At the journey’s end, any passionate traveller knows the conflict of wanderlust: the more destinations you see, the more you desire to see. The same is true of my work. From the time I was a boy, my mother always said that I was impossible to satisfy. The more goals I tick off my list, the more I hunger to accomplish. There is always a next destination. There will always be another new frontier to explore and establish. There will also be old favorites, in the case of Prince Harry: he has travelled back to the Okavango Delta many times since that first trip there at age thirteen. The months after losing his mother are a time in his life that most boys might want to forget . . . but that trip truly transported him, and he has returned time and again to relive that feeling of total escape and being cradled in the unexpected, unmatched safety of the wild. I often wonder if Prince Charles hadn’t asked me to take Prince Harry back to Africa, would I have gotten that eureka moment to develop Sanctuary there? I credit them with that inspiration.
For my own life, I’m confident that this journey will continue for some time more. In the early days of A&K, I would sit back in my chair at the conference table and ask my employees: “How are we going to win the world?” One destination at a time, we’ve been the first ones in. We’ll continue to do so as long as I’m alive. We’re not winding down . . . in fact, we’re just winding up.
What we’ve done with Sanctuary Retreats is an example of one of my chief philosophies: anticipate the future and its sustainability; yesterday’s cheers have a short echo.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not have been possible without writer Kristine Gasbarre, who read through my diaries and worked to find a way to tell these stories in a uniquely compelling way. We spent time together on an adventure cruise in Japan, a safari in Kenya, and even on the beach in Ibiza while she listened to my countless stories.
Sincerest thanks to my family and longtime friends and associates who made themselves available to provide background information on particular stories or to host visits for our research. And to all those who otherwise contributed to the book’s development: Jorie Butler Kent and her daughter, Reute Butler, who summarized the achievements made by Friends of Conservation and Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy since 1982; Anne Kent Taylor and her schools and staff of preservationists in the Masai Mara; Marett Taylor, Farley Taylor Lansing, Brett Fichte, Norma Cooke, Jean Fawcett, David Stogdale, Roland Minns, David Markham, Tony Church, Gerald Hatherly, Alan Root, Richard Leakey, Fiona Bangua, Peter Ngori, Bernadette Nyambura Githigi, and the staff at A&K Kenya.
Thanks to my longtime personal assistant, Caroline Wheeler, who survived two previous attempts to start this book. She had to carve the time necessary out of my impossible travel schedule (three-hundred-plus days a year). Thanks also to Pamela Lassers, who encouraged me to put these stories down in writing and helped keep the process moving forward.
I also want to express my appreciation to the entire team at HarperCollins, led by Lisa Sharkey, whose inspiration and perseverance made this book a reality, especially Jonathan Burnham, Amy Bendell, Alieza Schvimer, Kathy Schneider, Katherine Beitner, Tom Hopke Jr., Milan Bozic, Joanne O’Neill, Leah Carlson-Stanisic, Robin Bilardello, and Nate Knaebel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
GEOFFREY KENT has been inspiring travellers to discover the world in a uniquely stylish manner since founding Abercrombie & Kent in 1962 with his parents. Kent has served as president of the Prince of Wales Foundation in the United States and as chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council. In April 2012, he was named to the British Travel and Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions to the travel industry, and in December 2014, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Travel Weekly.
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PRAISE FOR SAFARI
“This is an extraordinary series of stories about travel and adventure in many parts of the world that will fire the imagination of any reader. It left me wondering how I have been so conservative in my own travels, which do not begin to compare with Geoffrey Kent’s. A very good and easy read that leaves you hungry for more.”
—RICHARD LEAKEY, FRS
“As this book explains, there is a world of difference between the superficial experience of tourism and that of the traveller. Immersing oneself deeply in a culture different to one’s own is closer to the ancient practice of pilgrimage—respectful, spiritually nourishing, and life-changing.”
– STING AND TRUDIE STYLER
“I’ve dedicated my life to creating travel experiences . . . not only for the millions of guests who have stayed in our hotels, but also for my family. Travel does more than expand our physical horizons. It inspires us by giving us an opportunity to immerse ourselves in different cultures, histories, and sometimes languages. Geoffrey Kent understands my passion for travel because he has it too, as this book reveals. I admire his motivation to enable more people to see the world, because he sees how travel can inspire change in people and their communities.”
—BILL MARRIOTT
“Travelling not only takes you to cities and countries you’ve never seen before, it takes you to places within yourself that you didn’t know existed. There are grand adventures reflected in these stories.”
—ROMA DOWNEY AND MARK BURNETT
“Kent’s memoir transports you to another landscape as successfully as an Abercrombie & Kent expedition.”
—WILBUR SMITH
“To travel with my good friend Geoff is to see the world in a completely different way. His range of experiences, people, and places, as well as an uncanny sense of what makes a trip unforgettable, is truly amazing. ‘Collect memories not things’ is what he has taught me, and my memories of travel with him are among my most cherished.”
—WES EDENS, FOUNDER OF FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP
“Travel, no matter the destination, really changes your perspective; it clears your head, opens your eyes, and helps cultivate new ways of thinking and sometimes even the brightest ideas you’ve ever had.”
—TED TURNER
“Traveling is the most powerful self-development tool available to humanity. The more you travel the more you learn through the diversity of other places and people, the more you understand how the world and mankind are the most beautiful treasures available to all of us.”
—MANFREDI DE CLUNIÈRES DI BALSORANO, CHAIRMAN OF SILVERSEA CRUISES
“Travelling with knowledge is as vital as understanding the background against which an abstract painting is done. Abercrombie & Kent provides that background knowledge without which we would miss so many things in our travels. We need to look and not merely see. We need to think and not merely feel. Therein lies the difference between a sentient traveller and a pedestrian tourist.”
—SIR DAVID TANG, FOUNDER OF SHANGHAI TANG
“My family and I have known Geoffrey since the start of his amazing journey. We share the joy of seeing the travel industry enrich the lives of travellers and communities alike. How wonderful that Geoffrey has provided this opportunity to share his rich and colorful insights. As we say at Virtuoso, invest your money and receive Return on Investment, but invest in travel and receive Return on LifeTM.”
—MATTHEW UPCHURCH, CEO OF VIRTUOSO
“There’s no greater adventure than a safari,” writes Geoffrey Kent, and there is no greater proof of this than Geoffrey’s own life and career. Safari takes us to the earth’s most dazzling destinations with the world’s greatest tour leader. From the opening safari with actor Richard Burton to his travels with Prince Charles and Bill Gates to his icy dip in the waters of the North Pole, Geoffrey shows how travel is the great adventure that will change your life and better the world.”
—JEFFREY D. SACHS, ECONOMIST AND DIRECTOR OF THE UN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS NETWORK
CREDITS
Cover design by Joanne O’Neill
Cover photograph © John Warburton Lee
COPYRIGHT
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p; SAFARI. Copyright © 2015 by Geoffrey Kent. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Frontmatter map designed by Joe LeMonnier
ISBN 978-0-06-229920-8
EPub Edition August 2015 ISBN 9780062299222
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