OUR STORY
Susan Wahlen ~ Annie Birch
Aurora Africa was founded by two like-minded American women with a passion for the wildlife, wilderness and people of Africa. Introduced in 2008 by a mutual Tanzanian friend who thought we had a lot in common, we've become fast friends. Aurora Africa was founded in 2013 and has grown from strength to strength. We strive to give you a different experience; one that will possibly change your outlook on life. An integral part of our mission is to connect travellers with projects and places that suppport Tanzanians.
IMPACT
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Imagine
Many
People
Acting
Compassionately
Together
We all make an impact when we travel. Our vision is for that impact to be a purposeful and positive one. Part of the profit of every safari is donated to a project we are personally associated with in Tanzania. We support: Save the Rain, The Plaster House, Rift Valley Children's Village, FAME Africa and Aid Tanzania. These organizations are dedicated to improving the lives of Tanzanians.
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We also encourage our guests to offset their travel carbon emissions through Carbon Tanzania, who are doing award winning work with the Hadza people in the Yaeda Valley.
For those travellers wishing to experience a deeper connection with communities while on safari, we can craft your adventure to include visits or volunteer opportunities with the projects we support.
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“You either get the point of Africa or you don't. What draws me back year after year is that it's like seeing the world with the lid off.”
~ A.A. Gill
Susan Wahlen began her career in travel after University when she took the opportunity to work and travel on a private yacht for two years. Returning to the States she worked at an Adventure Travel Company in San Francisco before getting the itch to be back on the road. She attended the International Tour Management Institute and shortly after began hosting travel through Alaska and the Yukon in Canada. Since 2004 Susan has been a tour director all over the world including the Western National Parks in the USA, New England, Antarctica and East and Southern Africa.
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Annie Birch has been living and working in East Africa since 1995. She opened her first boutique safari company in San Francisco in 1990 and soon realized she was much happier being in Africa. While living in Kenya she qualified for the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association. She has been creating and escorting safaris for over twenty-five years and has had amazing adventures in nineteen African countries from Morocco to Namibia to Botswana to Rwanda to Gabon, and most recently Chad.
