About us

WHO WE ARE

Simakade is a safari marketplace, directory, and community platform that connects you with audited lodges, trusted tour operators, expert insights, and real user experiences. The platform guides you through every step of your safari journey — helping you understand what you want, explore destinations, compare options, and either plan your own trip or partner with verified professionals. This process empowers you to find the best-priced, highest-value safari for your needs, while giving the industry a fair, transparent space to showcase its best. The result is better journeys for you, better visibility for stakeholders, and a more responsible, connected safari industry.

HOW IT STARTED

Simakade began long before the platform existed, back when Conner and I only knew one thing for certain: we wanted to connect people through their experiences in Africa. Even before we tried to build a business, we came up with the name Simakade, meaning the connection between all living things, along with our mantra that has guided us for years: connection through experience. We imagined a brand where a symbol, a sculpture, or a piece of apparel could spark conversation, help people share their stories from the bush, and inspire others to visit Africa for themselves.

Our first attempts were sculptures for safari lodges. When that didn’t work out, we tried apparel. Those ideas didn’t take off, but each one taught us something and pushed us closer to what Simakade was meant to become. Throughout every attempt, our purpose never changed. We wanted to build something that connected people to Africa, to each other, and to the experiences that shape them.

After I started my career in travel, I began working directly with guests and quickly realised how confusing the safari world is for first-time travellers. The online space felt crowded and inconsistent. People were reading blogs, watching videos, comparing parks, checking reviews, and scrolling through lodge websites, yet still had no clear or trusted way to understand what was accurate or relevant to them. This created a huge amount of confusion for travellers and a huge amount of work for me. Every day I had to help people unlearn misinformation, explain destinations from scratch, and rebuild their expectations so recommendations actually made sense.

That’s when the idea of building a proper field guide first took root. A central place where travellers could understand Africa clearly and simply before they even spoke to someone in the industry. But I also realised that building a field guide from scratch would be extremely time-consuming and resource heavy. It would solve a real problem for travellers, but it wouldn’t pay for itself. It needed something bigger around it — something that could sustain it, scale it, and justify the effort.

Around that time, I came across an existing safari marketplace model. It made sense. It connected travellers to the industry, centralised information, and generated revenue. But it wasn’t African. It wasn’t born here, built here, or run here. And although it brought tourism into Africa and did more good than harm, it still took money out of Africa. There was no platform dedicated to keeping value in Africa, protecting Africa through African ownership, and ensuring that tourism revenue continued to support the places it depended on.

That’s when everything clicked. If we combined the expert-verified field guide with an African-built marketplace and directory, we could create something powerful. Something that served travellers, supported the industry, and kept revenue where it belonged. Something that aligned with our belief that Africa should build Africa. And most importantly, something that could fund conservation organizations that are pioneers in their fields — a commitment we had from day one. No matter what Simakade became, we always knew it had to uplift conservation and ensure Africa is better tomorrow than today.

I shared these ideas with Conner, and he immediately saw the potential. He shared them with Tom, and soon the three of us were meeting, discussing, refining, and shaping the vision. Conversations stretched for months as we explored what this platform could become. Eventually, I pitched the full evolution: an expert-verified field guide supported by a marketplace and directory that connects travellers with verified lodges, trusted tour operators, and real stories from the people who know Africa best. A platform built on fairness, transparency, truth, and connection.

After months of refining and imagining, Tom decided to invest, and that was the moment Simakade truly began. We finally had the foundation, the structure, and the partnership to build the platform we always envisioned.

Today, everything we build still comes from those original roots — connecting people, sharing experiences, honouring Africa, supporting conservation, and bringing the entire safari world together in one trusted home built by Africa, for Africa.

MISSION STATEMENT 

We’re on a mission to connect millions of travellers and the people who keep the safari world alive, bringing them together through one trusted home. By giving travellers truthful guidance, giving stakeholders a fair platform, and giving a voice to the wild places that need it most, we can help protect Africa for generations to come. 

OUR VISION 

Our vision is to become the custodian of the safari industry and become the connection between all living things. 

OUR COMMITMENT 

We commit to working only with partners who reflect the best of the safari industry, auditing every lodge, operator, and organisation we stand beside. We commit to uplifting communities, advancing responsible tourism, building technology that serves the industry, and always putting Africa first. 

OUR VALUE

We create value by giving travellers the clarity and confidence they need to plan the perfect safari. We create value for lodges and operators by giving them a fair, trusted platform to showcase their story. And we create value for Africa by promoting responsible tourism, amplifying conservation, and protecting the integrity of the safari industry.