Affluent gay-male travelers are the intended demographic of Savvy Navigator (202-904-2874), a Washington, DC-based tour operator that started business late in 2008 and is currently focusing its business on trips to South Africa.
The company headed up by former American Airlines executive Jeffrey Ward looks to be doing plenty of things correctly, right from the onset - one look as his superbly informative, user-friendly Website will tell you that. Ward blogs insightfully about a wide range of issues related to high-end GLBT and even mainstream travel, and his descriptions of upcoming trips are clear and thoroughly researched.
In 2009, Ward's company is focusing on South Africa, with 12-day adventures available that include additional add-on excursions to Zambia's incredible Victoria Falls. The 12-day trips, which are open to a maximum of 12 guests, start at around $7,000 per person (double-occupancy - it's slightly pricier if you're traveling alone), not including airfare to South Africa (but including internal flights within South Africa). These tours are expensive, but they also include accommodations and certain meals at some of Cape Town's and Kruger National Park's most alluring establishments, such as Le Quartier Francais, in the stunning wine country outside Cape Town, and Londolozi Private Game Reserve in Kruger NP.
You're paying, in part, for the highly customized service, the chance to travel exclusively among fellow gay male travelers, and the considerable expertise of Jeffrey Ward, who clearly knows what he's doing - and enjoys it, too.
