Welcome to us!

Bespoke safari adventures in Central & Eastern Africa

Old Explorer was founded in 2013. We are a local safari company that operate in Central, Southern & Eastern Africa. We have offices in Hoedspruit, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and on the island of Zanzibar. In Tanzania we operate under the name Tanzania Explorer ®, and in the rest of the region we are known as Old Explorer. We have unique local knowledge in the areas we operate with more than 100 years of experience combined!

We specialise in tailor-made trips to each traveler with personalised service, both before and during your adventure. All people connected to Old Explorer have traveled all over the region we offer, to ensure the competence required to assist all travelers with in-depth knowledge, expertise and advice.

We also have skilled safari planners that have either worked in the field, lived in the areas or frequently visited the region they advise on, in addition to expertise in wildlife photography.

For us, arranging trips to this part of Africa is a lifestyle. The result is that we are always available for you if you have any questions, and we have no set "office hours". We acknowledge the fact that the most likely time for you to plan your trip is either in the evening, or on a weekend when a normal office is closed. You are always welcome to call us when it is most suitable for you.

We look forward to creating your dream vacation to these beautiful parts of Africa.

"We put our pride, heart and soul into the operation to ensure full satisfaction from our travelers!

About

Meet the main team

Sondre

Founder &

Safari Planner

Banja

Co-founder &

Island Operation

Tim

Head of Operation &

Safari Planner

Haji

CFO &

Office Manager

stian

Safari Planner

Aleksander

Safari Planner

Augustino

Head of Booking &

Explorer Villa

veronica

Conservation &

Sustainability

Vision

mission

values

Vision:

“ Creating African storytellers for life ”

Mission:

“ Through extreme focus on each individual customers needs and wishes, combined with unparalleled local knowledge -we will provide a path to unique trip-combinations and the hidden “gems” our destinations provide.

Our company shows the utmost respect for nature and wildlife and towards the environment in which we operate. We will create a strong local profile and engage in social responsibility that creates opportunities for the locals as well as development for all employees and resources connected with the company. We are explorers ”

Our value propositions:

Safe travel

Life changing trip

Opportunities for the locals

Wildlife experience

S L O W – is the life in Africa!

Slogan and hashtag:

“ We show you Africa..."

#weshowyouafrica

Values, vision & mission

Why travel with us

Probably the single most important reason why you should choose us is because we are no ordinary travel agency that just books the trip for you, sends you the tickets and wishes you a pleasant journey. We want to be with you every step of the way to assist and guide you in the planning, in order for you to get just the African experience you are looking for!

Africa does not work like any other continent. An example is the information you find online about the accommodations or other information you might come across on different webpages. This information is not always accurate or tells the whole truth. Since we have our home base in the countries we offer, we have unique local knowledge which is accurate and up to date!

To the extent it's possible, we pre-qualify both trips and lodges ourselves, so that the customers can feel completely safe on what to expect on the trip, and be as prepared as possible. We also provide extended preparation-documents with all information you would need for your upcoming vacation. We are there, available, and “on call” for all our customers throughout their whole journey while in Africa. For us, providing a trip to Africa is a question of personal pride of meeting each customer’s expectations for their trip!

Our specialty is custom-made trips, safari and adventure packages to suit your exact requirements at a price that is guaranteed to cost you less than if you booked through a normal travel agency! In addition, our team knows the areas we offer like few other and cannot wait to share their passion and knowledge with you!

Why travel with us

the extra mile

We have local and in-depth knowledge about the areas we offer, because we are based there. Not only ”catalogue” or second-hand information
For us it is important to customise the trip to YOUR needs and standards. People want different things and that is why we don´t provide ”standard” packages/trips. Not only do we customise the trip, we will advise you where to go and how to get the best flow, adventure and experience to your budget and requirements
We create our trips from the heart, not only to a business budget. We know that if you are truly happy with the trip and the experience we provided, you'll recommend us to others as well. That's when we have truly succeeded! This is not another job for us – it's our lifestyle
It is important for us that the locals have opportunities and benefits from tourism. As a result of this, we try to give you an authentic experience and not a ”resort-based” trip
It's personal – we deliver!

The safe choice

Our company is solid and well run, we have a principal of not acquiring any debt or taking loans
When it comes to trusting a company, the company you book with should have immense knowledge about the area you want to visit, to make sure you get the most out of your vacation. We have chosen to specialise in what we feel are the the best safari destinations, and not a "we offer it all" -mentality
We have personnel for your assistance locally, available at all times for our travelers
To be honest, Africa does not operate like most other places in the world. That is something that needs to be taken highly into consideration, especially when it comes to time. We take care of you from the moment you land, until your trip is finished and you are at the airport on your way back home. We are with you every single step of the way
To the extent it's possible, we visit and approve all hotels and lodges ourselves, for your safety and trust!

Affordable

We are a locally based company. This means that we don't have a big administration that requires salary in Europe or other parts of the world, which would increase the cost
Since we operate locally, we have in most cases far better rates on both safari adventures and accommodation. Not only compared to ”normal” travel agencies, but also cheaper prices than what you would get if you booked accommodations yourself
Buying airline-tickets yourself is really easy today. If you buy the tickets yourself, you can save a lot of money. We have no intentions of earning money on your flights, so you get all the savings by doing this yourself. We do however assist you in finding the cheapest/best tickets, for free of course
When the tickets/travel dates are set, we adjust and customise your trip to fit the plane-tickets, not the other way around, and at no extra cost!

Extra insurance

As an extra service we offer AMREF Flying Doctors and ACE (Air & Ambulance) insurance included in your trip.

These operators provide air evacuation services in medical emergencies across Central & Eastern Africa, as well as air ambulance transfers between medical facilities. These providers operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

You are covered with us from the moment you land, until the time you depart back to your home country. Valid on safari, on Zanzibar or any other remote place we take you for that matter.

To ensure this is valid on your trip, you need to provide us with your travel insurance company and policy number. This is done on our "Traveler Details" form that you receive in your confirmation email from us.

Recommendations

Safaribookings.com is the largest informationpad on safari experiences in Africa, and this is where our company get´s rated and where our travelers review us. On this site your are able to reach out to our previous travelers to get their opinion about our company, and how we performed on their trip.

We are very proud to say that since the very beginning, we have only had 5 star reviews. This is also how we have grown our business, because high customer satisfaction from each individual traveler provides us with the best marketing we can wish for.

As conservationists at heart, and making a living out of showing off our amazing African nature, it is also our obligation as a safari operator to do what we can to ensure the wildlife and wildlife habitats are protected. African elephant habitat has declined by over 50% since 1979. Growing human-wildlife conflicts and an insatiable lust for ivory products in the Asian market makes the illegal ivory trade extremely profitable, and has led to the slaughter of tens of thousands of African elephants and it's easy to see why elephants are under threat.

Read more about our conservation efforts and conservation trips here