About
An Exceptional Team
Having sourced some of the most knowledgeable experts in the industry, the team boasts in excess of 120 years’ practice with a number of the UK’s leading and elite operators. We’ve taken the best of our experience and combined it with our own personal values and knowledge to expand upon and better the industry ideal.
Today the team’s expertise encompasses Africa, Australasia, Arabia, South East Asia, Latin America, the Indian Subcontinent and the Indian Ocean. But it doesn’t stop there, should we receive requests for assistance outside these areas our excellent network of suppliers and ‘fixers’ worldwide are on hand, enabling us to provide a complete, worldwide travel service to all of our guests.
Toby Warren
Having been raised in Kenya and then completing a year’s thesis on the effects of tourism on its peoples in 2002, Toby then moved to England where he worked with and subsequently helped manage a highly respected specialist tour operator for over seven years. Whilst there he travelled the breadth of the African continent as well as launching the company’s Australasia product before setting up Exceptional Travel in 2009.
Toby frequently returns home to Kenya as well as continuously seeking out new and exciting ‘off the beaten track’ experiences with recent travels seeing him journey to Chile, India, Nepal, Tibet, the Norweigan Arctic Circle and most recently the wild Skeleton Coast of Namibia.
In his spare time Toby is a passionate member of the MCC, a keen fisherman (both fly and sport) and he loves to hike, both at home and abroad.
Toby works alongside a dedicated team who have spent years researching, travelling and working in the countries they specialise in, and who are passionate about ensuring our clients receive an unparalleled service from beginning to end.
Alex Bellew
First bitten by the ‘Africa Bug’ on safari at 15, Alex was so captivated by the continent, she returned to Kenya in her gap year working in a local school before travelling overland from Nairobi to Cape Town.
In 2001 Alex joined one of the UK’s leading tour operators where she quickly became one of the company’s foremost safari specialists. After a sabbatical, working at Phinda Reserve in South Africa, she returned to her role in London, before settling in Jersey where she co-founded a successful niche safari operator. In 2017 she took the opportunity to sell her share in the firm and to our delight she decided to continue her journey by joining Exceptional Travel.
Alex’s enthusiasm for getting off the beaten track to recharge, reset and escape the 21st century is complemented by the care and attention she dedicates to every holiday she crafts, with unrivalled first-hand experience, her keen eye for detail considering every possible need for her guests.
Never far from the sea, Alex spends as much time as possible on the beach or in the water, walking her Jack Russell and Labrador, paddle boarding, surfing and sailing. In 2017 she celebrated a milestone birthday by climbing Kilimanjaro and she is never far from an airport, whisking her family off for new adventures across the globe.
Louise Mathers
Growing up in rural Worcestershire, most days were spent in the saddle, and with summer holidays spent with her horse training Godfather in America, and winter holidays in the alps, Louise’s three passions – riding, skiing and travel were engrained from a young age.
After university in Edinburgh, Louise spent the first 10 years of her career in London working for a selection of top luxury PR agencies looking after the communications for hotels and tourist boards across Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, America and Australasia.
Having been lucky enough to travel extensively for work and for pleasure, Louise then embarked upon expat life, spending just over a year living on the south coast of Sri Lanka as General Manager of a collection of luxury villas as well as their management company.
Upon returning to the UK, Louise held marketing roles with two luxury tour operators before moving into sales, where she has built extensive experience designing personally tailored itineraries around the world. Passionate about getting to know her clients, she brings each brief to life with creativity, transforming ideas into extraordinary experiences and lifelong memories for clients and their families.
Louise now lives in Wiltshire with her husband, daughter and working cocker spaniel. She still enjoys riding and skiing, as well as cooking, running, walking and music, and loves the opportunity to combine any of these hobbies with her travels.
Alexandra Heriot-Maitland
After living in and travelling extensively around South America for 3 years, Alexandra feel in love with the continent and decided to turn this passion into a career. She returned to the UK in early 2016 and bean working with a leading travel company specialising in The Americas for 5 years. Since then, Alexandra has expanded her travel knowledge to cover nad sell the majority of the world.
Alexandra still travels as much as possible, now with a toddler in tow. She adores discovering hidden gems, unique properties, intrepid experiences, and exquisite cuisine, to then share with her clients upon her return.
Miranda Boord
In her early 20’s, Miranda moved to India to manage a safari lodge in Central India for six months – an experience that sparked a lifelong passion for the country. Since then, she has returned more than 35 times, continually exploring new regions while revisiting old favourites and friends.
Having specialised in the subcontinent of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives for over 16 years, Miranda expanded her knowledge into Australasia, expanding her specialist knowledge into New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia. She has also spent a considerable, and adventurous time in Japan, a country that has accelerated it’s tourism offering quickly over recent years, requiring specialists to confidently know how to navigate the lesser known parts of Japan, to avoid the mass tourism crowds that are now common place.
With a love of discovering new places, meeting new people, and immersing herself in art, architecture, and wildlife, Miranda’s happiest moments are often spent in the Indian countryside or deep within its jungles. A keen photographer, she delighted in capturing the spirit of the places she visits.
A perfectionist by nature, Miranda is dedicated to crafting fully bespoke, meticulously tailored itineraries for her clients – journeys that go deeper than just a holiday. She believes that through connecting with new cultures, traditions, and landscapes, travel creates memories and experiences that last a lifetime.
Julia Parker
Julia spent her gap year working in Kenya for David Allen, one of the country’s top safari guides and son of the late great ‘Bunny’ Allen. She was fortunate enough to travel the country and stay with many of the famous post – colonial era characters including Hilary Hook and George Adamson at his camp in Kora.
It was here that she fell in love with Africa. After several years in the City and 3 children, she was thrilled to have a job that requires her regularly to explore Africa .
Her favourite safari (especially if combined with a beach holiday) would probably be in East Africa as much for the charm of the people, the vast open spaces and the feeling of true wilderness as for the wildlife. Top of her wish list is to get out to Western Tanzania to track chimps in the Mahale Mountains…
Michael Parker
Michael’s first experience of Africa was selling personalised Parker pens in South Africa in his gap year nearly 40 years ago, before travelling up through the continent to Kenya. He came to know and love East Africa during time spent in Kenya on training exercises with the British Army, and having been infected with the Africa bug he has returned regularly ever since.
Indeed, Michael and Julia’s honeymoon was spent in the extraordinary environment of Botswana’s Okavango Delta and Makgadikdadi Pans with the legendary Jack Bousfield of Jack’s Camp fame.
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