Timbuktu

An online trip designer to plan your own adventure ✈️

2 followers

An online trip designer to plan your own adventure ✈️

2 followers

Timbuktu is an Africa travel company that is revolutionizing the way travellers plan their safaris. How? By handing over complete control to the customer, empowering travellers to design their own trips in Africa, their way.

Launch tags:Travel•Tech

Launch Team

Framer AI AgentsDesign and publish professional sites with AI

Promoted

I live in Kenya and organise trips for friends and family a few times a year but always get frustrated with either the cost of an agent or the lack of self-service online options, hoping Timbuktu (nice name btw) can help with my next trip. One question though, often I can find the safari camps or beach hotels I want to book, but the really fiddly part is sorting the flights, taxis etc in-between... can Timbuktu help with this?

Report

8yr ago

Timbuktu

Maker

@timwiththebo thanks for getting in touch and glad you like our name! That's awesome you live in Kenya and obviously understand the frustrations we're on a mission to address with planning trips. We're focused on really putting you, the traveller, in complete control of the discovery and trip design, whilst streamlining the booking process to save you time and money along the way. Regarding the logistics, getting from safari camp A to B, we handle all of that, giving you an all-in cost for your entire trip. You design the route and add your lodges, our team of experts do the rest. Feel free to get in touch whenever you'd like any help, Johnny

Report

8yr ago

@johnny_prince this is awesome, will definitely try you guys the next time I'm booking friends or family in for a trip to Kenya and beyond

Report

8yr ago

I have now designed three trips in Africa using Timbuktu and I couldn't rate more highly the experience I had using their site, and the follow on client service, on each occasion.

It is amazing to have that much control over your travel in a region that is traditionally only accessed by using expensive agents. It feels modern and great value for money - they are definitely opening up safari travel to a younger generation. The site has so many options to choose from but has tools that really help with the planning such as recommended routes and top lodge and activity suggestions, which make it not at all overwhelming and just really fun to play around and explore all of the different options. To then be able to speak to a really knowledgeable and efficient safari expert and have them review your trip is very useful. They took care of all the little details and left the fun stuff to us!

Our trips were to Kenya, Namibia and South Africa and were all adventures of a lifetime! There is so much to explore on the continent and I genuinely can't wait to get planning my next trip.

Pros:

Simple, easy to use, amazing variety of choice, unlike any other African travel company I've come across before.

Cons:

Can't think of any... but wish they didn't just do Africa!

Report

8yr ago

Timbuktu

Maker

Thank you so much Zoe for your great feedback and so pleased you've had such great experiences using Timbuktu for your trips to Africa! We'll keep you posted whenever we launch to other remote destinations!

Report

8yr ago

They have great options for Botswana and Namibia...

Pros:

Amazing service and ease of use for their website. I like booking my own travel so it works well alongside their helpful team!

Cons:

None that I know of!

Report

8yr ago

Timbuktu

Maker

Thanks so much Lauren for getting in touch and sharing this great feedback. So pleased you've enjoyed using Timbuktu!

Report

8yr ago

Highly recommend them to any traveler who wants an experienced and efficient service

Pros:

Brilliant curated service for all forms of travel

Cons:

Not much

Report

8yr ago

Timbuktu

Maker

Thanks Michael for leaving this great review, it's so good to hear!

Report

8yr ago

Timbuktu

Maker

Hi PH, I'm the tech co-founder for Timbuktu and I thought I would give some details on the tech stack behind Timbuktu in case any of you are interested. The front-end is built in ember.js which has been really awesome for us as we have been able to keep abreast of developments in the software world as ember has been upgraded over the years while still being able to rely on essentially the same core architecture. On the server side we use node.js to actually serve up the app with an api built using Ruby on Rails. All the data is safely stored in a Postgres database. Basically as a team we value convention of configuration and frameworks like emberjs and Rails that have enabled us to be productive even though we're a small team by standing on the shoulders of giants! ... aka the framework contrbutors

Report

8yr ago

....

Pros:

Incredible knowledge of countries they serve. Friendly, efficient, and helpful.

Cons:

Nil.

Report

8yr ago

There’s so much noise out there with booking trips, this is such a great tool to get the best of Africa without the hassle!

Report

8yr ago

Timbuktu

Maker

@scott_sloan thanks so much for your thoughts and so glad you're enjoying Timbuktu! As you highlight, we're focused on really trying to simplify the process of discovering and booking the best experiences across Africa, no matter how remote or logistically difficult they are to access. Let us know how you get on with your trip creation!

Report

8yr ago

1 2 3 4

Reviews

I have now designed three trips in Africa using Timbuktu and I couldn't rate more highly the experience I had using their site, and the follow on client service, on each occasion.

Our trips were to Kenya, Namibia and South Africa and were all adventures of a lifetime! There is so much to explore on the continent and I genuinely can't wait to get planning my next trip.

Pros:

Simple, easy to use, amazing variety of choice, unlike any other African travel company I've come across before.

Cons:

Can't think of any... but wish they didn't just do Africa!