How a Texas Couple Helped Launch One of the World’s Most Iconic Luxury Safari Companies

Here’s a piece of travel trivia that should make any Texan proud: the very first customers for Abercrombie & Kent, one of the world’s most renowned luxury travel companies, hailed from the Lone Star State.

Back in the 1960s, a young Geoffrey Kent had recently founded a small safari outfitter with his parents. As a native of Africa, he had the expertise of the land, but he was in need of some clients. After reading in Time Magazine that Texans were among the richest people in the world, he posted himself outside Nairobi’s iconic Stanley Hotel to try to mingle with his target clients. They weren’t hard to find.

“Americans usually carried lots of baggage, and they wore cowboy boots, and sometimes Stetsons,” Kent later recalled.

After chatting up Tom and Sara Worthing, a couple from Texas looking for a 30-day safari, Kent convinced them to experience his curated safari itinerary. The adventure unfolded with camping beneath Kilimanjaro in Amboseli National Park, snagging the first-ever permit to camp at the bottom of Ngorongoro Crater, tea with Jane Goodall in the Serengeti, nights in the Maasai Mara, a ferry across Lake Victoria, and a grand finale at Murchison Falls in Uganda, where Humphrey Bogart had filmed The African Queen. He called it “Abercrombie & Kent’s Off the Beaten Track Safari,” and it became A&K’s first luxury mobile tented photographic safari, and reportedly the first one ever with refrigeration (for ice-cold sundowner cocktails, obviously).

That Texan-backed beginning helped launch what is now a global luxury travel powerhouse with more than 3,000 staff across 83 countries, a client list that reads like a Hollywood premiere (including Bill Gates, Jerry Seinfeld, and a few former First Ladies), and a reputation for delivering the kind of white-glove, bespoke experiences that discerning travelers (and sophisticated Texans of course) crave. Africa remains one of A&K’s most popular destinations, the continent where it all started. 

I got to experience the Abercrombie & Kent magic firsthand on a recent trip to Kenya, and just as Kent originally designed his very first safari, the high-level luxury unfolds at every turn of the journey. Even before the trip began, my planning team mailed me a custom A&K rolling duffel bag with a packing list specifically tailored to meet tricky bush plane size and weight restrictions.  

Upon landing in Nairobi, a kind porter holding a sign with my name pulled me out of a lengthy customs line and ushered me through an empty diplomat lane and quickly into a waiting van ready to take me to my hotel. From there, my Kenyan guide Maurice was there to greet me and tell me the plan for the following morning, the first of the exciting trip.

He then accompanied our group through every leg of the journey, handling bags, boarding passes, bush plane logistics, and making sure each day’s itinerary unfolded seamlessly – all while sharing his deep knowledge of the area, the culture, and the impressive A&K Philanthropy projects throughout the region. Whether you book one of A&K’s small group journeys or a fully private Tailor Made trip, you get this kind of on-the-ground shepherding the entire experience.

The brand even expanded its prowess in the region to debut the brand’s signature luxury lodges, A&K Sanctuary, which they own and operate. Olonana Lodge in Kenya’s Masai Mara (the area that inspired The Lion King) was A&K’s original camp that was recently renovated. In Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the newly rebuilt Baines’ Lodge offers just six intimate suites, making it ideal for couples seeking something truly private. There’s also the brand-new Kitirua Plains Lodge, A&K Sanctuary’s newest addition, and the freshly renovated Gorilla Forest Lodge for those drawn to primate trekking.

Now A&K Travel Group (which includes a large portfolio including Abercrombie & Kent, A&K Sanctuary, Crystal Cruises, Ecoventura, and more), the company continues to operate with the same ultra luxury, don’t-lift-a-finger access to extraordinary destinations and experiences. 

Geoffrey Kent, now Chairman Emeritus, is still actively involved and still curating adventures, including some of the coveted A&K Private Jet Journeys. A&K just announced a curated journey led by Kent himself to experience Rio Carnival, Iguazú Falls, and the magic of Brazil.

It all started with a young man, a bold idea, and two savvy Texans. If that’s not an origin story we can claim, I don’t know what is.