Africa is not what we do. It's who we are.
Mangwara
Mangwara is a bespoke safari company built on one simple belief: that the best way to share Africa is to truly know it. We're Droo and Sarah, the founders of Mangwara, and between us we have spent a lifetime exploring, living and breathing this incredible continent. Droo grew up on a farm in Kenya, and Sarah was raised in the wilds of Botswana. Aside from school and university in the UK, Africa is all we have ever known — and we wouldn't have it any other way. We now call Kenya home, where we're raising our daughter Georgiana with the same wonder for this land that has shaped us both. Mangwara was built on that passion. Every journey we create is personal, deeply considered and crafted with the kind of insider knowledge that can only come from a life truly lived here. We can't wait to share it with you.
Founder
Sarah Fernandes
Sarah has lived in Africa her whole life, apart from schooling in Scotland. She didn't come to safari travel through a brochure or a gap year; she came to it through lived experience, a genuine passion for the bush and an understanding of Africa that can only come from truly making it your home. That first-hand knowledge is the foundation of everything Mangwara does. Sarah knows the camps, the countries and the rhythms of the continent intimately, and brings that expertise; along with trusted relationships built over decades, to every itinerary she designs. For Sarah, a great safari isn't just about where you go. It's about coming back changed.
Founder
Droo Fernandes
Droo was raised on a farm in Northern Kenya. After school and university in the UK, there was never any question of where life would take him next. He came home to Kenya, and he has never looked back.
Over the years Droo has built a career working across farming, land management and hospitality — gaining the kind of broad, hands-on understanding of Kenya that no guidebook could ever teach. He knows how this country works from the inside out: its landscapes, its communities, its rhythms and its extraordinary wildlife. Today he lives with his family in the bush outside Nanyuki. When he plans a journey, it comes from a place of genuine, lived experience — not a brochure.
Founder
Georgiana Fernandes
Georgiana has been raised in the bush outside Nanyuki, her childhood has been shaped by wide open skies, wild animals on the doorstep and a deep, instinctive love for the natural world. Horses have been a constant passion — she has spent her early years riding across the Kenyan landscape that few children anywhere in the world are lucky enough to know.
Now coming to the end of her school years in the UK, Georgiana carries that wild, open-hearted spirit with her wherever she goes. The bush will always be home, and her love of riding and animals remains as strong as ever.
She is the next chapter of Mangwara — growing up steeped in everything her parents have built, with a genuine connection to Kenya and a fresh, young perspective on the Africa she has always called home.
Mangwara
Decades of experience
A lifetime in Africa teaches you things no guidebook ever could. The camps that consistently deliver magic. The hidden corners most operators never find. The seasonal rhythms that turn a good safari into an extraordinary one. At Mangwara, that accumulated knowledge is our greatest asset; built not from behind a desk, but from years of exploring the continent first-hand, forging relationships with the people who know it best and listening carefully to every client who has trusted us with their journey.
The result is a depth of expertise that shows in every itinerary we design. We know how to craft something that feels genuinely tailored to you; because over the years, we’ve learned that no two travellers, and no two safaris, are ever quite the same.
Mangwara
Sustainable travel
Africa’s wild places are not guaranteed. They exist because communities, conservancies and the people who love this continent have fought hard to protect them, and responsible tourism is one of the most powerful tools they have. At Mangwara, sustainability isn’t a box we tick. It’s a conviction we’ve held since long before it became an industry talking point.
We work exclusively with camps and operators who share our values; those who invest in local communities, protect wildlife corridors, minimise their environmental footprint and understand that the long-term survival of Africa’s wild spaces depends on getting this right. When you travel with Mangwara, you’re not just experiencing Africa at its finest. You’re playing a small but meaningful part in making sure it stays that way.
Photography credits
With thanks to the following photographers and properties for the use of their images across our website. If you think we’re missing any, please let us know and we’ll add your credit immediately:
Tropic Air, Wilderness Safaris, Niels Van Gijn, Singita, Chiawa Safaris, Natural Selection, Kenya Choppers, Bush and Beyond, Sirikoi Lodge, And Beyond, Ol Jogi, Time and Tide and Bobby Sandeman
