Ellen Hoffman is a Journey Specialist at Africa Adventure Consultants. Learn more about her background here and read a transcript of her interview below.
Hi, my name is Ellen Hoffman and I’m a Journey Specialist at Africa Adventure Consultants.
My undergrad degree is in strategic communications and I also have a minor in European Area Studies.
I’ve been in the travel business just under a decade. I started out specializing in the South Pacific, then started specializing in Africa. And now I really focus on Africa because I find it to be the most fun and exciting to plan. And I really enjoy that each trip can look so different when going to Southern and East Africa.
My process when planning trips is to ask questions. I like to get to know my clients, ask about their past journeys, what they liked, what they didn’t like, what they envisioned for this upcoming safari. I also like to help clients feel comfortable that while I’m here to plan the trip and book the trip, we’re so much more than that. We’re going to help them with the pre-departure information, like tipping guides and what to pack. We’re going to help them in-country because we have in-country support. And then we’re also going to debrief when they come home. It’s one of my favorite parts, hearing all about their journey.
My favorite part of designing safaris is really finding the right combination for clients. So I like to translate their interests, their style, their budget, their tastes, and marry that to the right safari locations, countries, experiences, the right guides, the right safari camps. And I really pride myself on getting to know my clients and finding the right spots for them to make a beautiful journey for them.
I have the most experience in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, with Botswana being a close fourth.
I’ve been to Kenya, Tanzania, including Zanzibar, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Morocco and Seychelles.
Ooh, my favorite place is a hard question. I would have to say Kenya has a special place in my heart, but I’ve been very fortunate to travel to just over 60 countries and they’re all beautiful in different ways. But if I had to choose, I’d say Kenya.
I love planning bucket list trips. When people come to me and they say they’ve been dreaming of going on an African safari for so many years, I feel so honored to have them entrust that special memory into my care. And I know that while I might be planning their first trip to Africa often, I also know that it probably won’t be their last. Our clients soon realize Africa is just such a huge continent with so much to offer. So I really love planning what they consider to be their bucket list trip, and then it often becomes kind of their first of many trips to Africa.
I’m particularly proud of a multi-generational family trip I planned for a group of 11 to Kenya. The grandfather, who’s in his 80s, wanted to take his kids and grandkids, who spanned all the way down to age seven, on a really special safari experience. And it was a fun puzzle to make sure that I was taking into account all the different pieces that would need to be considered to have every family dynamic really have a successful journey. They had a fantastic time and I feel really lucky to have been part of those memories.
I have so many pieces of travel advice. I’m lucky to go to Africa on a regular basis and I always come home with some new tips and tricks. This time it was: bring a battery pack in your day bag. Make sure that’s charged up so you can always be charging on the go during these long, beautiful adventure days.
I also say, you know, learn some of the local language and maybe even bring it home. For example, I now say “lala salama” to my kids when they go to bed. It means “sleep well” in Swahili. It’s a really fun way to kind of keep the memory of the trip alive and share it with others.
But from a big-picture perspective, I always like to remind my clients before they go that we’ve done the work, they’re prepared, everything is taken care of for them, we have in-country support. Their job now is just to go enjoy and marvel and really take it all in.
“We had the absolute trip of a lifetime in Tanzania, and so much of that is thanks to Ellen at Africa Adventures! Ellen was incredible to work with. She found the perfect balance of beautiful lodges and authentic camps, creating an itinerary that felt both luxurious and adventurous. What really stood out was how much she cared about making sure we were comfortable while also being incredibly thoughtful about our budget. Every detail was so well planned, and we felt completely taken care of throughout the trip. Even more impressively, Ellen followed up with us after we returned home to hear our feedback and genuinely wanted to know how we felt about the experience. It was clear that she truly cared about our trip - not just about planning it, but about making sure we had the best possible experience from start to finish. Tanzania ended up being the best trip of our lives, and we are already looking forward to going back. When we do, we will absolutely be using Ellen again. We could not recommend her more highly!” – AAC traveler Riya P.
Schedule time on her calendar, fill out our contact form or give us a call at 866-778-1089.