A family business. A life’s work. Since 1990.
Savanna Secrets Safaris was founded in Mombasa in 1990 by Salim Suleman. More than three decades later, it is still run by the same family, by his son, Sharik Suleman, with the same approach: personal, prepared, and committed to the people in our care.
How we got here.
Savanna Secrets was not assembled from a business plan. It was built, gradually and deliberately, by a founder who understood from the beginning that the quality of a safari lives in the details: the guide who genuinely knows the reserve, the lodge that is worth the extra distance, the timing that separates a good game drive from one you talk about ten years later.
That thinking has shaped everything since 1990. We have expanded our destinations, grown our team, and refined our operations over three decades. The foundation has not changed. We are a family business. We handle every client personally. We do not take on trips we cannot do properly.
Today, Savanna Secrets operates across Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda. Our clients come primarily from Europe and North America, and a growing number are returning visitors, people who have travelled with us before and come back because they know what to expect.
Sharik Suleman.
Someone genuinely invested in how your trip goes, who tells you what you actually need to know, rather than what you want to hear.
Savanna Secrets Safaris was founded by Salim Suleman in Mombasa in 1990. In 2010, his son, Sharik Suleman, took over the reins and has been at the centre of the company ever since.
Sharik is not a distant figurehead. Clients who have worked directly with him describe the same experience: someone who does not oversell or cut corners. That directness, and that personal sense of responsibility for every client, is what Savanna Secrets is built on, so that every person who travels with us feels that same care, whether Sharik is personally on the ground or not.
The people behind your safari.
Our core guides and staff have been with us for an average of over 25 years. Some joined in the mid-1990s. These are not seasonal hires, they are career professionals who have spent their working lives learning East Africa through the lens of Savanna Secrets.
In practice, the driver-guide who meets you on day one has covered these roads across every season. They know where the wildlife moves in July and where it is in February, and which lodges consistently deliver. Our operations are backed 24 hours a day, on every day of your safari, at no hidden cost. Our driver-guides operate in English, French, and German.
Sharik Suleman
Director
Salim Ndeka
Operations
Francis Mutuku
Transport
Fred Esabwa
Finance
Mohamedali
Safari Driver-Guide
Jackson Ndarawe
Safari Driver-Guide
Javan Ndigilha
Safari Driver-Guide
Salim Senty
Safari Driver-Guide
What to expect when you travel with us.
Every itinerary we produce is built from scratch for the specific person or group making the enquiry. We cover Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda, and we handle all logistics: guide assignment, lodge bookings, airport transfers, park fees, and ground coordination across every destination. Thirty years of doing this means we have seen what can go wrong, our preparation is built around making sure it does not.
The guide knows the plan
The driver-guide assigned to you has the full itinerary before you land. Nothing is improvised on the day.
The lodges are expecting you
Accommodation, transfers, and park fees are confirmed and coordinated in advance, across every country on your route.
The route is thought through
Timing, distances, and game-drive windows are planned around the season, so the days have a rhythm, not a rush.
Accredited. Independent. Held to a standard.
Savanna Secrets holds memberships that reflect our standing in the East African tourism industry. These are not decorative, they reflect the standards we are held to, and choose to be held to.
We work with families, couples, solo travellers, and groups of friends.
If you have a destination in mind, a set of dates, or even just a sense of what you are looking for, get in touch. We will take it from there.
Plan Your Safari