Erfan & Janene Pirbhai, the owners of Kalamazoo Safari Company, have dedicated the past 20 years focused on their respective careers in very different industries with one common thread - customer service and attention to detail. Serving satisfied, long-term clients have been their professional focus. Both Erf and Janene have earned the highest credentials and customer retention rates over those 20 years. We are confident that you will notice their intense focus on planning, details, safety, and satisfaction. Their goal is to deliver what you tell them you want. If at all possible, they will deliver more. Discuss your African dreams and concerns. They will address your concerns in a thoughtful thorough way while helping you achieve a trip of a lifetime that you will want to repeat. They have explored Tanzania several times over the past 15 years. The last trip included orchestrating a 28 person safari and climb successfully. It was during that trip that they met Elvice Marano, their in-Tanzania consultant.
Erfan Pirbhai
Erf immigrated from Tanzania to the United States at age 19. He is a Tanzanian citizen and speaks fluent Swahili, Gujarati, and English. In Tanzania, he attended International School of Moshi located on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro and first attempted to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro at age 15.
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Janene Pirbhai
Janene is a southwest Michigan native, who first dreamed of Tanzania in 1991 when presented with an offer to travel with Western Michigan University there. The itinerary was a long 21 days which included climbing Kilimanjaro. She chose to pass on this opportunity because of finances, but East Africa remained a beacon to her.
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Daniel Pirbhai
Daniel successfully climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro at the age of 11 years three months old. He did so with dogged determination which started four months before leaving the states. He focused on cardio fitness by stair stepping for an hour each day.
Daniel's goals include playing professional football, being an engineer, and co-leading two or three expeditions annually up Mt. Kilimanjaro. He is our climbing consultant for youth between the ages 11 and 16. He knows what it feels like to push through the pain and boredom bringing a unique child's perspective. Daniel can advise your child on how to train, what to be concerned about, and how he felt during his climb. We feel this knowledge will increase their success rate. |
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Our Tanzanian Team Makes the Difference
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Elvice Marano is our primary safari connection in Tanzania. He loves providing customized service and is focused on customer satisfaction and exceeding expectations. Those qualities initially drew us to him as a customer. Our customized safari was a piece of logistical art. His team, now ours, truly exemplified "going the extra mile".
Elvice's childhood home in Kenya is nestled between Tsavo National Park and Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. From his schoolyard, he became fascinated by the hot air balloons silently floating over Taita Hills. His dreams of working in the safari business rose with those balloons. From primary school on, he has been a member of the Wildlife Club of Kenya. He graduated with a diploma in Tourism Management during heightened Kenyan civil conflicts. At that time, Kenyan tourism was doing badly. After working in the tourist industry in Kenya for 10 years, Elvice moved to Tanzania and began organizing for various companies. He has lived in Moshi and Zanzibar before settling in Arusha, the hub of the famous Northern Tanzanian Circuit. Five years ago, Elvice started his own safari company due to a burning desire to provide truly personalized safaris to customers. In 2011, Janene and Erfan were introduced to Elvice after their contact at a larger safari organizer grew frustrated with too many questions from them. The contact referred us to Elvice because he provides custom planning with patience. |
Dennis Msoffe, our head guide, began his career in 1998 and is known for his patience, knowledge, and keen eye for finding animals while on safari.
He was born in the Kilimanjaro region and attended local primary and secondary schools. He furthered his education at Forodhani College in Dar-es-Salaam for Tour Guiding and Hotel Management where he began to focus on Tour Guiding. Thereafter, he joined the most reputed tourism college in East Africa; The Kenya Utalii College for further studies in Tour Guiding and Operations. Dennis has guided the Internal Affairs Minister for China as well as being the head guide for a group of businessmen who were brought in by the Tanzanian Ambassador to the USA. |
