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We don our safari hats and journey to the African bush with Henrietta Loyd, our regional expert for Africa. She reveals how a first trip to this magical destination led to her to co-found the award-winning company cazenove+loyd, one of the world’s top specialists on safari tours and luxury holiday rentals across the African continent.

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“I will never forget my first experience of Africa. I was a pretty naïve twenty-year-old when I first set foot in the African bush in South Africa and I can still see in my mind now, all these years later, my first glimpse of a giraffe as I drove into camp from the airstrip. It was a life-changing moment, as I could not believe that I was actually seeing for real and in the wild, such a magnificent creature. I never looked back.

“What I love about being on safari is the pure connection with nature and wildlife. It is the smells of the bush, the space and the lack of people in the areas that we choose to send our clients. I always feel a complete sense of calm and freedom when I arrive and go on my first game drive or walk. There is also the adrenaline rush when one comes across one of the cats – especially on foot!

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“Susie Cazenove and I were inspired to set up cazenove+loyd twenty-five years ago, because we wanted to share our love of Africa with a wider audience and enable other people to share some of the experiences that we were lucky enough to have. It also gave us an excuse to talk about our favourite subject day-in/day-out and regularly go there ourselves to source new product and experience the safaris our clients were to go on and still do over twenty years later. Latin America and Asia and the Middle East, our further two divisions were formed by my other business partner Christopher Wilmot-Sitwell with the same ethos. We are passionate about travel and creating memories that will stay forever etched in the mind.

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“Marrying our personal experiences and expert knowledge with our client understanding is how we are able to deliver the best every time. Our meticulous planning and incomparable contacts on the ground mean that we have exclusive access to some of the most spectacular private houses, residences and villas in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia, Kenya and Tanzania. We can also offer stunning beach villas in Mozambique, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Morocco.

p1040661-2“We are still owner-run and our philosophy is the same today as the day we opened our doors – we are about being the best rather than the biggest. We are particularly proud to have recently been voted the second best ‘Specialist Tour Operator’ in the world by Condé Nast Traveller, awarded for our ‘incomparable knowledge’.

“I am thrilled to be working with UltraVilla as their regional expert for Africa, at a time when the continent has developed so rapidly, and the proliferation of lodges and camps means that there’s more need than ever for help and guidance in designing a luxury holiday in Africa that’s exactly right for you.” Henrietta Loyd

Start planning your dream African safari holiday with the vast expertise of Henrietta Loyd and her team by reaching out to cazenove+loyd here.