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Who
we are
Ontdek Kenya is owned and operated by Peter and Anne Huysman with a team of
experienced Kenyan guides. We
are an active holiday outfitter specialized in Kenya - and
only Kenya. Though it is possible to have other activities in
Kenya, we deliberately restrict our offerings to walking and birding
which we are passionate about. Based on
number of clients we are not a big company and this is how
we wish to be as our focus is on high quality active safaris for discerning
clients. We are convinced we are meeting and exceeding the
expectations of our clients as we have been
recommended by the Lonely Planet, the authoritative travelers guide.
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“Ontdek”
meaning discover in Dutch, has a lot to do with our
background because Peter, a computer programmer by
training, is a Dutch speaking Belgian who
has been living in Kenya since 1995. He is an avid
birdwatcher and a hiker. His first tour to Kenya was in
1993. Wanting to be right in nature and having heard
enough stories about package safaris whose emphasis was
the "big 5" he believed that the camping tour
would be the closest bet in satisfying his interests in
birding and hiking. The tour had a bit of hiking and
self-guided birding whenever time allowed but the level of
comfort and logistics were wanting. |
However with this tour he was hooked to Kenya and upon
settling here in 1995, he traveled extensively in Kenya gaining
deep knowledge of the country. Not surprisingly his first
marketing base was Belgium and The Netherlands but since then our
agents base has expanded to the rest of Europe, UK and US. He has
led many walking and birding tours with a strong emphasis on
“good comfortable accommodation and perfect logistics”. His
love for hiking is quite noticeable in his birding tours because
wherever possible he encourages people to bird outside the
vehicles. Likewise when guiding a hiking trip, he doesn’t
let a birding opportunity pass by. He has trained a very
dependable team of Kenyan staff.
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Anne,
a Kenyan, had her career as an agricultural adviser to
farmers and later as an agriculture teacher in a high
school. This called for a lot of outdoor hours, which she
enjoyed, and making sure that she communicated well –
there is still no better test on this than high school
students. As a co-owner of Ontdek the experience gained in her former
career has become quite handy because she needs to
communicate effectively with her clients, agents and
suppliers. She is also involved in the research and design
of the itineraries where she gives her input as an active
woman who is passionate about walking and birding,
comfortable accommodations, good food and perfect
logistics that make travel safe and stress free.
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While all the tours on offer are of great
importance to her, the Women Tours, which are the latest
addition to Ontdek’s offers, are especially close to
her.
Ontdek
Kenya Ltd is really a family affair. Our two children,
Farzana 10 yrs and Ifenya 8, literally hit the ground on
a walking trail. They have traveled extensively with us in
Kenya and on several occasions done all the walks in our
itineraries. They started by joining the walks in the
baby carriers, now they are young hikers and birders.
Their experience has greatly helped us
when designing tours for families with children. For
example we know that kids want to participate in outdoor activities
as long as their abilities can be accommodated, they don’t like crowded
hotels and neither can they handle daily changing of
hotels.
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All
pictures and text on this web site are the copyright of
Peter and Anne Huysman and they can only be used, with our
consent by agents who sell our tours.
Text, pictures and web design © Peter and Anne Huysman.
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Ontdek =
'discover' in Dutch |
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