Micato Safaris FAQs

Why Choose a Luxury Safari with Micato

How does a luxury safari company amaze and excel for more than 50 years? By a cheerfully relentless dedication to service and innovation… one of the reasons why Travel+Leisure says we treat our guests like well-loved family. Those familial values inspire the many Micato Differences.

What Makes Micato Different?

• Travel+Leisure has named Micato the #1 World’s Best Safari Outfitter an unprecedented nine times. We were also named Travel+Leisure World’s Best Value on every poll ever taken and we’re the only tour operator in Travel+Leisure’s Hall of Fame.
• Micato Africa founders Felix and Jane Pinto are native Kenyans who live in Africa. They, along with the rest of the Micato team, are available to consult with you at any time about whatever you may want or need. And the Pinto Family’s long history and established standing throughout Africa enables “only with Micato” access to extraordinary people, places, and experiences.
• Dine at home with the Pintos. Share a meal with Felix and Jane Pinto in Nairobi or with Pinto family friends in Cape Town or Johannesburg. You’ll get a rare and beloved insider’s view of Africa while experiencing a truly authentic African feast.
• Itineraries perfected by generations of experience and local knowledge.
• Luxurious camps and lodges – obsessively, continually curated.
• Only Micato includes a highly-credentialed, Silver or Gold-level Safari Director on every trip in East Africa — in addition to a well-versed Driver Guide. Two dynamic, exuberant experts instead of the solitary driver most companies provide.
• Only Micato offers a wonder-working Concierge Team on safari, available in person or phone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from just about anywhere a Micato safari will take you, from deep in the bush to downtown Nairobi. They’re poised to meet last-minute, unexpected, and unusual requests. Forgot a prescription? Lost your reading glasses? Craving your favourite snack? Just pick up the phone.
• No tipping. Ever. No exceptions. Years ago Micato established the groundbreaking industry policy of including all gratuities, even substantial ones to Safari Directors, Driver-Guides, Trackers and Rangers, in addition to our usual inclusions of waiters, porters… and everyone else, from beginning to end of your luxury safari. We’ve completely removed the anxiety about when to reach into your pocket for a gratuity, as well as figuring out how much.
• All meals included, too. Moreover, you may decide on-the-spot to dine at a restaurant of your choice on a Micato Custom Safari and we’ll happily pick up the tab. Africa has astonishing culinary choices and there are virtually no limits to where and how often you can indulge. And no worries about making reservations or finding hot spots before you travel; we’ve got that covered; perhaps one reason SAVEUR magazine named Micato Safaris Best Culinary Tour Operator.
• Drinks are on us during mealtimes. East and South Africa have an evolving selection of regional wines and craft beer, so we’re delighted to include wine and beer as well as bottled water, and soft drinks. And in Southern Africa we often pick up the tab for spirits, too.
• Valet laundry service included everywhere, every day. You can pack less and even return home with a bag of clean clothes… now that’s luxury.
• Our small-group, boutique luxury safaris never number more than 18 guests and quite often only 12, or fewer. That means more personalized attention from your Micato Safari Directors and Driver-Guides at every turn.

Wait, there’s more!

• Every Micato Safaris departure is 100% guaranteed to operate, even with just one guest. We have never cancelled a trip.
• No needless drives between lodges and camps. Our use of myriad internal flights saves many, many hours of driving, giving you more time to relish the unique Micato Moments that abound on every departure, from bush cocktails to breathtaking walking safaris. Less time getting there means more time being there.
• That said, we want you to be very comfortable, so every last one of our luxuriously stocked, 4-wheel drive custom safari vehicles has cool beverages and snacks, a pair of Nikon binoculars for each guest, animal and bird guidebooks, and bean bags for stabilizing long lenses. Plus every guest is guaranteed a window seat to maximize viewing pleasure.
• With Micato, you’re always connected… our safari vehicles throughout Africa have complimentary Wi-Fi. You won’t have to wait hours to share your safari snaps with friends. And when you tag your social media posts with #micatosafaris we’ll help you rub in the fact that you’re having the time of your life.
• Micato guests also receive complimentary Wi-Fi wherever else it exists, including every luxurious camp and lodge. You may not want to keep in contact with the outside world… but it’s nice to know you can!
• Safari luggage you’ll flaunt. We teamed up with Marmot to create the best lightweight, stylish safari duffel with a retractable handle and wheels, specially designed for the luggage holds of bush planes … a one-of-a-kind bag that would retail for hundreds of dollars if you could buy it… but you can’t! And the bag is roomy, too, so you’re free to collect hand-beaded jewels and uniquely carved African treasures.
• We’re tapped into an extensive safety network: Micato is connected with top-flight security and advisory networks in the U.S. and Africa, which gives our ground teams the best resources to respond to any situation quickly. Also, the services of East Africa’s famous Flying Doctors are included in every safari as part of Micato’s comprehensive Passenger Protection Program, ensuring that medical treatment and emergency transportation are available to Micato travellers should the need arise.
• It’s also nice to know you can work out in the privacy of your room thanks to our handy Gym in a Bag, equipped with a yoga mat, jump rope, and various stretch bands and weights. And while you’d certainly burn calories lugging the bag, you won’t have to! Your Micato Safari Director will transport it from lodging to lodging throughout your safari.
• Micato Safaris has won five Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards: Three for Education and two for “Doing It All” — an unprecedented honour for any tour company. And we received the first-ever Legacy in Travel Philanthropy Award from Tourism Cares.
• Forbes calls Micato “the Rolls-Royce of the safari world.” Need we say more? We don’t have to, Forbes does.
• We’re fans of letting other major media outlets sing our praises, too! Micato has received high praise from Travel+Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Robb Report, Departures, AFAR, National Geographic Traveler, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and many other publications.
• Why not request our award winning, full-colour 166-page brochure? It will give you an exceptionally clear-eyed look at the high quality of our safaris.
• For every safari sold, we send an African child to school. Your safari will change a life.