Charles, or our Charlie, fell in love with Kenya and wanted to stay, but the maps made him curious. He wanted to further explore the country and the continent. On the side, he organized safaris for expats and volunteers. The first friends and family came to visit, and he showed them his Kenya: not the tourist attractions, but the real Kenya! Everyone was thrilled. Charles decided it was time for everyone to experience authentic Africa – thus, Charlie’s Travels was born.
On his motorcycle, Charles traveled around East Africa for two years: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. He got to know the countries well, made friends, entered into collaborations, and established new off the beaten track routes that showed people the real, authentic Africa.
His travelers were extremely enthusiastic about this new way of traveling and recommended Charlie’s Travels to their friends. His inbox overflowed with requests, and he couldn’t handle it all by himself anymore. The Jungle Villa was born: a compound in the forests of Kenya where we could live and work with a large team and from where we could continue to develop new trips.
The continent is vast & diverse: to continue charting new, unique routes, you need to be on the ground. This sparked the ambition to create a work lifestyle community with all the Charlies, where we can live and work in different regions across the continent. This way, there’s always a “home” and a warm welcome. This year, our team was reinforced by Charlies residing in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Madagascar.
As a company, you have a societal function. We see fair business practices as the way forward! With off the beaten track travel, we strive to make a positive economic impact on local partners & communities. Don’t lose sight of the cultural impact when introducing people to tourism for the first time: travel is a cultural exchange that works both ways. We offset all CO2 emissions from flights and transportation by supporting local reforestation projects. How to do business in a good, sustainable way is an ongoing process for which people within the team have been assigned responsibility for development!
In two years, the company grew from a one-man operation to a team of 35 Africa enthusiasts, all passionate about showing and experiencing the real Africa through our stories and self-developed routes!
We don’t want to keep off the beaten track Africa exclusive to the residents of our small country. In the coming years, we aim to introduce more Western European countries to our style of travel! An inevitable consequence of having more travellers is to continue discovering new routes and experiences!
Charles, known to many as Charlie, was the father of our company, Charlie’s Travels. Many know him as the adventurer who traversed Africa on his motorcycle to discover new places for all his future clients. In search of off the beaten track adventure, real connections with the local people, so that they, the customers, could truly experience Africa. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Charles on December 29th. But his legacy will live on, and we at Charlie’s Travels will continue his goal and his mission. To fulfill his dream, his mission.
The African continent comprises 54 countries and is incredibly diverse. Five years after the birth of the Jungle Villa in Nairobi, we want Charlie’s Travels’ work and travel hubs to be spread across the entire continent: North, East, South, West, and Central. To introduce people to the beauty of these diverse cultures and countries, Charlie’s Travels continues to evolve, always coming up with new routes! We aim to be on the ground to be the #1 specialist when it comes to off the beaten track travel through Africa!
The team lives and works all over Africa and therefore has a lot of first-hand knowledge and experience.
Wherever Charlie and his team travel, they develop new routes and experiences together with local entrepreneurs.
We tailor each trip based on your wishes and our African knowledge. Everything is possible and nothing is too crazy! Give us a try?
Charlie’s Travels works together with local partners and contributes to CO2 projects to offset environmental pollution.
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