Our Story
Inara (meaning ray of light) was founded to reveal Africa with clarity, authenticity, and heart.
We create private guided safaris and bespoke safaris that shine a light on Africa’s extraordinary landscapes, wildlife, and the people who call it home. Every journey is designed with intention and guided by the belief that true luxury lies in the freedom to feel the wild fully.
Rodger Bowren
Inara’s founder, Rodger Bowren, has spent most of his life outdoors and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Raised on a farm in South Africa’s Drakensberg Mountains, his early years were shaped by fishing, birdwatching, and finding any excuse to be in nature. That instinct became the foundation of a career that’s spanned nearly two decades and some of Africa’s most remarkable landscapes.
Today, he’s recognised as one of Africa’s leading private guides, photographers, and travel experts, with experience across Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, and South Africa. His career has seen him guide safaris and photographic safaris in South Africa’s Tswalu Private Game Reserve and Botswana’s Mashatu Game Reserve, manage a lodge in Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, and is a partner in the successful luxury travel company African Lynx in Cape Town. His photography has taken him to Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, and Vietnam, yet his true calling remains in Africa.
Known for his depth of knowledge, intuitive hosting, sense of humour, and genuine care for people and the natural world, Rodger has built a reputation for creating safaris that reveal Africa at its most wild, welcoming, and wonderfully unpredictable. His background in hospitality and operations has shaped his understanding of what makes travel meaningful, and those who travel with him leave with a renewed sense of wonder and a reminder that the wild still has the power to change how we see the world, and ourselves.
When not on safari, Rodger lives in Cape Town with his wife and two children, trading the bush for the ocean and mountains, still happiest anywhere under open sky.
Your Journey Begins Here
Our private guided safaris and bespoke safaris are created in collaboration with our guests. We talk, plan, and then design a safari that connects every experience into an unforgettable journey.
