Phyllis Corliss is owner of the Corliss Group travel agency in Arcadia, Calif., a small, independent agency specializing in luxury travel, and a top producer for Crystal Cruises. Corliss also has a self-professed “passion” for Africa.
Q: When was your last big African trip?
A: In 1996, we organized a trip for about 100 people. The group boarded a Crystal Cruise in Mombasa, Kenya, but the land part before that, in Kenya and Tanzania, was all organized by us. I’m going back to Africa later this year.
Q: Are there operators you’ve worked with in Africa that you recommend?
A: Ker Downey is a good operator in South Africa, and Micato in Kenya and Tanzania. We’ve done everything chartered planes and all sorts of individual itineraries. Each time we take a group to Africa the itinerary is different, so that it’s always new to the client who is returning.
Q: Is there one thing that you would say a client going to Africa must do?
A: Everyone should do a deluxe tent camp. You know there are different kinds of safaris, but the best is actually camping out. In South Africa, we’ve done the Blue Train from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and Kruger National Park and Sabi Sabi are extraordinary game areas.
Q: What was your best African experience?
A: The most awesome thing my husband and I have done was a World War I biplane flight at dawn over Mount Kenya. It was with an RAF pilot, and we had headphones on and were listening to music from “Out of Africa” as the sun came up. It was spectacular.
