1.1 Chairman’s Message
Welcome to Somak Safaris, Kenya’s leading organizer of travel arrangements, bringing visitors to Kenya from all over the world, and bringing the world to the people of Kenya. With 4 decades experience in organizing holidays, our pedigree is second to none.

Our Head Office in Nairobi is home to perhaps the largest fleet of safari vehicles in Kenya, maintained by state of the art workshops and supported by a dedicated team of highly experienced staff. In Mombasa, our offices control the entire coastal operation, working with some of the finest hotels.

Somak is a truly international organization, with offices in Europe and America bringing visitors to Kenya and Tanzania. We also work with leading tour operators in countries such as the UK, France, Italy, Poland, Hungary, USA, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and India just to mention a few, providing ground arrangements for their clients.

This website represents a fascinating cross section of what is available in Africa and the Indian Ocean, and what Somak can offer you to make your experience here extremely memorable. I have great pleasure in inviting you to take a closer look.

Suresh Sofat
Chairman

1.2 A Family – Run Organization
With 4 decades of experience, Somak is a family-run business with a personal touch. Founded in 1968 by entrepreneur Suresh Sofat and run to this day by the Sofat family, the Group had its origins in Kenya, carrying schoolchildren to and from England on what became known as the “Lollipop Specials”. Rapidly becoming the largest charter operation on the Nairobi/London route, it set the scene for Somak’s drive to produce a quality product together with high volume business, which remains the Group’s ethos today. From our Kenyan beginnings Somak has expanded into a truly international organization, offering holidays to destinations across two continents and sold in three. Today, Somak is the leading ground handler to overseas tour operators featuring Kenya, with highly experienced staff, the largest fleet of safari vehicles and the most modern office complex that are the envy of the country’s tourism industry. Our associated offices in the UK and a further six countries take advantage of this Kenyan expertise.

1.3 Somak in East Africa
Somak Kenya is the leading Destination Management Company in East Africa, arranging high quality holidays featuring the regions wealth of natural beauty and abundance of wildlife. Somak’s commitment translates into personal service and value for money. Hence Somak have established themselves as the first name in safari holidays to Kenya and Tanzania, and continue to seek ways to improve both the service it provides and the destinations offered. Its no great secret that Somak is therefore the fastest growing Destination Management Company in East Africa attracting prestigious accounts from Europe, North America and the Middle East and the Far East. Indeed, as a leading player in the country’s tourism industry, looking after in excess of 35,000 visitors to Kenya each year, Somak has gained the respect and recognition of many other organizations both in the private and the public sector.

Somak have made a total commitment to tourism in East Africa, with facilities in Kenya’s principal cities; Nairobi and Mombasa, as well as in the Tanzanian city of Arusha.

1.3.1 Nairobi
Kenya’s capital city is the first port of call for many of the country’s visitors. Somak’s inbound operation provides ground handling organization for a host companies as well as Somak’s own clients coming form the United Kingdom and North America. With Somak’s Kenyan origins, our local knowledge is unrivalled, and we are best placed to provide our clients with their ideal holiday. Brochured safaris cover the full range of Kenya’s most famous national parks and game reserves in combinations that meet the requirements of most visitors. However, for those who require something a little bit different, be it a walking tour or camel trek, a camping safari, flying safari or trekking route, our wealth of local knowledge and impressive infrastructure can assist in putting together the perfect tailor-made itinerary.

1.3.1.1 Nairobi Operations
Somak’s operation in Nairobi is coordinated by our team of highly qualified and experienced professionals. Turning around your requests within the shortest possible time is our top priority, not losing sight of our personal touch to the requests. We are in a position to command the best price from the suppliers, thereby ensuring real value for money for our clients. The team headed by Suresh Raman, Managing Director, and Joash Olum, Head of Operations, combines the expertise and experience to assure a great safari experience for our clients.

1.3.1.2 Somak Safari Lounge Specially designed to meet the needs of our clients, this unique and luxurious “Safari Lounge”, was developed as a direct response, and is available to all Somak clients passing through Nairobi with time to spare. The Lounge, the first and only of its kind in East Africa, offers relaxation and recuperation for travelers coming off safari, before undertaking their onward journey. Facilities include showers, toilets and an air-conditioned lounge in which to relax and enjoy refreshments. These unique facilities are provided for all Somak clients. Somak is the only Destination Management Company to offer this facility to its customers.

1.3.2 Mombasa
Gateway to the Kenya coast, Mombasa is East Africa’s leading port and the home to Somak Safaris’ coastal operation, serving beach resorts from Lamu to Zanzibar. Somak offices in the city make all arrangements for incoming visitors on beach vacations, and with a high number of charter aircraft serving Mombasa and cruise ships using the city’s port facilities, their role is an important one. Somak Mombasa provides transfer and representation services for incoming tour operators using the extensive range of beach hotels, in addition to organizing excursions to many of the area’s most popular sites, including a number of game reserves close by. Kenya’s beautiful coastline is world famous, and acts as the perfect complement to the rigours and exhilaration of safari days. The series of the palm-fringed beaches that stretch the length of the coast are of picture-postcard quality, and the range of accommodation suits all tastes.

1.3.3 Arusha
Tanzania is thought by many to be the ultimate safari destination, and with Somak’s Tanzanian company Warner Safaris Limited located in Arusha in northern Tanzania, the Group’s established expertise in operating safaris in Kenya is stretched across the border, enabling visitors to experience the highlights of this unspoilt land with the back-up of Somak’s knowledge and experience. Warner’s Arusha Headquarters is ideally placed for access to the country’s highlights in the heart of Tanzania’s safari circuit, which include world-famous locations such as the Serengeti plains, the Ngorongoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro. Warner Safaris operates an impressive fleet of vehicles to cover terrain which can, on occasion, be demanding, and distances long. In such conditions, vehicle maintenance is vital, and Warner’s Arusha offices are well equipped for this. Tanzania’s safari circuits can easily be included with a visit to Kenya, with easy access to Arusha either from Nairobi (via Namanga), or Mombasa (via Taveta), or directly into Kilimanjaro International airport.
The Somak Karibuni ‘A warm welcome’, ‘We were made to feel like we had just returned home to see old friends’ – is how some customers describe our welcome on arrival. For most it has been a long-haul flight, and what could be more important now than a little tender loving care? So how do Somak go about it?
Airport Meet and Greet
With our staff of over 175 experienced professionals, your clients are in safe hands, even down to having emergency contacts. That’s why so many large tour operators entrust their ground handling with us. We specialize in representing you, right down to labeling and presentation in your very own house style. In fact that ‘personal touch’ carries right through from the moment your client lands. Our staff are on hand to meet and greet, the brief new arrivals before they head either to their city hotel for rest, or depart straight off into the bush.

Holiday Briefing
A friendly and informative briefing to take you through your itinerary, provide background information and answer your questions, and acquaint you with all aspects of you safari. Aimed chiefly at orienting visitors and making them feel welcome, thousands of miles from home, our friendly helpful staff will put even the most reticent at ease. Prior to boarding their microbus, your clients will receive a full safety briefing, providing orientation and safety direction that is invaluable for a satisfying and enjoyable safari. Our instruction sheet is published in the 5 most popular languages of our guests. Safety is definitely the main priority for Somak.

Our Own Workshop
Our fleet of over 150 microbuses, 4 wheel-drive Landcruisers and Landrovers, offer unrivalled access and flexibility to all parts of Kenya. To ensure the utmost reliability for our road transport we have our own workshops, which has proven beneficial for some time. Our new workshop can cope with the grueling demands of our fleet on safari. Facilities at Somak House include servicing bays for routine maintenance, body shop for the on-going specialized fitting out of new vehicles, repair shop, and major mechanical service department.

Our chief mechanic was trained in Japan by Nissan and Somak are their largest fleet owner in Kenya. It is from the Transport Office here (manned 24 hours a day), that our fleet is co-ordinate via HF radio – fitted to all our vehicles. We are thus uniquely equipped to meet the day-to-day challenges of a major Kenyan ‘ground handler’. From our experience, we have found nothing better then having our very own support team.

Information Technology
We live in an age of ever-changing technology. Somak operates at the cutting edge of information technology in the tour operation market by having our own in-house team of programmers. They continue to develop not only the Group’s software, but also programmes tailor made to the needs of each operator and quotations to incoming tour operations – available 24 hours a day – essential in today’s global business environment. We recognize that not all visitors have the same requirements and it is our ability to offer clients exactly what they want that sets us apart from other ground handling operators.