Guest Story
"Carmen told me later that when she contacted Don, she had no idea if any of it was possible. She said: 'I told him what I wanted to give you, and he said: I will make it happen.' I still do not know how he did it."
— Diego Martinez, on his fiftieth birthday in the Serengeti
Carmen Martinez contacted Bobby Safaris six weeks before her husband's fiftieth birthday. She had a plan: they would extend a pre-existing trip to Tanzania into a celebration that Diego would never forget. The challenge was that the trip was not booked through Bobby Safaris — it was a self-planned itinerary through another operator. She came to Don with a specific request: can you arrange something extraordinary for his birthday, somewhere in the Serengeti, on this specific date?
Don said yes. He called in three favours, rearranged one camp booking, and worked with the management of the lodge where the Martinezes were staying to create an evening that Diego had not been told about in advance. The birthday dinner was held on a private terrace overlooking the plains, with a table set for two, a personal chef who had prepared Diego's favourite dishes, and a small group of staff from the lodge who gathered to sing.
"Diego cried. I have known him for twenty-two years and I have seen him cry exactly twice — once when his mother died, and once on that terrace in the Serengeti when the lodge staff started singing. Not because of the song. Because he understood, in that moment, that I had thought about him deeply enough to do this. And that someone on the other side of the world had made it happen."
— Carmen Martinez
What Bobby Safaris Arranged
The birthday dinner was only the centrepiece. Don had also arranged for Diego to have a private morning with a senior guide on the actual day — a guide who had forty years of experience in the Serengeti and who could give Diego the kind of morning he had not had the first time. A leopard hunt. A lion pride with cubs. A moment where the guide turned off the engine and said nothing for ten minutes while a herd of elephant moved through a plain of yellow grass.
Diego said later that he understood, for the first time, what the safari was really about. Not the animals, though the animals were extraordinary. The silence between things. The scale of the place. The knowledge that it had been there, working exactly like this, for longer than any human had been watching.
Mark Your Own Occasion
Every Safari Can Also Be a Celebration
Don works with guests and their families to arrange celebrations that transform a safari into something that belongs to the people taking it. Birthdays, anniversaries, honeymoons, reunions — all possible within a Tanzania itinerary.
Common Questions
Planning a Celebration Safari
Can Bobby Safaris arrange celebrations even if I booked elsewhere?
Yes. Carmen's situation — a trip booked through another operator — is not unusual. Don can work with existing bookings to arrange celebration elements: a private dinner, a special morning with a senior guide, a surprise for a partner. Reach out with as much lead time as you have.
What celebrations can be arranged?
Birthdays, anniversaries, honeymoons, engagements, family reunions, milestone anniversaries. The range runs from a private dinner in a remote location, to a sunrise breakfast on the crater rim, to cultural elements — Maasai dancers, bush celebrations, personalised traditions. If you can imagine it, ask.
How far in advance should I book?
For peak season celebrations requiring special arrangements, three to six months is ideal. However, Don has arranged remarkable celebrations on very short notice. The first step is always to call and describe what you want.