About Us

Carsten Schmidt

Born in Germany, at the age of 9, Carsten travelled for the first time to Kenya to visit his father who was then working for the German Voluntary Service. At 14 he took the big step to leave Germany, drive with his father to Kenya by car and start a new life there. Three and a half months were dedicated to this adventure, stopping in the Sahara desert, Ghana, Cameroon and Zaire. He learned the value of slow travelling and discovered the beauty of nature. The urge for further travel has been unbroken ever since.

Having arrived in Kenya, the first person he was introduced to in his new school in Mombasa, later turned out to become his closest friend and business partner of African Luxury Villas. Benefiting from the freedom of a teenager countless trips were made, some as far as the deserted Turkana, Tanzania or the last authentic Kenyan rainforest in Kakamega. The pure amazement about this unique nature and wildlife slowly filled with knowledge and background information with every trip. He began to observe changes, effects of tourism and developments due to political interactions. His love for this unique wildlife and sea-world as a passionate diver soon made him an opponent of mass tourism.

After he had returned to Germany to train as an Administrative and Financial Executive, he went back to Kenya many times to what he still considers "home".

In the following years he worked in Germany and Greece, last as a web-designer for his own company as well as establishing one of Greece's leading villa rental agencies called www.GreekLuxuryVillas.com, but his passion for travelling has made him an Nico team up and create www.AfricanLuxuryVillas.com a portal providing unique experiences for unique travelers.

Nico Pannevis

Nico's grandfather landed in Africa as a soldier during the Second World War and decided to make Tanzania his new home as a producer growing Arabica Coffee and Sisal. His wife and daughter soon arrived by ship from Sicily to join their husband and father in this unknown magnificent continent – Africa.
Nico's father "Jimmy", a hotelier by profession, landed in Tanzania in the early 60's.

Born in Kenya, Nico spent the 1st 17 years living in different countries in Africa as his father opened various lodges and hotels. This provided him at a young age with personal experience in various African Tribes, cultures and wildlife.
These travels allowed him to learn and speak 6 languages and taught him to live, understand and absorb the beauty and culture each region had to offer.

This wonderful experience took him to places like Kenya, Tanzania, Seychelles, Uganda and Zaire. Through this journey, he learned the value of travelling and he discovered the beauty of nature. This urge has since been unbroken and he continues to do so with his wife and children.

He met Carsten in school and benefiting from the freedom of teenagers, together they made countless trips in Kenya by car or by motorbike, some as far as the deserted Turkana as well as numerous national parks, reserves and coastal provinces. These small, unique safaris provided them with knowledge and background in individual travelling.

In 1989 he left Africa to follow in his father's footsteps and to further his studies in England where he graduated in Guilford and then moved on to work in the Hospitality industry working for renown establishments in London as a chef and in management such as The Savoy, The Ritz Hotel and Capital Hotels.

He currently lives in Tuscany, where in 1999 he has established successful self catering holiday villas and apartments www.santantonio.it.

Nico and Carsten have teamed up, placed both their experiences of travelling, African knowledge as well as recognized hospitality standards having worked for some of the world's leading top establishments and have personally viewed and selected villas to meet various budgets on www.AfricanLuxuryVillas.com.