Africa holds you.
We hold everything else
With thirty years inside African hospitality – building lodges, training guides, running camps – Finch Safaris designs journeys that feel personal, seamless and deeply considered.
Luxury has become a commodity.
Care is the new luxury
Much of modern safari feels polished, packaged and predictable. Finch was created for those seeking something more thoughtful, more personal and more deeply felt.
WHY FINCH SAFARIS FEELS DIFFERENT
Most safari specialists recommend lodges. We've built and run them
Running a lodge teaches you things no booking platform can. Which room changes the trip. Which guide changes a life. What it actually takes to make an experience feel effortless. Everything we design comes from this understanding.
45+
Years in African hospitality
2
Award-winning camps built & operated
4
Generations in Kenya
#1
Hotel in the World – Mahali Mzuri, Travel & Leisure, 2022
LEENA GEHLOT, FOUNDER
Four generations. Two iconic camps. One uncompromising standard
From Finch Hattons in Tsavo to co-creating Mahali Mzuri with Sir Richard Branson in the Maasai Mara, Leena has spent her career building the kind of hospitality the world notices, and the kind guests never forget.
But Finch Safaris is not built on prestige alone. It’s built on judgement. On knowing what it takes to hold people well when the stakes are high. As a long-standing EO and YPO member and former EO Kenya Chapter President, she understands the dynamics behind group travel – the unseen pressures, the quiet expectations. She designs journeys that do more than impress. They restore, connect, and stay with people long after they return home.
“I want people to feel safe, cared for, heard – and to have this deep connection. That is so much more than just ticking a box.”
DESTINATIONS
Wild, ancient and deeply felt.
East Africa gets under your skin and stays there; vast, ancient, alive in a way that’s hard to prepare for and impossible to forget.
Kenya
Migration · Conservancy access · Laikipia · Lewa
Kenya is home. From the Mara’s open plains and Tsavo’s volcanic wilderness to mountain conservancies, desert landscapes and coral-fringed beaches – this is East Africa at its most diverse. Track the black leopard, swim with dolphins, fish the deep sea. We know Kenya’s character, its rhythms, and its best-kept secrets.
Tanzania
Serengeti · Ngorongoro Crater · Kilimanjaro · Island extension
Tanzania is Africa at its most cinematic. The Serengeti in migration, Ngorongoro’s crater, Kilimanjaro above – Zanzibar’s beaches and culture below. Wildlife, conservation, photography: Tanzania rewards those who know where to look and when to go. We do.
Rwanda
Mountain gorillas · Chimp tracking · Volcanoes NP · Nyungwe · Akagera
Some encounters defy description. Rwanda’s mountain gorillas – found deep in the misty mountains of Volcanoes National Park – are among the rarest and most humbling wildlife experiences on earth. Conservation and culture, wilderness and privilege. You’ll struggle to find the words afterwards. Most people do.
Uganda
Mountain gorillas · Chimp tracking · Source of the Nile · Golden monkeys
Uganda is wilder, greener, and more intimate than most expect. Ancient forests, mountain landscapes, gorillas, chimpanzees, and a culture and conservation story that runs deep. For travellers who want an Africa that feels genuinely unhurried – and genuinely extraordinary.
Vast, remote and quietly extraordinary.
Southern Africa is wilder, more remote, and more demanding of stillness. We’ve spent years learning its rhythms – and we bring the same standard here that we built at home.
Botswana
Okavango Delta · Chobe · Makgadikgadi · Central Kalahari
Water in the desert. The Okavango floods each year, transforming Botswana’s landscapes into one of Africa’s great wildlife spectacles. Exclusive by design – low-volume camps, vast wilderness, and a conservation commitment that runs through everything. Profound, unhurried, and unlike anywhere else.
Zambia
Walking safaris · South Luangwa · Lower Zambezi · Victoria Falls
Zambia is where the walking safari was born. South Luangwa remains its raw, intimate heart – guided by some of Africa’s finest. The Lower Zambezi offers canoes, fishing, and wildlife at water level. Victoria Falls needs no introduction. It deserves a proper one.
Zimbabwe
Victoria Falls · Hwange NP · Mana Pools · Matobo Hills ·
Zimbabwe is one of Africa’s great comebacks. Hwange for wildlife, Mana Pools for landscapes and photography, the Zambezi for canoeing and fishing. Victoria Falls, which earns its place among the world’s natural wonders. Travellers who choose Zimbabwe invariably wonder why they waited so long.
Namibia
Sossusvlei · Etosha NP · Skeleton Coast · Damaraland · Fish River Canyon
Namibia is Africa at its most elemental. Vast desert landscapes, towering dunes, Etosha’s wildlife-rich salt pans and the raw, windswept Skeleton Coast. Ancient culture, deep conservation and a solitude that’s increasingly rare. For travellers drawn to the dramatic, the remote and the genuinely untouched.
South Africa
Kruger & private reserves · Cape Town · Winelands · Garden Route · Drakensberg
South Africa is where many travellers first fall in love with Africa. Kruger and its private reserves for wildlife and photography, the Cape’s mountains and beaches for something entirely different, and a culture and conservation story that runs through all of it. Few destinations on earth offer this much variety – or deliver it with quite this much ease.
The exhale after the wild.
Zanzibar
Stone Town · Spice islands · Beach · Culture
Zanzibar feels like the natural end to a Kenya or Tanzania safari. Stone Town’s culture and spice-scented streets, white-sand beaches, turquoise water, deep-sea fishing and coral reefs – all of it close, unhurried, and quietly perfect. A beautiful way to let the wilderness settle.
Seychelles
Pristine · Remote · Exclusive · Marine life
The Seychelles feels untouched in a way very few places still do. Granite boulders, ancient forests, coral reefs and water so clear it barely looks real. A destination that stands entirely on its own; for travellers who want beaches, wildlife, photography and a stillness that’s becoming increasingly rare.
Mozambique
Bazaruto Archipelago · Quirimbas · Diving · Remote coastline
Wild coastline, untouched coral and the quiet thrill of somewhere the rest of the world hasn’t quite found yet. Beaches, deep-sea fishing, and marine wildlife in waters that reward the curious, all of it wrapped in a barefoot luxury that feels genuinely earned by the journey to reach it.
Mauritius
Refined · Accessible · Family-friendly · Restorative
Warmth, elegance and ease in equal measure. Exceptional hotels, white-sand beaches, rich culture and a gentle pace that works beautifully for families and travellers who want comfort without compromise. The most accessible Indian Ocean experience and one of the most rewarding.
WHAT GUESTS SAY
“Held Sacred Notes”
A monthly letter from Finch Safaris on Africa travel, care, and the art of planning journeys that matter.
Not sure where to begin?
The best journeys start with a conversation. Share your details below and one of our team members will reach out within 24 hours to help bring your journey to life.