Welcome to another episode of the Luxury Travelers podcast, hosted by Rodney George. Today, Rodney is joined by Anna Pinto of Micato Safaris, recognized as the number-one safari operator by Travel + Leisure for ten consecutive years. In this episode, Anna offers an insider’s perspective on what makes Micato a top choice for luxury safaris, from her Kenyan upbringing to the personalized, immersive experiences travelers can expect. With adventures ranging from hot air balloon breakfasts among wildlife to horseback riding alongside zebras, Micato’s safaris bring guests closer to Africa’s natural wonders. Anna also highlights Micato’s meaningful "one-for-one" program, which funds education for a child in need for every guest who travels with them, creating a lasting impact in Kenyan communities.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [2:01] Anna describes why Micato Safaris has been named #1 in Travel and Leisure Magazine for consecutive years
• [3:04] Anna shares her childhood growing up in Kenya
• [7:42] Anna discusses how Micato Safaris has evolved
• [10:07] The Micato Safari experience - what to expect
• [13:53]  A typical safari day
• [19:29]  What luxuries Micato offers and all tips are included
• [22:37] Anna explains their philanthropic effort of educating children 

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• Kenya has a significant role in global food exports, particularly in mushroom production, where it is ranked as the world’s largest exporter. During COVID-19, Kenya prioritized food exports by keeping borders open for produce shipments to Europe, highlighting its role as a vital food supplier. Locally, farming families also supplied essential foods like mushrooms, vegetables, eggs, milk, pork, and beef—supporting European and Kenyan communities.
• A Mikado Safaris offers a range of immersive activities beyond traditional animal site-seeing drives, including hot air balloon rides with breakfast in the wild, horseback riding alongside zebras and giraffes, and hiking and biking through breathtaking landscapes. These unique experiences allow guests to engage closely with the animals, who are often as curious about visitors as we are about them.
• Mikado Safaris has a powerful "one-for-one" program in its African philanthropic efforts. For every guest that travels with Mikado, they sponsor the education of a child who otherwise wouldn’t have access to schooling. Through this initiative, thousands of children have been educated. To witness the impact firsthand, guests are invited to visit AmericaShare, Mikado’s nonprofit organization. AmericaShare has established a library and a computer center with over 100 computers, providing clean drinking water for the local community. The organization also supports students through employment, helping create lasting change in Kenyan communities.

RESOURCES:

Luxury Travelers - Podcast

Luxe Travel - Website

Luxe Travel - Facebook

Luxe Travel - Instagram

Micato Safaris - Website

Anna Pinto - X

GUEST BIOGRAPHY: Anna Pinto 

Anastasia “Anna” Pinto serves as executive director of Micato Safaris, a family-owned company founded by her parents in Kenya. She’s the second generation of amazing Micato women, as her mother Jane, who represented Kenya in the Olympics in table tennis, is also still involved as a founder and often welcomes Micato guests for meals in her Nairobi home (and still sits on the board of the International Table Tennis Federation). A Southern Californian, Anna spends her days as the West Coast face of Micato, heading up its worldwide sales efforts and logging countless air hours traveling the globe on the company’s behalf. Her background is set firmly in the hospitality business, having been an executive with Hyatt Hotels in both the South Pacific and North America. Anna was born and raised in Kenya, spending her undergraduate years in the U.S. at St. Lawrence University in the beautiful Adirondacks of New York.

So buckle up and prepare for a journey into the lap of luxury. Now your host.

Um, this, this afternoon, this morning, uh, we have with us Anna Pinto, who has one of the most interesting backgrounds in all of travel, but I want to first tell you that her company, Mikado Safaris, [00:01:15] has I have to read this every time, has been named travel and leisure's number one best safari outfitter for an unprecedented 10 times.

So Anna, welcome, welcome, welcome to the show.

Rodney George: Well, and there's probably, uh, not very many people on the planet that know more about safaris and [00:01:45] luxury safaris in Africa than you and your, your entire family.

Anna Pinto: Well, I guess I'd like to take all the credit, but it's really not me. I'm, I'm out there, um, doing this, the selling and promoting, um, uh, the family business, but it's really my parents and the [00:02:15] destination, uh, um, a team in, in our destinations that are out there with our guests, um, that are delivering Um, you know, a luxury safari in a third world country, that's not always easy.

Rodney George: Well, and flawless it seems to be because, uh, every time we send [00:02:45] someone on a Mikado Safari, they come back, uh, raving about it. And, and the good thing is they tell all their friends.

Anna Pinto: Well, that's what we want to hear.

Anna Pinto: I think I'm a, I was a privileged child. I, uh, I didn't, school didn't really, was never something I really loved doing and living in Africa, I got to, uh, [00:03:15] to play a lot.

I was always allowed to have 15 dogs, no more. And so at nighttime, my mother would have to corral [00:03:45] them in because the leopard loves dog. It's a delicacy for them. Ooh. So the animals, the dogs would be corralled in the house and I was allowed to have four dogs to sleep with me every night. Needless to say, I had a very stinky room, uh, that had to be [00:04:00] aired out and sheets washed every day.

So we, you know, it was like living on safari, really. Um, and, Growing up, I had a pet monkey that I grew up with. Uh, we had [00:04:30] a giraffe that lived with us for many years, uh, before it got released back into the wild. Um, and Saturdays were a wonderful time because I would put on my Wellington boots and walk the farm and I would have every animal following me, whether they were [00:04:45] geese or turkeys or ducks or cows or Bulls and cats and rabbits.

Rodney George: Except on those rare mornings when you found out that one of your favorite pets had been taken overnight.[00:05:15]

Anna Pinto: Yeah, not, not good, which meant I wouldn't go to school for a week. So, cause it was very, very traumatic.

Anna Pinto: Yes. Which three generations Kenyan, but originally from India.

So we exported, uh, [00:06:00] mushrooms to Europe. Um, Kenya actually, um, as a, as a, it's a huge producer of mushrooms. Vegetables to Europe during COVID. Kenya shut their borders between March and September. No flights were allowed to come in or out [00:06:15] except for the flights that would take in produce to feed Europe. Um, so, um, growing vegetables was a big part of what my family also did and growing up on the farm and providing mushrooms and eggs and milk [00:06:30] and bacon.

And so she decided, well, what better way than to start a company? And, um, take [00:07:00] people doing what she loved best. Um, it really wasn't like a job. It was again, going on vacation, you know, most times. So that's really how we, we got started. It was really my mom. Um, we never expected it to grow as it did. And one thing led to [00:07:15] another and my dad got involved.

And before we knew it, my brother was involved and my aunt and my cousins and kicking and screaming. I got dragged into the business.

Anna Pinto: Yep. So I would say about 30 years ago, most [00:07:45] of our business was pretty much, uh, people that were in the sixties and seventies and retired. Uh, today we notice that our demographics, uh, it's, it's. Changed quite often, quite, quite a lot, you know, from, [00:08:00] um, the honeymooners, um, that want to do more of a destination honeymoon, a little more luxurious.

Grandparents, the parents, the kids, grandkids.

article. I didn't even see it until it was printed. But the, the, the title they came up with was take the kids and pick up the tab. [00:09:15]

Anna Pinto: Well, like, like I say to the grandparents, they're spending the inheritance of their children really. So why not? Because it's wonderful memories for the grandkids,

Everybody shows up.

Anna Pinto: Of course. Why would they, why would you have a no show? And these

Anna Pinto: Yeah.

Rodney George: There's a ton of folks that are watching this podcast that have never been on a safari.

Anna Pinto: Sure. So once we talked to somebody and they've decided. They want to go out on safari. We asked the [00:10:15] questions, why do they want to go on safari? Is it, um, to visit a great city? Is it to, um, enjoy fine wine?

on the safari. A few months before they leave, they receive, um, packing [00:11:00] information. They receive, um, lists of what books they should read or what movies they should see. And then, you know, at the time we send them the goodies. We send them a, a Mikado duffel bag. with a handle and wheels. Um, because when you're flying [00:11:15] in the destination, the planes are small and they, the soft side duffels are wonderful to squish in the planes.

Rodney George: You know, that walking them through customs and immigration is, is really high touch because I remember the first time I went to Africa, I didn't have that. I didn't travel with Mikado the first time, but I didn't have that. And it was like, [00:12:00] You know, talk about the old song, stranger in a strange land. I was there and I felt lost as a goose, but you guys make it absolutely seamless.

They identify their [00:12:30] bags. Um, we then introduce them to their safari director who travels with them throughout from the moment they meet this person, this person is with them the entire time they're traveling with us. So if they've got any allergies or they're a [00:12:45] vegan, it's his job or her job to let them know.

[00:13:15] And then you go off on safari. It's usually about an hour's flight to the destination. You're flying these wonderful planes and the pilot will, you know, Buzz over the animals that are on the airstrip and they all scatter and, and then he lands and there are the Mikado [00:13:30] vehicles to welcome you, um, and you're about half an hour away from the lodge.

So, um, so I'll tell you what a typical day on safari is. Basically you get up early in the morning, they wake you up at [00:14:00] about 6 30. Um, your room steward will come in with coffee or tea or hot chocolate in my case and croissants and cookies. And then you come down to the lobby. And you can have another cup of coffee and tea and you meet your safari director and then you go out into the vehicles.

Uh, and then you view the animals for a few hours, you come back to the lodge or camp, and it's a full buffet. Um, so it's [00:14:45] eggs and bacon and sausages and pastries and. all the cereals, um, fresh fruits and green juices and whatever yogurts. Um, and so you just sit and you enjoy your breakfast often at the camps and lodges.

Lunch is usually again at buffet. So you can help yourself to salads. If you're like me, I started the dessert section and then work backwards. Um, and then in the afternoon, [00:15:30] you can take a nap, um, get a massage. And then about 3. 30, being a good former British colony, it's tea time. So once again, you eat in, it's very much like a cruise, you constantly eat in if you want, you will gain five pounds.[00:15:45]

Why not on

Rodney George: safari?

To dinner dinner is usually a sit down meal, usually a soup [00:16:30] course and then fish and then a meat course or vegetarian. If you're vegetarian, a nice dessert, coffee and cheese, and you're usually in bed by nine, nine 30. Um, because you're up early in the morning. Um, the [00:16:45] nights are my favorite time because it is.

The animals can't really get to them. Most of the lodges and camps have electric fences, which we can't see. The animals know [00:17:15] they're there. So they have no interest to try and come in to visit us. So, you know, so, um, so that's pretty much a typical day on safari. Now that lots of things you can do on safari, you can go, um, hot air ballooning, which is, um, I always say, if you're going to go [00:17:30] on a hot air balloon, don't do it in palms, Palm Springs,

Rodney George: you

Anna Pinto: know, do it, do it in Africa where you're sailing.

Right. Um, so you enjoy your morning. Um, so that's one of the excursions you can do. You can, um, go horseback riding alongside the zebra and the giraffe. Um, and that's always a fun thing to do. So there are lots of activities. You can go [00:18:15] hiking, you can go biking, you can go for a, for a walk with, uh, with your dog.

With one of the trackers, um, so you're kept pretty busy. Most people are tired by the time you get to bed.

And so as, as it says in the Bible, the first shall be last, as you go to the end of the line and follow the other plane or planes in for your landing. So if you want, if you have a first thing, [00:19:00] like I always want to be first. Don't get in the first plane because you're not going to land. That first plane is not going to land.

Usually.

Anna Pinto: Well, I won't be following you, Rodney.

Anna Pinto: [00:19:30] So luxury. You know, luxury is, um, a big word.

Um, the pillows are down pillows. Um, the showers, hot and cold showers. Um, you know, meals, uh, the food is just superb. And like I said, you will gain at least five pounds. [00:20:15] So it's always interesting because everybody takes their granola bars and all their treats and their Snickers. And at the end of the trip, they have all this candy that they're eating.

It could be Indian. It could be Thai. It could just be straight steaks. If I'm a [00:20:45] steak lover, so I'm quite happy having steak. You know, three diets a week. Um, and if there's something that you want or crave or, um, you know, the chefs, uh, are very well trained. So they're, they're willing, they want to please, they want to come out [00:21:00] and talk to you about what they're cooking.

We really try and make it, you know, seamless. We don't want to be, um, nickel and [00:21:45] diamond. We really want you to feel, if you want to go and dine in a different restaurant when you're in a city with us, we will give you a complimentary car and driver and take you to the restaurant and we will even pick up the tab for you.

Rodney George: I went kicking and screaming the first time I went to Africa and I I've gone [00:22:15] every chance I had since to go back. So it's, but real quick, because we're running out of time.

Anna Pinto: So we call it our one for one program. So for every person that travels with us, we educate a child, a [00:22:45] child that wouldn't get the opportunity to go to school.

Uh, there's a library that we have built. Um, there's a computer center with [00:23:15] 100, 100 plus computers for the, um, The local community to come in and enjoy. We provide local drinking water, fresh water for the, for the, um, community. Um, and for a lot of these children, they would never have [00:23:30] this education. So we pick one child per family.

Rodney George: Well, it's [00:24:00] truly amazing because I, I, I've, Been to Africa several times and I've been to some of the schools and seeing the children getting educated and they're so happy. They're so, they're so eager. And so they're like sponges. They just soak that [00:24:15] learning opportunity up. And you guys are awesome with what you do, uh, with the children there to take.

Children that would never have had a chance for that education.

And for these children, they have very little. You know, the education [00:24:45] is their world. They feel super wealthy that they're going to go to school and, uh, come back with an education, you know,

Uh, but I really, really appreciate you being here with us today. And, and I know our listeners will really enjoy digging a little bit deeper. And, uh, if they have questions, we'd encourage them to give us a call because [00:25:15] we have 10 ladies in our office, including me. I get, I get, I get the easiest job in the world.

Anna Pinto: Thank you so much.

Voiceover: for joining us on the luxury travelers podcast. For more information, head on over to luxury travelers, podcast. com to connect with our [00:26:15] team or leave us a message until next time safe travels and savor the [00:26:30] extraordinary.