Our Background
Family owned and operated, Karell Travel, takes its name from the original owners, close friends of Norman & Cathy Pieters who acquired the business in 1991.
Norman & Cathy Pieters and their four year old son Craig emigrated from South Africa in 1988, green cards in hand and ready to fulfill a lifelong dream of living in the United States. They settled in Worcester, Massachusetts for three years before an extraordinary series of events led to an opportunity to acquire Karell Travel from close friends in Miami, FL in 1991. Before taking over, Norman promised that two things would never change: the name Karell and the original K logo.
One year later Hurricane Andrew swept through South Florida, leaving mass devastation in its wake and a grim economic future for many of the businesses in its path, including Karell. Necessity is the mother of invention, however, and these hard financial times became the catalyst for Norman’s decision to completely re-invent the agency as a specialist in one area: African travel.
Almost 30 years later, the company continues to flourish, known for its honesty, commitment and personal attention in orchestrating customized trips to Southern and East Africa. With Craig’s addition to the company in 2008, it is truly a family owned and run business now. Norman & Cathy have ninety years of collective travel industry experience, having worked in South Africa, London, Australia, Swaziland and the United States.
Karell has been in the business of making African safari vacations a reality for well over 25 years. Isn’t it comforting to know that when booking a first trip to an exotic destination we can seamlessly take all your dreams and weave them in to a trip designed for you and only you?
Based on your expectations and interests, we can place you in countries, areas and properties best suited to you. We take care of everything from A to Z .
Feel secure knowing you are booking your African vacation with a bona fide leading American African tour operator that has been in the business for 29 years and offers the security of 24/7 customer service whilst you are away with a toll free number to contact us at any time.
“Our mission is to create journeys that lift our travelers out of the ordinary into the memorable!”