“If I have ever seen magic, it has been in Africa” -John Hemingway
Who are we?
YouHop started out as a small family-and-friend-run business with a group of photographers, zoologists, and teachers who had a passion for Africa and all it can offer. We began offering the ride of a lifetime to adventurers around the national parks in Kenya back in 2009. Since then, we have become one of the most popular safari tour operators in the area! Because we operate tours mainly in Masai Mara Park, which is the most visited and famous park in Kenya, we have bonded with adventure seekers from all over the world.
We started this company with a mission to show off the incredible preserved savannah wilderness of the Mara, while striving to include the indigenous tribe of the Maasai people who have been living here long before “safaris” were a popular tourist activity. We heard first hand about the big tour companies taking advantage of the tribes and their land, the animals, and greedily operating without giving back to the community. We wanted to change that.
The Heart of YouHop
First and foremost, we care about the community in Kenya. Each and every one of us feels at home here in the Masai Mara, and cherish the relationship we have built with the Maasai people here over the years. We are truly blessed to be able to operate on these sacred lands, and coexist with the animals and humans that inhabit this space while providing the experience of a lifetime to our customers. Our values are cross-cultural interactions, community-based tourism, fairness and equity for all, sustainability, ecotourism, and the protection of animals.
We partner with the Maasai to boost the local economy by empowering and uplifting the community to participate in the tourism exchange with visitors. We sell their hand-made artifacts in our office and 100% of the profit goes back to the community, offer opportunities for visitors to bond and learn from the Maasai, strongly believe in and contribute to women’s rights and education activities, and aim to keep the sacredness of their history intact while supporting their claim to the land.
