This ultra luxurious travel organization is far from your average tour operator
Micato Safaris Offers the Ultimate Tour of India
This ultra luxurious travel organization is far from your average tour operator
Micato Safaris isn’t your average tour operator. This family-run company specializes in crafting bespoke travel experiences for the socially conscious traveler—with money to spend. “We attract engaged, culturally curious, wildlife-centric travelers of all ages who seek our highly-personalized approach to trip planning and operation,” Dennis Pinto, managing director of Micato Safaris, tells COOL HUNTING. “Travelers are active, young at heart, and value being able to change the trajectory of impoverished children whose education they fund through Micato-AmericaShare,” Micato’s non-profit arm that helps disadvantaged children in Kenya and South Africa access quality education.
Micato tailors itineraries to guests’ interests and comfort, though some urban tour inclusions might push those boundaries. And the ethics of such visits are debatable. Local communities shouldn’t be objectified. We repeatedly questioned our own presence in these working areas, wondering if we should even be there at all. But maybe that’s the point. One could easily argue this firsthand experience fosters the kind of understanding of societal disparities that you’re not going to get from a typical luxury vacation to the country or from watching a documentary about these neighborhoods from the comfort of your own home. The key is to avoid exploiting poverty for pictures and turning city tours into voyeuristic adventures.
“Having operated in these destinations for decades, we have found this balance: Giving our luxury travelers meaningful experiences that also contribute positively to local cultures and economies,” Pinto says. “One cannot go to a destination, stay in its luxury hotels, see only showcase sites and claim to have ‘seen’ that country. I mean you can, but it’s not right. Micato is determined to give our guests the real picture.”
Despite venturing off the beaten path, it can’t be denied that Micato tours cater to a wealthier crowd who at the end of the day do want a luxurious experience, not just adventure travel. Their price point reflects this exclusivity, as evidenced by their celebrity clientele. Safety remains paramount; tours typically include a local guide, driver and an assistant who handle everything from hydration to wrangling any stray guests who might miss a pickup amidst the bustling crowds.
“One of the things is that when people travel with us, they expect to be in a bubble, to be protected, to feel comfortable, to feel safe in an Indian world, in a place where there’s so little personal space,” said Puneet Dan, who has been working for Micato India for 27 years, who was our tour guide for the entire trip.
Micato Safaris, itself, boasts a unique story. The original Micato Safaris, now essentially the Micato Africa arm of the company, was founded in 1966 by second-generation Kenyans, Felix Pinto and Jane Pinto. In 1990, their son Dennis co-founded Micato India along with his friend Cecil Haidar Ali. Today, Micato India is under the direction of Ali’s daughter and son, Lisa Alam Shah and Michael Haidar Ali.
“We are a family-owned and run company, and Dennis is very clear about doing quality work,” says Lisa Alam Shah during our tour orientation in Mumbai. “He’s always been very clear that this company will always be run by us, we’re never going to sell it, and lose that ethos that we have to make things our way. There was never any compromise on that. And that translates to India as well.”
As Dan describes, Micato Safaris in Africa had a lot of business with cruise ships in the 1980s, and the guests would get great service on the tours in Africa and on the cruise ships. But when they would take the voyage to India, they were met with “absolutely terrible service,” Dan says. So as a result, five cruise companies promised to give Micato work if they opened an office in India.
In the initial days, Dan says, almost 95% of Micato India’s business revolved around cruise ships. But today it’s roughly 40% from cruise ships and 60% private tours for individuals and small groups. (Even after nearly two grueling weeks on the road with us, Dan flew back from New Delhi to Mumbai with two days to lead the tour for a cruise ship shore excursion. That excursion was to the Taj Mahal, which being in Agra seems a bit landlocked, to put it lightly, for a cruise ship shore excursion, but Micato makes it happen through local airline deals.)
Regardless of the numbers, Micato defies the notion of being confined to a tourist bubble. Micato’s philosophy? To create a safe and comfortable environment while fostering genuine connections with the vibrant tapestry of Indian life. Because of the family-run company’s background, Micato India emphasizes a deep understanding of the spectrum of Indian cultures and travel logistics, promising tours crafted with an insider’s perspective. And while its urban city tours and safari trips are extensive, Micato has kept its geographical focus relatively small, only operating in India and more than half a dozen African nations.
“While we have significant growth opportunities in existing destinations, any expansion will likely be in the neighborhood of existing destinations—for example, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Sri Lanka,” Pinto says. “However, unlike other companies who subcontract in those destinations, we’d embark on a multiyear investment in staffing and infrastructure to open a Micato operation in any new destination, allowing us to maintain the high levels of quality our guests have come to expect.”
Pinto says many of Micato India guests have previously traveled with Micato on safari in Africa, and vice versa. In India, Pinto adds Micato has seen seen a bump in the number of guests who seek culinary adventures, wellness and rejuvenation programs, and excursions to more off-the-beaten track nature reserves, like the last population of Asiatic lions in Gir National Forest, birding in the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, or trekking snow leopard in the Kingdom of Ladak.
“All of them want a balance of cultural immersion, abundant wildlife, as well as a luxury that is, for many, truly priceless: Carefully orchestrated, utterly private peace and quiet in breathtaking, isolated areas,” Pinto says. “That our guests want top-shelf amenities in these isolated places adds a layer of complexity, as does the need to honor special requests, like having enough rooms for security details, for instance.”
Micato India’s urban tours, offered independently or in conjunction with outback safaris, prioritize hidden gems and authentic experiences, providing a more nuanced perspective of contemporary India. While iconic landmarks like the Taj Mahal remain a must-see, Micato elevates the experience. Guests stay at The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra’s only five-star hotel on the Taj Mahal grounds, and their tour guide secures prime entry times, like sunrise or twilight, to avoid harsh sunlight and crowds.
City tours, especially, offer contrasting experiences throughout the journey so you get a better understanding of the local communities and cultures without being hidden behind luxury hotel gates the entire time. Think volunteer sessions at a Sikh temple in Delhi; visits to a Hindu temple in a rural village outside Udaipur; and watching Mumbai’s tiffin lunch box delivery network in action—a system that is so timely and precise that it was the subject of a Harvard Business Review case study.
Even with the magnificent destinations, the opulent accommodations, and the chance at seeing a tiger in the wild, Micato’s greatest strength lies in its tour guides. These passionate storytellers aren’t just there to point out famous landmarks. They’re experts on Indian history, culture, and wildlife, weaving tales that bring ancient monuments and bustling bazaars to life. Imagine your guide transforming Jaipur’s Amber Fort from an ancient fortress into a monument brimming with secret love stories.
The tour guides can also arrange exclusive visits and workshops with local business owners, often in businesses related to the interests of the guests, such as fashion, textiles, and culinary arts. Want to learn more about the local cuisine? We had a home-cooked meal at the home of Chef Tejasvi Chandela, a classically-trained pastry chef who was named best young pastry chef by Conde Nast Traveller India in 2023. Interested in local textiles? Our tour guide arranged a visit in Jaipur to the boutique and workshop of the Princess Diya Kumari Foundation, a foundation founded in 2013 to empower women to reach financial independence by providing training in skills such as stitching, embroidery, heritage crafts, and soft toy making. The foundation provides the infrastructure, design, materials, machinery, tools, and retail outlets for their crafts and products, and the women receive a percentage of the proceeds for every item they produce.
“I can say without any modesty that we have the best India and Africa specialists in the industry, and it is their job to help prepare our guests for their journey ahead,” Shah says in an interview after the trip. And that includes being honest with guests and managing expectations.
Shah shares the example of a group who wanted to travel with Micato, and they had a specific request: to be able to catch a glimpse of the elusive snow leopard. Now, common sense might tell you that catching a glimpse of a wild animal in a national park is just based on luck. But that answer isn’t always good enough. Still, the group told Micato that another company guaranteed a snow leopard sighting. But Shah said she told the group that they couldn’t guarantee that, but that they would certainly do their utmost to try and make that happen.
“Given the nature of the destination—and of the animal—it would be foolish and flat-out-wrong to guarantee this. I explained how the leopard trek would work, the kind of team we have, how they track the leopards, and how we have the expertise—but that we are also counting on a little bit of luck,” Shah explains. “Because we were candid, they ended up booking with us.”
Naturally, there are also visits to historic palaces hundreds of years old (no trip to Jaipur is complete without a visit to the Pink Palace, the epicenter of the Pink City) as well as open-air jeep safari tours through India’s national parks, such as Ranthambore. (You’ve never really lived until you see a sloth bear climb a tree at least three stories tall, proceeding to demolish a beehive with its paws and teeth while the bees swarm desperately around his big furry face—all in less than five minutes flat.)
But the point of Micato tours isn’t just to offer a glossy, idealized version nor glorify the negative stereotypes about India’s slums—it is to offer visitors a more complete picture of India’s today across business, tourism, and community. Micato’s expert guides, boasting extensive knowledge of the country’s history and traditions, are also very honest in conveying to guests a profound understanding of India’s complexities.
“We make sure that our guests have the opportunity to interact with local people from different walks of life. They might meet a farmer in a village who would actually have a relatively comfortable life and a nice home. They may meet a jewelry designer from a wealthy background, or perhaps a flower seller who may have little in terms of material things, but would be so warm and friendly and have a big grin on his face because you stopped to talk to him,” Shah said. “Admittedly, in certain cities, the poverty can be more intense and that’s where we come in—to help them understand.”
And a focus on luxury shouldn’t be mistaken for superficiality. Micato organizes stays in opulent accommodations thanks to partnerships with Oberoi Hotels, among other hoteliers, shuttling guests for overnight stays in restored palaces and tented camps so comfortable that they would rival luxury rentals in most major cities around the world. These hotel stays include delicious meals showcasing regional specialties, and every detail is meticulously arranged to ensure guest comfort and enjoyment, including the delivery of surprise gifts to rooms each night.
The little surprises aren’t extravagant, and they achieve a basic objective: making one smile at the end of the day. “There is a reality about India that we can’t hide, nor would we want to,” Shah says. “Our goal to a large extent is to educate our guests so they truly understand India and not only simply have surface perceptions based on a film they saw or an article they read.”