Our Top 5 moments of 2020

As the 2020 winds to a close and we begin to reflect on a year like any other, it was important to remind ourselves that not everything in 2020 was about COVID-19.

We’d like to first take this opportunity to thank all of the frontline and essential workers around the world working tirelessly to keep us safe and healthy, and able to look forward to when we can all travel and experience this great big world together. We’re excited to see what 2021 brings us all, but before we do, we’re sharing our Top 5 highlights of 2020:

1 - Sayari relaunches with a complete redesign and the Serengeti’s first solar-powered microbrewery. 

In August, we reopened Sayari. The camp has been completely redesigned with beautiful new interiors, an improved plunge infinity pool, a new spa and the first microbrewery in the bush. The camp has opened to rave reviews and we can’t wait to welcome more of you to experience the world renowned Great Migration.

2 - We doubled down on our positive impact efforts.

Our Positive Impact partners needed support more than ever this year. Working with organisations like The Maa Trust, the Tarangire Lion Project and the Honeyguide Foundation, we helped ensure local communities and wildlife could thrive in these challenging times through scholarships, food parcel donations and more. We also were able to hold our flagship Twende Porini programme.

3 - Manja the melanistic serval at Namiri Plains had melanistic kittens! 

In November, our guides at Namiri Plains discovered that Manja — the melanistic serval first spotted in 2019 — took up a mate and had kittens! This was especially exciting because melanisim is a recessive gene; there was no guarantee that any kittens he had would be melanistic, too!

4 - Asilia was one of the only safari companies to stay open in light of COVID-19. 

We are proud of how quickly we developed health and safety COVID-19-specific protocols and trained up our staff, ensuring that we could not only keep a multi-country circuit of our camps open, but also keep our camp staff employed during one of the most challenging periods of our lifetime.

5 - We redesigned our website!

After months of hard work and preparation, our digital, brand and product teams unveiled a brand new website. We’re confident that this website better showcases the Asilia promise and safari experience, making us the provider of choice for your East African safari.

We can’t wait to see what 2021 brings and are sure it’ll be filled with more amazing moments like these. Until then, we wish you and your loved ones all the best for a happy, healthy and safe remainder of 2020. We’ll see you in the new year!