ABOUT OUR FOUNDER

For 13 years, our founder, Ken Timms, worked in Africa, firstly in exploration, then having fallen in love with the continent and the wildlife, he decided to open his own company in Kenya.

He took over the lease on a little known hostel in Nairobi called Nairobi Backpackers and started a safari company, Wild Rovers Africa Ltd. The combination was a great success and the popularity of both the hostel and the safari company grew rapidly, leading in 2007 to the vote by international travellers for the Lonely Planet Blue List title, “The Best Place to be in Africa” and also a 4 page article on our safaris appearing in International Travel Magazine.

He was responsible for the dramatic increase in Danish travellers to Kenya and East Africa, by touring Denmark giving slide shows and negotiating a sole agency deal with Jysk Rejsebureau.

Unfortunately, the lease on the hostel was not renewed when it expired in December 2007 as the landlord had other plans for the property and Ken returned to his home town of Sheffield with dreams of expanding his company to cover other countries, many of which he already had experience of, including the UK.

He will continue to oversee the African operations and be the mainstay for safari planning and expeditions, but his time will be predominantly dedicated to covering new countries and recruiting joint venture partners in these countries.

The East African safari operations are to be managed by a capable and energetic management team  and an experienced team of guides. They are currently searching for a suitable property to accommodate a new hostel.

Ken was nicknamed the Wild Rover by his mother, because of his love for adventure, travel and nature. Now he has registered what is to be the parent company for all operations, in the form of

Wild Rovers International Adventures Ltd, a UK registered company.

Over the years, he has been keeping in touch with people from all over the world and it is with the help of some of these people that operations will be undertaken in their home countries.

He still keeps in touch with many of the backpacker fraternity through his Facebook groups,

Papa Ken’s World and Friends of Nairobi Backpackers.

Charity work has been a major factor in his life and the new company will continue to support this commitment with local community projects in the areas where it works, plus international projects assisted by fund raising expeditions and activities.