Ella Collins

My path into safari travel was anything but conventional. I was working on a polo farm in New Zealand when a client arrived to buy horses and happened to be heading off on a horseback safari in Kenya. Years later, when burnout hit during a stint in London, I reached out to Classic Safari Company co-founder Julie on a whim. She didn’t need help with the horses — but she could use a hand selling horseback safaris. I said yes, and I’ve never looked back. My very first famil trip was a horseback safari in Kenya, so the adventure I’d nearly stumbled into years earlier finally came full circle.

I officially joined The Classic Safari Company in 2014, and it still thrills me. I get a genuine rush every time I step on a plane, and I find it effortless to talk about these experiences because my enthusiasm is completely real.

My expertise lies in active and adventure travel — horse riding safaris, walking safaris, and I was among the first to complete the Great Walk of Africa. I’m also drawn to the less-travelled destinations: Ethiopia, Malawi, the Congo. I love finding the extraordinary places that most people never reach.

Two travel memories stay with me above all others. Arriving by motorboat at sunset to Kuthengo Camp on Malawi’s Shire River after a gruelling overland journey — the silence, the light, the cool breeze — it felt like pure relief and pure joy at once. And flying out of the Congo over an endless green canopy of jungle, feeling a profound mix of gratitude and awe I don’t think I’ll ever fully put into words.