*As seen in The Logbook
Kirsty Perring earned her diploma in travel and tourism and spent twenty-three years working in the industry before she decided to launch Traversing Africa in December 2018. Believing that travel is transformational, she was determined to offer something that was uniquely hers. A chance to provide clients with curated journeys that were inspiring and memorable instead of template or textbook.
NOT ONLY FAMILY ORIENTATED SAFARIS
Traversing Africa has a focus on family travel and specialises in the logistics that come alongside travelling with children of all ages. Each safari lasts between seven and ten days and Kirsty creates an immersive experience that will engage all participants on an individual and family basis.
Predominantly, the safaris are by nature, bespoke, however there are also group safaris available, allowing solo travellers or those on a budget to get involved in a budget-aware safari that also offers the benefits of being in a social group experiencing something great for the first time.
A variety of lodges are available along the way and Kirsty travels as much as she can to these locations in order to gain a personal insight into how they will contribute to a safari.
GIVING BACK
According to Kirsty, one of the aims of Traversing Africa is to encourage people to give back to local communities, be conscious of their carbon footprint and make a difference through travel.
Parents travelling with children may think of a safari as just an interesting and exciting experience for their family, without considering the deep and powerful impact that such an experience will have on their kids. Installing a sense of importance and value of the natural world in today’s children can help save the it for the future.
Traversing Africa also supports a number of important groups including Project Rhino, Uthando, Pack for a Purpose and Seedballs. Seedballs in particular is helping the natural vegetation across Eastern and Central Africa to recover by burying seeds in balls of charcoal so they’re not eaten by animals and have the essential minerals needed for growth and then dispersing these Seedballs in a host of interesting and innovative ways. It’s recently gone viral online.
WHAT CLIENTS CAN EXPECT
Client relationships is extremely important to Kirsty, who says that it may be a cliché, but people do business with those they know, like and trust. In order to maintain lifelong clients, it takes constant effort to make all clients feel like they are the most important to you and this includes valuing everything they have to say and cherishing the dreams that they want you to turn into a reality.
She adds that it’s all in the small details. Because their safaris are bespoke designed for the client, knowing and understanding what the client wants in the finest detail helps them provide the very best experience. This includes the important aspects like what the client wants to see and experience to whether there are any health concerns such as allergies that need to be considered. Sometimes it’s about paying attention to the finer details that a client may mention only once, like wanting to see a giraffe run, or a leopard chilling in a tree.
OTHER TOURS
Traversing Asia, Traversing South America and Traversing Europe are all destinations that are available. Kirsty reveals that many of her clients prefer to come back to her to arrange their tours and adventures irrespective of where they are going, and that these brands were added after she had created the same standard of tours in these different continents.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND
Kirsty suggests that is important to always travel with an open mind. Put aside any preconceived ideas about a destination. Be mindful of local customs and always show the utmost respect when visiting someone else’s country. We are guests after all.
PRICE: $10-$15000 per person
WEBSITE: www.traversingafrica.com
ADDRESS: 55 York Street #1103, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 1R7
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 001 6479240674
EMAIL: kirsty@traversingafrica.com
