A snapshot

He is the designer of our on-the-ground operations across the continent and has personal knowledge and expertise in all the countries in which we operate. He has designed and overseen approximately 5,000 trips to the continent.

Recent travel experience

Tanzania’s Lake Natron and surrounds, the Maasai’s Mountain of God ‘Oldonyo Lengai’, Maswa Game Reserve and other off the beaten track destinations in northern Tanzania.

Expert destinations

Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Victoria Falls, Zambia, Zanzibar.

African countries visited

Botswana, Egypt, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe, the Republic of the Congo.

Julian's biography

As he believes that the very best safari experts are either professional guides or ex-camp managers, it’s ironic that Julian has never worked in Africa! He has, however, travelled extensively across ‘Safari Africa’, and with well over twenty trips to the continent as well as 15 years’ safari tour operating under his belt, he is an expert on safaris as a whole.

Julian studied Tourism at Birmingham University in the UK, specialising in African tourism. He travelled to nine African countries south of the Sahara during university holidays, and his final-year dissertation focused on South Africa’s ecotourism industry – specifically, the great white shark diving industry of South Africa’s Gansbaai.

On graduating from university, Julian joined up with a small safari specialist in London and was a major player in transforming the company into one of the leading safari companies in the UK today. During his time there, he set up the company’s operations in Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia, and Tanzania.

Above all else, Julian is passionate about the quality of the team at Yellow Zebra. He is a believer that genuinely expert safari designers are a rare find yet they are fundamental to a good safari company. With four professional safari guides and four camp managers working for Yellow Zebra, Julian guarantees that YZ’s consultants are some of the very best in the entire industry.

Julian has helped write significant parts of the Cadogan Guide to Tanzania and has been interviewed by the influential safari magazine Travel Africa.

Most memorable experience

“Being surrounded by a pride of lion on foot in the North Luangwa is certainly something I will never forget! However, the one experience that really took my breath away was when I was out on a walking safari in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve. We came across a huge old bull elephant that had tusks virtually hitting the ground – the likes of which the guide had never seen. We spent a couple of magical hours in his company, walking metres away from him. It is wonderful to know that there are still giants like this patrolling Africa’s remotest parks.”