CALL of the WILD

Abercrombie & Kent Australia’s managing director Graham Wood has had a front-row seat to some of the greatest wildlife shows on Earth.

Not many four-year-old children are lucky enough to experience an African safari, but then not many people have lived quite like Graham Wood. From the moment he embarked on his first game drive with his father in a small national park in Malawi called Kasungu, Wood was hooked.

“I remember being just awestruck by it all, thinking ‘this must be the best job in the world’,” he recalls. Fastforward almost four decades, Wood today heads up Abercrombie & Kent’s Australia office delivering iconic experiences similar to those he has experienced throughout his life.

Gorillas in Uganda; the great migration in Kenya and Tanzania; Darwin-esque adventures in the Galápagos Islands; golden eagles in Mongolia; and macaques in Japan – Wood has enjoyed a front-row seat to some of the greatest wildlife shows on the planet, all with a primary focus on conservation and sustainability, which are key pillars in the company’s global operations.

A wide world of wildlife

Travel and wildlife have been part of

Wood’s life for as long as he can remember. Born in Ireland in 1978, his family relocated to Malawi four years later, where his father worked as an engineer. His parents later moved into the tourism business, opening the first A&K office in Uganda in 1992 while their son was at boarding school in Kenya.

“I remember seeing even then how the gorillas, in particular, were successfully managed in a really sustainability-based way. That really struck me as a kid,” Wood says.

Following university in the UK and with a degree in international tourism management under his belt, Wood was desperate to return to Africa, working with A&K in its Zanzibar and Nairobi offices before gaining his guiding licence in South Africa. He then returned to A&K to build and manage camps in Uganda and Tanzania for several years.

After a stint in Hong Kong running A&K’s North Asia operations, and later his own travel company, Wood moved to Melbourne with his Australian wife to head up A&K’s Australia and New Zealand operations.

Conservation and giving back

Wood is a passionate advocate of conservation and philanthropy, two cornerstones of the company since it was founded by Geoffrey Kent in 1962.

A&K is a global leader supporting an array of wildlife and environmental causes, from cheetahs in Tanzania to rhinos and elephants in Botswana, albatross in Antarctica and raptors in Tasmania, as well as many community welfare projects.

“Everywhere around the world we try to find a way to give back,” he says. “Travel changes people, and thankfully in recent years people’s mindsets have changed to responsible and sustainable travel. Giving back is a wonderful thing to do when you travel.”

A lifetime of travel experiences creates indelible memories, three of which spring instantly to Wood’s mind: witnessing East Africa’s great migration amid millions of wildebeest and prides of lions; exploring the natural wonders of the Galápagos Islands; and being in the presence of mountain gorillas in Uganda.

“It gives me goosebumps just thinking about them,” he says. “It’s about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right people. This is the world of A&K.”

Graham Wood,

Abercrombie & Kent

Australia & New Zealand Managing Director, with mountain gorillas in Uganda

01 On safari with A&K © Kent Picture Library 02 Cruising around the Galápagos Islands 03 Tigers in India’s Ranthambore National Park 04 The Great Migration across Kenya and Tanzania © Justin Weiler

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