CREDITED WITH REDEFINING THE SAFARI experience and famous for pushing the envelope on bespoke travel, legendary luxury tour company Abercrombie & Kent has a long-standing tradition of blazing its own trails.

Although A&K was officially born in 1962, the true inception of this illustrious operator began decades earlier when its cofounders, Valerie and Col. John Kent, embarked upon an unforgettable safari in Zambia — unforgettable because on that safari the couple gave birth to their son, A&K cofounder Geoffrey Kent.

Kent grew up on the family’s farm in Kenya, where he later became the first person to journey between Kenya and Cape Town on a motorbike. Kent obviously shared his parents’ pioneering sense of adventure, and after a short career with the British Army, he teamed up with his mom and dad to launch a safari camp that would give guests an experience like no other.

Equipped with one Land Rover, a sterling silver ice bucket that belonged to Kent’s mother and a made-up name (the “Abercrombie” portion of the name was strategically created to put the company at the front of the yellow page listings), the trio began offering guided safaris around their beloved home in Africa. Kent took over the company in 1967, when his parents retired, and began developing what would become the new standard of luxury travel by creating A&K’s signature travel style.

It was Kent who first repositioned African safaris to a “hunt with a camera, not with a gun” experience, and it was he who first introduced refrigeration to mobiletented safaris, making it possible to enjoy a chilled martini during a sundowner or a freshly chilled towel to refresh guests after a long day on a game drive.

The company now operates 52 full-time offices around the world with experiences that include luxury safaris in Botswana, high-end cruises to Antarctica and, its brand-new offering, Private Jet Journeys that offer the ultimate luxury travel experience.

The A&K difference is embedded in the philosophy that travelers should be able to discover the world in a uniquely authentic and stylish manner. Journeys with A&K are notoriously and delightfully old school, where travelers receive mailed packages leading up to the journey with printed details and materials to help make the journey more comfortable. Once on the road, guests are accompanied by local experts who carry an intimate knowledge of the destination and are able to offer thoughtful insights on local customs and cultural mores.

A&K’s holistic approach to the travel experience allows for authentic encounters to occur naturally while giving guests a comfortable environment in which they can relax in some of the world’s most exotic locations, from air-conditioned camps in the Okavango Delta to freshly brewed cappuccinos on board the expedition ships to Antarctica.