂
Please don’t hesitate to call me any time if you think I could help. You can call me direct on :
UK: +44 (0)1525 840 149
USA: 1-917-336-2937
Or drop me an email directly on nick@theafricaspecialists.com
