Luxury adventure travel pioneer honors excellence in hospitality, experiences, leadership, and conservation.

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA / ACCESS Newswire / February 11, 2026 / UNCHARTED, the Global Safari Brand, today announced the 2026 Global Safari Awards, recognizing 25 properties, experiences, individuals, and conservation organizations that define excellence in luxury adventure travel worldwide.

Now in its second year, the Global Safari Awards represent UNCHARTED's independent expert position on what matters in luxury adventure travel. The winners are partners the company stakes its reputation on after three decades of designing transformative journeys to the world's most spectacular nature travel destinations.

"These are not the most Instagrammed destinations or the most publicized or advertised experiences," says Chip Cunningham, President and Co-founder of UNCHARTED. "These are the places we send our discerning, high-end clients with complete confidence. These are the hosts and guides we trust, the people in the field who do real conservation work. This is our judgment, earned over 30 years of flying bush planes, sleeping under canvas, and designing trips that deliver not just complete satisfaction, but transformation."

"The awards represent the evolution of modern safari-style travel," says UNCHARTED co-founder Sandy Cunningham. "It's a holistic, 21st-century approach that blends exploration with environmental responsibility, cultural preservation, and purpose-driven luxury."

Four Categories, One Standard of Excellence

The 2026 awards include four categories, including three new ones this year:

Outposts honors the planet's premier safari-style camps, boutique boats, lodges, and city-side hideaways with extraordinary design, genuine hospitality, and sustainability best practices.

Experiences (NEW) recognizes itineraries, programs, and expeditions that become transformative, from walking safaris led by master trackers to wellness journeys and Zodiac expeditions into rarely visited waters.

People (NEW) celebrates the visionaries, guides, and other changemakers doing the real work of building lodges that protect rather than extract, training the next generation, and making lasting impact.

Conservation (NEW) honors foundations, NGOs, and businesses proving that luxury travel and conservation are fuel for each other - protecting wildlife habitats, empowering communities, and enacting economic models that benefit both.

2026 Global Safari Award Winners Include:

  • Royal Chundu Island Lodge (Zambia) - "Best Bubble Bath on the Big Bad Zambezi"

  • Magashi Peninsula Camp (Rwanda) - "Our Favorite Under-the-Radar Camp"

  • Samode Safari Lodge (India) - "Where The Jungle Book Comes Alive"

  • Estancia Cerro Guido (Chile) - "Puma Country's Premier Gaucho Getaway"

The complete list of 25 winners is available here.

About the Global Safari Awards™

The Global Safari Awards™ represent UNCHARTED's editorial judgment on what defines world-class in luxury adventure travel. Winners are selected based on design excellence, authentic hospitality, conservation impact, and the company's direct experience sending clients to these properties and working with these partners over multiple years.

About UNCHARTED®

Founded in 1995, UNCHARTED is a family-owned luxury adventure travel company specializing in designing bespoke journeys to Africa, India, South America, and beyond.

For more information, visit gouncharted.com or contact:

Media Contact:
Sandy Cunningham, co-founder UNCHARTED
[email protected] | (888) 995-0909

SOURCE: UNCHARTED



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