| Travel like Geoffrey Kent |
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Page 1 of 2 It may seem like Geoffrey Kent has done it all, from biplaning over the African veldt to diving with bronze whaler sharks in Australia, but the Kenyan swashbuckler says he’s just getting started. Next up for his ubiquitous luxury-travel operation, Abercrombie & Kent: an audience with emperor penguins in Antarctica—and maybe even a jaunt into space.
Geoffrey Kent, checking up on the biplane flight that’s included in A&K’s new Uncharted Frontiers adventure
GEOFFREY KENT'S HAIR WHIPS VIOLENTLY around his head and a grin spreads over his face as he peers out of the bright-yellow Waco biplane buzzing 500 feet over Kenya’s rolling hills. We’re squeezed in the front of an open-cockpit, two-passenger plane that looks like something the Wright brothers might have flown. Kent points toward herds of elephants grazing obliviously below us. “The fun of it is it goes so slowly and you have such a good view,” Kent, 66, says later. “It’s like you’re floating—with a bit of an engine.”The chairman and CEO of luxury-travel operator Abercrombie & Kent has just arrived at Lewa Downs, a private wildlife reserve on the northern slopes of Mount Kenya, on the tail end of a reconnaissance for a new VIP safari in the country’s northern frontier. It’s just one of many stops for the man who traveled 220 days last year, hopping around to 60 global offices and stacks of holiday destinations. Kent has visited this area before—he grew up in Nairobi—but this itinerary is one of the company’s 15 Extreme Adventures launching this fall, and Kent wants to personally check up on it. “Abercrombie & Kent has a model: Basically, I go and do it myself,” says the exec, who has climbed Kilimanjaro twice, dived the Galápagos with hammerheads, and made countless jumps from a plane. “Everything we’ve ever done, I’ve done myself.” Given that A&K travels to more than 100 countries, it’s clear Kent is a man who possesses not only a serious work ethic but also the mother of all passports. LATER IN THE STEAMY EQUATORIAL MORNING, Kent relaxes in the Lavish African sitting room at the Laragai House, on Borana Ranch, outside Lewa Downs. When Kent talks about the company he and his parents started in Nairobi in 1962, he becomes animated. First of all, there is no Abercrombie. Never was. It was Kent’s idea to add the name, to make sure the company would come first in alphabetical listings. Kent’s parents turned over the business to him in 1967, and he continues to strive to maintain the family vision. “Abercrombie & Kent is a passion. It’s [a way for me] to find great things for my clients,” he says, gesticulating to make his point. “When I was a guide, I couldn’t let anybody down,” he continues, his accent a blend of British, American, and Kenyan English. “I still have that philosophy.” Kent’s the kind of entrepreneur who needs to vouch for every trip, down to the last component. He’s so driven to excel that he has personally interviewed the majority of the company’s guides. And the resolve has paid off. Since 1962, A&K has grown from a $24,000-a-year, one-truck company that focused solely on luxury safaris in East Africa to today’s $500 million-a-year global machine. The CEO is counting on new ventures to turn A&K into the multi-billion-dollar company he envisions. A&K recently bought a collection of homes to launch its Residence Club, which, unlike other destination clubs, offers equity. Research for A&K Space—an initiative involving a partnership with an aerospace company—is under way. And then there’s Extreme Adventures, Kent’s trophy trips that will take travelers to the planet’s extremes. “We’re going to the north and south poles because everything in the middle has been done,” he says unabashedly. “We have always been the leader, and I want to maintain that lead forever.” A&K trips range from mild to severe, as do the prices: $1,790 to $98,900. “It’s not just to make money,” says Kent, whose clients include Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Survivor creator Mark Burnett. “It’s ‘Am I fit enough to do this? Am I adventurous enough?’ ” |
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