Bio

From insatiably curious child to professional guide, Michael Lorentz has never wavered in his dedication to and passion for Africa’s wilderness. Michael is one of the industry’s leaders in arranging, planning and guiding pan-African travel. An accomplished naturalist and committed conservationist, guiding remains his focus and he personally leads safaris throughout Southern, East and Central Africa, providing his safari guests with a dazzling insight into the intricacies of Africa’s wilderness. With close on 40 years of experience guiding across much of Africa, he has in-depth knowledge, a highly-developed network, and access to extraordinary experiences, so he can plan and implement the very best curated safaris imaginable. Many great guides are country – even area – specialists, but Michael is one of the few pan-African specialists, so his guests can stick pins on the map of Africa in places where few others can. Michael remains instrumental in developing the private guiding industry, perpetually striving to establish strong industry standards; whilst forging access into remote and un-spoilt areas. Michael is a pioneer at the intersection of travel, conservation and philanthropy, and a catalyst enabling access to wild places in ways that few others can. Michael works closely with numerous Conservation organizations, including African Parks, the Ellen Fund, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, the Big Life Foundation and Natural Capital, to both raise awareness and direct funding to some of the most effective conservations projects on the continent. He sits on the advisory for Natural Capital: https://www.naturalcapital.earth/ Michael was actively involved in helping African Parks establish Camp Nomade in Chad’s Zakouma National Park. One of Africa’s least known yet finest safari destinations. Zakouma epitomises Michael’s desire to change the trajectory of Africa’s conservation narrative from one of doom and gloom, to one of inspiration. “The thrill of discovering Africa’s wildest places, sharing them with global change makers, and contributing to conservation success stories such as African Park’s Zakouma – the epitome of abundance – is why I couldn’t do anything else.” Bringing the same guiding principles of respect, empathy, intuition and understanding to his other passion, photography, Michael has been able to bring us closer to the natural world, and in so doing uses his lens to showcase critical conservation initiatives. His work has been featured in several publications, as well as in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC On 2012 Michael co-founded Safarious, the global online platform for those both serious and curious about the world’s wild places and has been frequently named to the Travel and Leisure A-List of Top Travel Agents and as a Conde Nast Traveler Top Travel Specialist since 2014.