Timeless Africa Safaris Company Credentials

Timeless Africa Safaris began with our CEO, Marco van Embden’s first safari experience over thirty years ago, where he was so moved by an up-close encounter with a female lion striding haughtily down the center of the road, yellow eyes blazing, powerful muscles rippling, that it sparked his own lifelong love of Africa.

Combining this with his passion for people and organising, he soon found himself helping to organise safaris for friends and friends-of-friends. As a networker, a perfectionist and global traveller, he brought his own unique approach to Africa travel, aiming to source the most incredible destinations, plan the most extraordinary experiences and complete them with special details and thoughtful touches that made each safari unique to the humans experiencing them.

Over the years, the company has grown and attracted a team of like-minded people who share his passion and commitment to looking after guests, giving them memorable journeys, and sending them home richer in spirit and memories.

A large part of our success over the years has been the relationships we have built – with our varied suppliers and partners all over Africa as well as our agents from all over the world. Cherishing people’s time, conserving African wildlife, honesty & speedy communication are the key pillars of how we work.

The Timeless Africa Safaris team consists of 18 dedicated travel professionals with a collective experience of over 200 years. We are based in Cape Town, South Africa.

• We are your personal connection in Africa, we form long-standing, one-on-one relationships with our agents, offering guidance and support throughout the planning, during the trip and post-trip follow-up.
• We operate in 14 countries in Southern & East Africa, covering all the major safari countries of as well as the Indian Ocean Islands. Over the years we have hand-selected key partners to work with to ensure your clients receive the same level of service you would expect, no matter where they travel. We also specialise in Urban Safaris, with exceptional city-based stays where your guests get to meet local personalities, can choose from a diverse range of activities, and enjoy very local foodie experiences.
• We are an owner-run company. Our CEO is personally involved in all aspects of the business. We are not a large corporation, but intimate and focused on each one of our agents and their needs.
• There is no doubt we are passionate about what we do, our goal is to treat guests’ travel arrangements as we would our own. With very high levels of personalisation and attention to detail.
• We are experts in Southern and East Africa, based in Cape Town with over 21 years of track record in the travel industry and over 200 combined years of experience. Our Luxury Travel Managers have been travelling and sending guests to Africa for many years and have at least 10 years of industry experience each. Our Travel Managers travel to our destinations on a regular basis to ensure we can sell first-hand experiences and ensure quality control.
• We allocate a dedicated Luxury Travel Manager to each of our agents, who will offer guidance and support throughout the planning and during the trip phases of your clients’ travels.
• We are not a “cookie-cutter” type business, we work with you to create tailor-made itineraries for your clients that suit their interests, budget, profile, and other travel needs.
• We’re on the ground & on hand 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As we are based in Africa, we can react in real time. You will receive our personal mobile numbers, which you are welcome to use outside working hours for urgent queries. So, you are dealing with a real person and are not just a number. Whilst your guests are in-country our Travel Manager will check in with the client and suppliers on a regular basis and offer feedback to you.
• We have a deep understanding of what it means to travel through multiple countries and across multiple borders; and will advise on all aspects required for each destination, to make it as seamless as possible for your clients. We have appointed a Timeless Guest Experience Lead who analyzes each itinerary to ensure absolute perfection for each journey.
• We play open cards in terms of finances – you will receive a detailed quote per client. Our terms and conditions are clearly laid out and your client’s funds are ring-fenced until such time as they are needed to secure services.
• We are technology-driven and offer white-labeled marketing material from interactive digital itineraries which you can share directly with your guests, collateral, newsletters, brochures, blog and social media content. We have an in-house designed Travel Portal, which is your private, online space where we share important documents and other information with you.

Our long-standing agent partner based in the US, whom we have been working together since 2018:

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to commend Timeless Africa Safaris (TAS) in this world of extraordinarily trying times for the global tourism industry. If not for the exemplary services of TAS, I have no doubt my travel consulting business would have foundered in the last year or so. In mid-2019 I established a working relationship with TAS. I operate from outside South Africa with discriminating clients predominately from the US, who travel to Southern Africa and East Africa. At the beginning of 2020, we were working on four active trips, and I was excited to bring them to fruition. Covid struck and the world shut down. Suddenly we didn’t know the answers to anything, yet TAS quickly helped assemble options for the clients. It was hugely reassuring for me and for the clients to have TAS on my team. TAS personnel were professional, patient, and resourceful, clearly benefitting from well- established relationships and experience in the trade, invaluable in times of crisis. TAS provided services of the ultimate DMC. All clients in process elected to postpone their trips, some to 2021, others to 2022. Itineraries were reworked, some were reimagined altogether. Those who traveled in 2021 returned with glowing reports, not only of their trips, but especially of the smooth ways the logistics were managed on the ground (by TAS). TAS took care of the details, so the clients never had to worry. TAS stayed on top of each country’s changing covid testing requirements, helped clients make testing appointments at required times at places and in ways that provided minimal detraction from enjoying their vacations. TAS vetted safety precautions and protocols at numerous properties and offered welcome reassurance to overseas travelers. In this world of rapid change and scary challenges, my travel business is fortified by the partnership with TAS. Its solid reputation and solid reliability have been key to not only keeping our current clients happy but also receiving the compliment of word-of-mouth recommendations to new clients.”

MARTINA BASED IN SPAIN – “Working with Timeless Africa Safaris has been truly amazing. I met Casey and Robin at a convention in 2022, We Are Africa, Cape Town. This convention allows buyers and providers to meet and create future relationships. Once we connected, it was an instant click, as we also run a very similar agency back in Spain. In August 2023, we organized a luxury trip to South Africa and Mozambique for our Spanish clients, and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Zita, one of the travel agents from Timeless Africa Safaris, was our agent for the entire trip, and her attention to detail and organization was impeccable. She personally welcomed our clients upon their arrival, provided us with invaluable advice about the destinations, which we then passed on to our clients, and was consistently available for us at all times. It was a truly amazing experience collaborating with you. I am certain we will work together again in the future. Warm regards from Spain.”

ANGELA BASED IN SOUTH AFRICA – “Once again, we really enjoyed working with you & thank you for all your work that went into ensuring we delivered successful trips to our corporate client. Which they certainly were! We hope to be able to work with you again in the future (would love to get a group to Rwanda one day!).”

SYLVAIN BASED IN MIAMI – “I do not want another day to go by without thanking you for the fantastic, and perhaps more importantly, seamless trip, you put together for my clients!! You had a group of fairly high-maintenance older travelers with distinct wants and needs and yet you managed to move them through the wilds of Africa with nary a hitch nor inconvenience, smooth and wonderful sailing all the way, with easy adjustments when adjustments were necessary, and thoughtful & needed surprise gifts at just the right times.”

AGENT PARTNER BASED IN USA – “Thanks for your hard work on this trip, Holly. I know COVID made it quite trying at times, but it all ended very well. They were very grateful for your efficient help with the last-minute changes.”

AGENT PARTNER BASED IN USA – “Bravo, well done! They loved their trip. They are ready to go back next year! It was very nice to arrive in an unfamiliar airport and see someone holding a sign with their name on it. We made this a very easy trip for them. So much less stressful.”

YOUNG PRESIDENTS ORGANIZATION (YPO)

Marco is a YPO Cape Town Chapter Founding Member and Hickok Award Honoree. Has served on the Board of YPO International in various capacities since 1991. He served as Executive Chairman of the YPO Board in 2002-2003. He chaired the very successful Cape Town 2000 University. He started chapters in various countries all over the world including Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nairobi, Warsaw and Moscow. He is a passionate YPO-er who has served the organization well for many years and carries a wealth of institutional memory. Timeless Africa Safaris has put together trips for thousands of YPO members since 2002 including family trips, multi-generational family trips, business trips and chapter & forum retreats. YPO refers chapter & forum retreats, families & couples to Timeless Africa Safaris on a consistent basis. We have been showcased at 8 YPO Global Leadership conferences & YPO Edge conferences. We were the official travel company organizing the pre and post travel around the YPO GLC & EDGE in Cape Town, in March 2019 and assisted over 350 YPOers with their travels.

FEEDBACK FROM YPO GLC & EDGE 2019 – “Marco brings enormous passion, energy, commitment, creativity, and experience to every project he is involved with. The quality I value most in Marco is his honesty, and his ability and willingness to speak up and try to fix a situation that is in need of a fix. He works collaboratively and with a win-win attitude and does an amazing job in coming up with great ideas and solutions. Marco has great leadership qualities, and people trust him.” Reference from David Cook – YPO Executive Director of Events

CHIEF EXECUTIVES ORGANISATION (CEO): We have worked with CEO for over 2 years.

“We highly appreciated you and your teams support for the CEO event in South Africa. With your network and support we were able to attract very able and highly visible speakers and guides. The organisation of the event was smooth and flexible – exactly what you expect and need for such a demanding group of participants. The overall rating for the event of all the participants was a clear ‘outstanding’. Thank you again for your support and thanks again to your team,

Dieter Ammer – Comment on an 8 day luxury tailor-made experience for 30 members to Johannesburg, Cape Town and the Winelands ending with a 3 night Londolozi academy.

THE TATE MUSEUM “One of the best TATE trips ever.” Nathalie Debono, TATE Museum. Comment on Timeless Africa Art Experiences hosting 52 patrons of the TATE Museum, London.

THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM – “The trip was described by the participants as unforgettable.” Mary Ann Talotta, Guggenheim Museum, New York – after a trip for 25 patrons of the Guggenheim in 2015. “Eight gazillion thank yous for going way above and beyond the call of duty for all of us Guggenheimers.” Debi Wisch, patron of the Guggenheim Museum – of her experiences in South Africa with Timeless Africa Art Experiences.

ALIREZA WEDDING: We were the wedding DMC and arranged pre and post travel for a Saudi Arabian couple with guests traveling from across the globe and included captains of industry and highly regarded Saudi families. Reference on request

THE ISRAEL MUSEUM: We have been working with the Friends of the Israel Museum since 2012.

“We travel to absorb experiences just like this, and we could not have done this trip without you! Everything was amazing – the official program, the unofficial program (!), sights, collections, hosts and their incredible warm hospitality – and all of this made us feel very much at home and very much treated to a very special insight into the heart of what makes South Africa unique in our time.” James S. Snyder – Director Emeritus. Comment on a 7-day art and cultural programme in South Africa trip arranged for 65 of the International Friends of the Israel Museum.

MORAN WEDDING – “Belinda I’m lost for words on what just happened this weekend… the guests were so impressed by all the logistical organization… their hands were held as soon as they arrived and left with their hearts full… so thank u again and we hope to see you again soon… much love.” Madi & Mikey Moran (Indonesia) We were the wedding DMC and arranged pre and post travel an Indonesian couple with guests travelling from across the globe to join the international DJ and his bride on their wedding day.

SALIM DEWJI (YPO member & Harvard Business School Alumni): We have been working with Salim Dewji since 2016.

“The wonderful team at Timeless Africa Safaris assisted in organizing the Harvard OPM37 South Africa Retreat in January 2017. The outstanding service received from Timeless Africa Safaris definitely contributed to the great success of our retreat and I would highly recommend them as a preferred Travel Management Company.” Salim Dewji

We worked in conjunction with Salim to organise the Harvard Business School Global Alumni Food, Wine and Art programme around South Africa. We have assisted many friends and contacts of Salim’s on their travels to Africa as well.