Our Story
A luxury African travel company built on firsthand knowledge, and a founder who has spent a lifetime travelling the places we send you.
We are built on a simple idea: we only send you to the places we have travelled ourselves.
The Safari Guys are a luxury African travel company that plans bespoke safaris across Southern Africa and beyond. Our founder, Ron Mackenzie, has spent more than twenty years travelling the continent's finest destinations, and everything we do begins with that firsthand knowledge.
Firsthand, always
Ron is a wanderer by nature. He has spent his career staying in the lodges, meeting the people who run them, and learning what a place is really like long before he recommends it. It is why our mark is a compass, and why he answers to Chief Wandering Officer.
"We believe it is vital to visit the destinations you promote before you send clients there. Much of our success comes from having been there ourselves. We know what the coffee is like, how far the beach is from your villa, which restaurant is best and how far it sits from your room, and the general manager is on speed dial. We have had the pleasure of being there and doing that."
Ron Mackenzie
Trusted by travellers who could go anywhere
Over more than fifteen years, Ron has planned travel for Hollywood actors, heads of state, ambassadors, royalty, and global chief executives. Quietly, and with the discretion that clientele expects. Most of our travellers come to us the same way they always have, through someone who has travelled with us before.
We cannot recommend this stay more highly. Lifelong memories.
Kyra
I've really fallen in love with Africa. It is a life changing place.
Sherri
As usual, Morukuru is awesome.
Patrick
We asked for rhino, and boy, we got rhino. Four sightings, so close.
Bryan
Everything was super. You have helped us have a weekend to remember.
Katie
I cannot thank Debbie and her effort enough. She really did her magic against all odds.
Alexander
The whole business, in one word:
Yes
After years in the corporate travel world, Ron learned a work ethic that still runs everything we do. It comes down to one word. Yes. Whatever the most discerning traveller asks for, our job is to make it happen, and to make it exceptional. And if you have something particular in mind, ask. In over twenty years there is little we have not been asked for, and less we have not arranged.
How planning a safari with us works
Before you trust us with your journey
Most of our clients come to us through someone who already has, so here is what people usually want to know before that first conversation.
Yes. Over more than 20 years, Ron has planned travel for Hollywood actors, heads of state, ambassadors, royalty, and global chief executives, always with the discretion that clientele expects.
Ask. In more than 20 years there is little we have not been asked for, and less we have not arranged; our job is to make it happen and make it exceptional.
A bespoke safari isn't chosen off a shelf, it's built from scratch around your dates, budget, and who's travelling, so the person who plans it is doing the real work. That work depends on real relationships, not just knowing a lodge exists, but knowing the people who run it. We have visited these properties ourselves and often know the general manager directly, which is how we secure the room, the table, or the small extra that makes a stay memorable. Ours bring more than fifty years of combined firsthand travel experience to that job, not a script.
We plan luxury safaris across South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, and Angola, alongside select international destinations for clients who travel beyond Africa.
The best time depends on the destination and what you want to see, since each region peaks at a different point in the year. Many Southern African parks are at their best in the dry season from May to October, when wildlife gathers around water.
We are in this for the long run
The best part of this work is not the first trip. It is the second, and the tenth. It is planning a honeymoon, then an anniversary, then the family trip years later. We want to earn that kind of trust, and we look after it like it matters, because it does.