A small team in Nairobi. Decades in the field.
Reply within the day
Based in Nairobi
Not a reseller. Every itinerary is built and run from Kenya.
One planner, end to end
The person who first reads your email is the same one who waves you off.
Reply within a working day
Often within hours. EAT, GMT plus three.
A portion of every trip
Funds a charity supporting children and families in Kibera.
A note from our office in Nairobi
Secret Safari began by helping Kenyan residents enjoy the very best of their own backyard. Today the same on-the-ground team designs tailor-made trips for guests from across the world, with the same care, the same hand-picked stays, and the same insider access.
Tristan Symondson, Founder
The team behind your trip
Secret Safari is a small, Nairobi-based team of travel specialists, planners and operations experts.
One team, obsessed with getting every detail right.
“A trip to Africa can be complex. Our aim at Secret Safari is to combine thoughtful planning with genuine care, because one without the other doesn't work.”
Founded Secret Safari in Nairobi. Reads every brief that comes in.
Tristan Symondson
Founder
Calm under pressure. Brilliant on detail.
Vanessa Wambugu
Senior Luxury Travel Specialist
Warm, thoughtful and endlessly thorough.
Queen Kibera
Luxury Travel Specialist
Patient, organised and quietly dependable.
Linda Thamaini
Luxury Travel Specialist
On the ground. Confirms every transfer, vehicle and bush flight.
Joseph Mbugua
Operations Manager
Keeps the engine running. The reason your enquiry reaches the right desk.
Ida Maina
Luxury Travel Support
And after the desk, the country itself.
A few favourites
Three trips that guests come back for. Borrow the bones of whichever feels closest, and we will shape every other detail with you.
Something else in mind? A wedding under acacia, a multi-generation reunion, a single-traveller adventure. Tell us what you're thinking and we will start from there.
A letter from a guest
We’ve travelled a lot, and stayed in some incredible places, but this felt different.
Our flights changed the night before we left. Within forty minutes, there was a new plan, and a guide we still write to.
By day two, the team felt like friends. By day ten, we were already talking about the next trip.
It was the small things. A bush dinner under the stars. A chef who remembered my mother’s name. The sense that everything had just been properly taken care of behind the scenes.
The Holloway family
Mara & Lamu, ten nights
London
Travel with purpose
A portion of every Secret Safari trip is donated to a charity supporting children and families in Kibera, Kenya’s largest informal settlement. The funds go directly to access to education, opportunity, and brighter futures for the kids growing up there.
Anyone travelling with us is welcome to visit the project on the way to the airport. Most do. It is not on any brochure. We would rather you saw it yourselves.
Before you ask
Quick answers below. If yours is not on the list, please write to us. A real conversation usually beats a long paragraph.
Practical, in short
Kenya works year-round. June to October is dry season and prime for the Mara migration. January to March is hot, bright, and excellent for big-cat sightings and the coast. The green seasons of April, May and November bring dramatic skies, lower lodge prices, and far fewer vehicles in the parks. Tell us what you want from the trip and we will match the season to suit.
It begins with a brief, as short or as detailed as you like. We come back with a written proposal of two or three options shaped around your timing, party and budget. Once we agree on the shape, we handle every booking, every flight, every transfer. You arrive to a single point of contact in Kenya who already knows your trip in detail.
Most of our international guests spend between US $5,000 and $15,000 per person, depending on the style, length and pace of the trip. A simple stay at one lodge will come in at the lower end. Private houses, helicopters and fully guided safaris will sit higher. Share your budget with us, we will be honest about what is possible, and shape something that feels right.
International flights are not usually included, but can be quoted upon request. Either way, we will guide you on the best timed flights to book. All in-country flights, transfers, park fees, lodge costs, meals, drinks at the lodges, guiding and conservancy fees are typically included unless flagged otherwise in your proposal.
Yes. We say this as the team on the ground. Wildlife areas, conservancies and the coast are well managed and routinely visited by families and solo travellers. We monitor every region we send guests to. A member of the Secret Safari team is reachable around the clock while you are in country.
All of the above. Multi-generation reunions, honeymoons, single travellers, women-only journeys, weddings under acacia trees. The brief shapes the trip. There is no template.
A 30% deposit confirms your booking. The balance is due 10 weeks before travel. Cancellation terms can be found in our terms and conditions HERE. Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of travel with us.
Write to us
Share a little about who you are and what you would love. A real person from the Nairobi office will reply within a day, usually sooner.
