Properties featured at the outset include the five-star David Livingstone Safari Lodge & Spa, on the banks of the legendary Zambezi River near the Victoria Falls; Sausage Tree Camp with its stunning location in the Lower Zambezi National Park; Bumi Hills Safari Lodge and Spa, the iconic wildlife destination on Lake Kariba; Mowana Safari Lodge in one of the world's finest wildlife areas, Chobe National Park, Botswana; the exquisite Hemingway's Kenya Collection - the recently opened 45-roomed boutique hotel in Nairobi; the beach delight of Watamu and Ol Seki, the stylish tented safari camp in the famous Masai Mara Reserve.
Founder Steve McCormick, whose personal portfolio includes The David Livingstone Safari Lodge & Spa, Bumi Hills Safari Lodge and major activity operator Safari Par Excellence at Victoria Falls, said: "The Explorer Club is a specialist adventure package tour operator created by an alliance of trusted property owners to trim costs on a direct basis and offer international clients the opportunity to experience affordable luxury in Africa.
"We have launched with a few enticing packages and will be adding more from other highly desirable areas as the club takes root," added McCormick. "As property owners we want a larger group of travellers to experience classic Africa and not just leave such affordability in the realm of the rich and famous."
He noted that last year (2013) was the bicentenary of the birth of Africa's most famous explorer, Dr David Livingstone, and he wanted "modern families to keep exploring Livingstone's amazing Africa". It was the Scottish missionary who came across the mighty waterfall on the Zambezi River in 1855 and wrote: "Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight". He named them after his Queen and today, Victoria Falls is one of the acclaimed seven natural Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
"The area is unchallenged as Africa's adventure capital," said McCormick, "and will be at the heartbeat of The Explorer Club through the 77-room David Livingstone Safari Lodge & Spa at the edge of the Zambezi within sight of the spray of the falls."
The world's greatest living explorer, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, has endorsed The Explorer Club because it opens up genuine wildlife and adventure destinations to a large swathe of travellers who previously could not afford to make such dreams a reality.
Said McCormick: "From this launch-pad of core packages, we'll keep exploring the possibilities to delight our followers. We invite our guests to explore majestic Africa with us and be amazed at just how affordable it can be."
Foe more, go to www.theexplorerclub.co.uk
