After living and working in Africa for years, Kent Redding and Kelly McElroy opened Denver-based Africa Adventure Consultants to help adventurous travelers discover the wonders of this spectacular continent. Their years of experience in Africa uniquely position them to design and run top-quality adventure trips and luxury safaris for a variety of clients. Their insight into the cultures of Africa, as well as the special environmental and business issues there, place them at the top of any list of US-based safari outfitters.
Kent Redding
President
Kent Redding, President of AAC, was named to Travel + Leisure’s A-List, an annual editors’ choice of the best travel advisers, for two years. Kent has 18 years of experience as an expert on Africa travel and adventure. During his tenure living in East Africa, he guided trips through the continent’s premier parks and studied with knowledgeable naturalists. He has summitted Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Meru, kayaked in Lake Malawi, dune-bashed in Namibia’s Skeleton Coast, and rafted down the Zambezi River below Victoria Falls. He has explored Botswana’s Okavango Delta, trekked through some of Egypt’s vast deserts, mountain biked through African mountains and bush land, and tracked gorillas and chimpanzees in multiple countries. Leveraging his safari guiding and planning experience, today he enjoys helping our clients discover these impressive places. Kent is a Kenya Tourist Board Kenya Authorized Travel Specialist and a South Africa Tourism FUNDI. Additionally, Kent served on the Board of Directors of AfricAid, a non-profit providing educational opportunities for Tanzanian girls, and on the board of APTA, Rocky Mountain Region. In 2006 and 2007, he was named by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top travel professionals in the United States.
Kelly McElroy
Co-Founder
After her first safari in Africa in 1997, Kelly knew she wanted to return. Soon after, she moved to Tanzania where she was Director of Finance for one of the top Kilimanjaro trekking outfitters in the country. In addition to her experience handling the financial and organizational issues of a safari outfitter and assisting VIP clients, Kelly has traveled extensively in Africa. She has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, snorkeled off islands such as Zanzibar and Pemba, explored the ancient geology and unique wildlife of Namibia, and canoed past hippos and elephants in famous Lake Manyara National Park. She has also followed the paths walked by Jane Goodall in Gombe Stream National Park and others in Mahale National Park, and enjoyed cultural exchanges with peoples such as the Maasai, Hadza and Himba. Today, Kelly enjoys organizing our clients’ safaris and maintaining our back-room operations.
Anisha Barrientos
Journey Specialist
Having grown up in Tanzania, Anisha brings a unique perspective and unparalleled passion for safaris to Africa Adventure Consultants. After graduating from UCLA, her first job was doing documents for the Africa department of a luxury tour operator, and there began her love for planning safaris! Anisha has been a safari specialist for over 6 years now, and cannot imagine doing anything else…More than anything, she loves being able to share the beauty and wonder of her home continent with clients. Her travels in Africa have taken her to Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Some of her favorite safari moments include: trekking mountain gorillas in Rwanda, canoeing with crocs and hippos on the Zambezi River in Mana Pools, kissing a Rothschild giraffe in Nairobi, going on a walking safari in Hwange National Park, quad-biking in Namibia, taking a peaceful Mokoro ride in the Okavango Delta, and tracking a hunting leopard on a night game drive in Sabi Sand!
Sara Stark
Journey Specialist
Sara brings 10 years planning experience to the AAC team. She studied Travel & Tourism at Ball State University and after years of event planning transitioned over to her real love, travel planning. Sara has traveled to Africa, Europe, South America, Australia, and New Zealand and loves creating custom itineraries to these destinations. Some of her favorite African travel memories include sighting herds of elephants in Sabi Sand, tree climbing lions in Tanzania, big cats such as a leopard and cheetah in the Serengeti, and visiting the South African Penguins at Boulders Beach.
John Cagle
Journey Specialist
John’s passion for travel began at an early age when he drug his mom to local travel agencies and cleaned them out of brochures to all of the places he wished to visit. From studying abroad in Germany and Spain to backpacking through Europe and Asia, John has spent time on six continents and his favorite destination is always the next one. With eight years of planning experience, John loves to work with clients in designing unique travel itineraries that reflect his enthusiasm for culture, wildlife, and history. Some of his favorite travel experiences include overnighting at Everest Base Camp in Tibet, living in Thailand, exploring Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and sunset horseback riding with a traditional Argentinian BBQ in the Andes. When not on the road discovering new thrills for his clients, John can be found enjoying a glass of wine with his golden retriever by his side.
Luke Gaedtke
Administrative Associate - Accounting
After traveling Europe for 6 months while studying in London, Luke realized he had a fascination with the tourism industry. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Finance from the University of Iowa – Tippie College of Business and moved out to Colorado shortly after graduation. When Luke isn’t traveling, most of his time is spent camping, hiking or downhill skiing. Some of his favorite destinations include Corfu, Greece; Barcelona, Spain; and the Lake of the Woods in Minnesota. Luke has over 2 years of financial accounting and analysis experience and is excited to use his knowledge in the AAC office.
Diana Lopez-Ruiz
Office Administrator
As a first generation American, Diana has a deep passion to see and learn more about other cultures and environments. She graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver with a degree in Marketing and Web Design. She has experience traveling to parts of Latin America and top destinations in Africa – Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. She especially enjoyed luxury camping in the Maasai Mara in Kenya. Diana has extensive experience in office management, operations, bookkeeping, and trip planning and has been using those skills to help manage the AAC office since 2015.
Susan Ely
Senior Operations Specialist
Susan brings more than 30 years of experience to Africa Adventure Consultants in various aspects of the travel industry including leisure travel, corporate travel, cruises and more. She managed the Travel and Events department at a Fortune 500 company before joining AAC in 2005. Susan has explored top destinations in Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania. She especially enjoyed luxury camping in the Serengeti. Her travels have also taken her to Tahiti, Hawaii, numerous Caribbean islands, Germany, Greece, Italy, and a Mediterranean cruise ending up in Turkey.
Susan has completed tourism certifications through the Botswana, Kenya, Qatar, South Africa, and Tanzania Tourist Boards.
Beth McCabe
Marketing Manager
Beth studied abroad in college, which sparked her interest in international travel. She graduated from Bradley University with a degree in Advertising and has also completed her Master of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Marketing and Advertising Management from the University of Saint Mary. She has spent her marketing career working with international travel and education organizations helping connect people to the world at large. She has traveled to many countries throughout Europe and Central America, and recently visited Uganda. Trekking to see mountain gorillas has been one of her favorite travel experiences to date!
Beth has completed tourism certifications through the Kenya, Qatar, and South Africa Tourist Boards.
Now that you’ve met our Adventure Consultants, see how they can help you find the perfect Safari!
If there is one thing that sets Africa Adventure Consultants apart, it’s our outstanding guides. We use local guides on all trips, providing the best combination of expertise and entertainment — all with a distinctively local flavor. Many of our clients return and tell us that getting to know their guide was the highlight of the trip.
All our guides have years of experience and an extensive knowledge of, and passion for, the areas in which they work. On driving safaris, these guides normally accompany your party throughout your safari. For fly-in tours, we use camp-based guides who know their local area better than anyone. Many guests return to be guided by a particular guide with whom they have built up a relationship.
In addition to generalist safari guides, Africa Adventure Consultants can offer specialists guides — those men and women who have gained specialized knowledge in mountain trekking, ornithology, astronomy, palaeontology, photography, botany and anthropology. Please contact us for more information.