Luxury Holiday Specialists - Tim Best Travel
The Team at Tim Best Travel is made up of specialists who are all passionate about travel. We have all been brought up or lived and worked in many of the countries in which we operate. We pride ourselves on our personal, first hand knowledge of the various safari camps, lodges and hotels that we recommend to our clients and are constantly travelling and experiencing new places and updating our expertise. By discussing ideas, listening and advising, we produce individual itineraries, structuring the ideal safari or holiday for you.
"Their contacts and their knowledge of camps and guides is invaluable..."
Tim Best - Managing Director
Tim Best started his specialist travel company in 1994 and it has flourished ever since. Often asked what the secret to an exceptional safari holiday is, he replies... "Make sure you have a good guide...".
Tim, along with his brother inherited Rowland Ward - founded in the 19th Century, the largest taxidermist company in the world. Taxidermy was clearly not his vocation, and after selling up he opened a shop in Knightsbridge specialising in new and antiquarian books on travel and natural history, and also glasses hand-engraved with animals. He opened two more shops with partners in Johannesburg which complemented the two already in Nairobi. This has given him the opportunity to travel Africa over nearly thirty years. He spent three years marketing specific safari camps in Botswana and Tanzania, and lodges in Nepal. More recently his extensive travels in Latin America makes Tim a real expert in luxury safaris and exotic holidays.
"It's rare to get personalised service nowadays but Tim Best Travel have cracked it..."
Caroline Grayburn - Africa, Latin America & Australia Expert
Caroline has spent a number of years living and working in Africa, she began her safari career in Zambia and Malawi followed by horse safaris in South Africa. More recently she spent five years in Botswana before returning to the UK in 2003 after a brief stint in Kenya when she joined Tim Best Travel. In addition to working in Africa she has travelled extensively through many countries in Latin America and Africa and has visited Australia a number of times. Since joining Tim Best Travel Caroline has visited Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, Morocco, Mali, Argentina, Uruguay, Australia and Kenya.
Sarah James - Africa & Indian Ocean Islands Expert
From an early age, Sarah has had a passion for Africa. Being half South African, she has grown up spending many of her holidays in South Africa visiting family and friends and has therefore gained a natural feel and understanding for this vast and beautiful country . At the age of 18 she spent a gap year teaching English in a secondary school in Tanzania which gave her the opportunity to travel to Kenya, Uganda and Malawi. After graduating from Newcastle University, Africa beckoned once again and Sarah spent a couple of years working in the safari industry in Zimbabwe and Botswana where she gained first hand experience managing both small, intimate bush camps and luxury mobile safaris. Since joining Tim Best Travel in 2001, Sarah has returned to Africa many times visiting Morocco, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Namibia. Her Indian Ocean island travels have taken her to Mauritius, the Maldives and more recently Madagascar.
Katrina Milne Home - Latin America Expert
After 4 years working as a bi-lingual researcher in film and television production for wildlife and world-wide travel documentaries Katrina came to Tim Best Travel as a specialist in Latin America. Over the past 12 years, she has travelled extensively through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Galapagos, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Cuba. Her experience and knowledge on Latin America has developed over the years from studying Spanish at Bristol University to living and working in Buenos Aires. Katrina joined Tim Best Travel in 2005 and has spent her time exploring and researching new and undiscovered places to go on holiday. She also specialises in selling trips to Spain focusing on Haciendas and Beach Houses in Andalucia, Spain where she has spent many years of her life growing up.
Eleanor Remnant - Africa Expert
Having gained a keen interest in Africa as a child, Eleanor spent her gap year in Tanzania teaching at a primary school which saw her scale the heights of Kilimanjaro and travel to neighbouring Kenya and Uganda. Subsequently Eleanor enjoyed a family holiday in Botswana and was so enthusiastic about the area that she returned after graduating from Newcastle university to manage a small exclusive bush camp in Zambia.
Eleanor joined Tim Best Travel in early 2006 and has since travelled to Kenya, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and Tanzania, increasing her first-hand knowledge of all those African countries. She has also expanded into the Middle East - in both Oman and Syria, both of which she has returned from in the past few months.
Miranda Boord - India Expert
After graduating from Newcastle University in 2004 Miranda travelled to India to work at Kipling Camp, Madhya Pradesh, a jungle safari lodge in central India where her great love of the subcontinent was born.
Since joining Tim Best Travel in 2006 Miranda has returned to India a number of times and travelled through Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal - walking in the Foothills of the Himalayas and has spent time in both Delhi and Mumbai.
She has also travelled extensively in Southern Africa including Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.
Clare Hilton - Latin America Expert
Clare graduated from the University of Leeds in 2005, reading Spanish with Latin American Studies. She spent a year of her university degree living and travelling extensively in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, where her passion for Latin America developed. Clare returned to Leeds to complete her dissertation on Chiapas and Oaxaca and the effects of the Zapatista movement. The lure of both Central and South America then beckoned and she spent time in Costa Rica, Chile and Easter Island experiencing first hand the vast landscapes, wildlife and scenery. She has also travelled extensively in South Africa, South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and has spent the last two years in the travel business in the UK. Clare joined Tim Best Travel in early 2007 and has since travelled to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagos.
Fiona Parker - Africa Expert
Having lived in Hong Kong and Venezuela as a child, Fiona developed a passion for travel at a young age and during her gap year and university holidays worked and travelled independently in India, Nepal, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and Malawi. After university Fiona worked for an expedition company planning trips to Thailand, Southern Africa and Bolivia and for the last couple of years has specialised in organising safaris to Tanzania, having spent a year working in the country. Fiona joined us at Tim Best Travel in 2007 and has since travelled to Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa.
Rachel Hambro - Africa Expert
Having a whole year after school to see what other parts of the world had to offer, Rachel set off to travel up the east coast of Australia, through Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam before attending Newcastle University, where whilst studying History of Art and Architecture spent university holidays exploring Mexico, Costa Rica, Borneo and the States. In 2006 Rachel worked for a horse riding operation in the Okavango Delta and instead of returning to the UK as intended, diverted to Kenya and then on to Johannesburg to study her private pilot's license which she completed in June 2007. Rachel joined Tim Best Travel soon after and has since visited and revisited Morocco and the coast of Mozambique.
