welcome to our world

Let Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley guide you on a private safari into their world.

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Private Safaris   

We are passionate conservationists with a genuine love for Africa and experienced safari guides who grew up exploring the vast wildernesses of Kenya. Join us on one of our bespoke private safaris created just for you and let us share everything we love about Africa. From her ice-capped mountains to her turquoise waters and coral reefs, and her lush tropical rainforests to wide open savannahs. Her biodiversity is extraordinary and her landscapes extreme. Discover some of the most beautiful places on Earth from the comfort of our exclusive private African safari camp, our four award-winning lodges and the properties of our friends across this captivating continent. Let us show you this incredible world through our eyes on a guided safari with us.

 
the Carr-Hartley Family African Safari
 

As a family we delight in sharing the Africa we love and treasure with you.

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Being on safari with the Carr-Hartley family is like being invited to share the best family vacation you could ever imagine.
— Chris Welles, Boston, USA
 

About our Guided Safaris

Our exclusive Africa tours and safaris are unique in that we run all aspects of Specialised Safaris ourselves. From designing the ultimate itineraries to all the behind-the-scenes logistics, collecting you from the airport and driving you through the bush on exciting wildlife expeditions. One (or both) of us will always endeavour to be there on every one of our private safaris, as this is what we love most. Moreover, we try our best to fly out to meet you face-to-face before the safari too. We find that getting to know our guests a little beforehand helps us choose the perfect locations, accommodation options and activities to match your interests, which makes for dream trips. Sometimes our kids love to join us on our guided safaris, depending on your preferences of course. This can really enhance the experience for families coming with children, as they undoubtedly end up sharing their unique takes on the world of safari and gaining new perspectives from one another.  

When you’re on a private African safari with us, you’ll find us naturally falling into our separate roles which complement each other well. Mikey will cook you the best pancakes and eggs on our unique customised vehicles which are fitted with pull-out stoves (our bush breakfasts are hard to beat!) He’ll also drive you seamlessly through the wild, tracking animals for unique sightings or leading you carefully by foot on a bush walk. I’ll design your personalised menu to fit your dietary requests, usually with a focus on the fresh farm-to-fork style food we love serving our guests. We’re both keen photographers and always enjoy capturing the experiences of our guests to share with them at the end of their private African safari adventure.  

If we cannot make it personally, we have a group of expert guides, each with different specialities. We’ll match one of our guides with you, depending on your interests and the vibe you’re looking for on your adventure. The guides we use are all dear friends (or family) whom we trust implicitly to make your private African safari exceptional. 

Privately guided safaris offer an unparalleled way to explore the continent; being taken under the wing of a local expert who has lived all their life in East Africa allows for a true insider’s experience. Your guide will be on hand to answer questions at any time, ensure all logistics and travel arrangements are taken care of and design the perfect days. You can’t beat the reassurance of being taken care of by someone who’s seen many moons in the wild and is prepared for every eventuality. It enables you to deeply switch off and travel in a way that lets your senses awaken to the natural world around you.

 

Since the late 1880's, our family has been the living definition of the great African adventure.

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We’ve chosen Specialised Safaris for all three of our Kenyan Safaris, most recently with our whole family. On each safari Mikey, Tanya and their staff bent over backwards to ensure that all of us were well tended to. We arrived on our first safari as clients but by the time we departed we were friends. There is no doubt in my mind that we will return to Africa and when we do go, we will choose Specialised Safaris again!
— Rick & Cindy Mitchell, Gig Harbor, USA
 

 

Exclusive Safari Kenya

What does a day on an exclusive safari Kenya with us look like? Well, that pretty much depends on you and every day is different. In general, we like to get up at first light when the air is still fresh and the animals are active. Being on the equator, Kenya enjoys a twelve-hour day and twelve-hour night year round, give or take a few small fluctuations at different times of year. This means that the horizon turns golden at 6:30 am every morning, and vivid hues streak the skyline at 6:30 pm every evening as the sun sets. There’s a comforting familiarly in the regular rhythm of it. And daily ‘sundowner’ drinks are a big part of the culture here! Usually these are enjoyed in front of a spectacular panorama; a chance to pause and reflect on the day’s adventures and the beauty of the landscape.  

The options of what to do in between are endless. It might involve game driving through the bush to find herds of elephants or packs of wild dogs, before stopping for a breakfast cooked out in the wilderness. Lunch is usually an al fresco affair too, perhaps under the dappled shade of a tree with a riverside view. After lunch may call for a relaxing massage if we’re in one of our camps or lodges, a siesta by the pool or a guided nature walk. Hiking, cycling, horse riding, kayaking, fishing, snorkelling, diving, helicopter excursions… an exclusive safari Kenya presents so many exciting ways to explore the wilderness. 

 


Exclusive Africa Tours & Safaris

In addition to our mobile camp in Kenya, we also own four stunning camps and lodges across the country and design exclusive Africa tours and safaris spanning the entire region and South Africa. Having lived and grown up in East Africa and travelled extensively, we’re pretty good at knowing the hidden gems we think our guests will love best. Depending on what you’re looking for, it might be our family home on the shores of Lake Naivasha, barefoot living beside the Indian Ocean, camping on top of a volcanic crater in the DRC or five-star luxury on a South African game reserve. Our experience and connections are extensive. Entrust us to deliver your the private African safari of your dreams. We’ll plan all the logistics down to the last cocktail of the day to make sure magical moments are aplenty. 


Responsible Travel

Our aim as a family and as an exclusive Africa tours and safaris company has always been to step lightly on the planet. We’ve witnessed first hand what is happening to Africa’s wilderness and biodiversity, and we want to do what we can to protect it. By sharing our safari world with guests from across the globe, it means we are able to support a handful of select projects we know make a genuine impact on wildlife and people where we live. We operate our exclusive Africa tours and safaris in the most sustainable way possible. 


Each of our safaris are either led by Mikey or Tanya Carr-Hartley or by our hand-picked team of guides who have the knowledge and experience in the field to enhance your safari.

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NEWS FROM THE BUSH

Find out what’s new in our world and get inspired by our latest updates from our safari adventures.