The Pinto Family

Our story begins with an impulsive idea.

Felix Pinto was one of Kenya’s most highly-regarded farmers. His wife Jane was an elite international table tennis player. They lived on a rambling farm off Bogoni Road, in the Nairobi suburb of Karen, where they raised their three children.

In 1966 these second-generation Kenyans decided to start a little safari company. Micato, now a global company, remains a deeply personal, family-run affair—still guided by the values Felix and Jane established from the very beginning: making Micato affiliate employees on three continents, and its guests from all over the world, feel like family.

The Pintos of Micato

Felix Pinto was a widely respected Kenyan businessman. With his rare blend of vision, warmth, and entrepreneurial drive, he built Micato into one of the world’s most admired safari companies by offering a style of hospitality rooted in generosity, sincere care, and family values—and his spirit remains at its heart today.

The family’s Ideal Farm, established by Felix on the border of Nairobi National Park in the early 1960s, was a model East African agro-industrial enterprise for many decades, and the home of a cadre of prize-winning livestock— including a massively beautiful champion pig who occupies regal stature in family lore.

Jane Pinto was an extraordinary presence at Micato, for whom retirement always seemed largely theoretical. As a former Kenyan table tennis champion, she served on the board of the International Table Tennis Federation and represented Kenya at the Olympics and at international championships. Together with Felix, Jane built Micato into a world-renowned company without ever losing the family warmth on which it was founded, while also extending that same spirit of care through her work with Micato-AmericaShare, a cause particularly close to her heart.

Executive Director Anastasia Pinto heads up Micato’s multi-continental sales efforts from her base in Los Angeles. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, she began her sales career with Hyatt Hotels in the South Pacific. Anna is deeply involved with the Pediatric Therapy Network and Sandpipers, an influential Southern California women’s philanthropy, and she is a major force behind Micato-AmericaShare, just one example of her embrace of Africa’s and the Pinto family’s tradition of supporting those in need.

After graduating from St. Mary’s School in Nairobi, Dennis Pinto, Micato’s Managing Director, headed west to Stanford and then all over the world as a vice president for American Express International Banking. Nearly forty years ago Dennis took a six-month sabbatical to set up a New York City office for Micato, and he’s still happily ensconced in the Big Apple. Skillfully honing the Micato Safaris philosophy of luxury, exploration, cultural interaction, and responsibility, he also co-founded Micato-AmericaShare.

Joy Phelan-Pinto, our Executive Director and Dennis’ bride of 30+ years, an alumna of Taft School and Brown University, oversees Micato’s brand and editorial strategy and is the impresaria of this website and our hard copy Africa and India brochures. Joy’s love of travel and the travel business led her to executive positions with Travel Dynamics and the Cunard Line. She managed such legendary vessels as Sea Goddess, Sea Cloud, and Royal Viking Sun, and at last count has travelled to 120 countries and territories. She has summited Kilimanjaro, regularly explores Africa and India, Micato’s ancestral homeland, with the family, and she keeps their New York home fires burning for their newly launched children, Sasha (Brown ’21) and Tristan (Yale ’23).

Alan Lobo, our Chief Operating Officer, is a graduate of Southern California’s Loyola Marymount University and is a mainstay of New York City’s much-vaunted Village Lions Rugby Football Club. Alan grew up with Micato: his mother, Dulu, is Jane Pinto’s cherished sister and Micato’s Head Concierge Emerita in Nairobi.

Learn about the rest of the Micato Safaris Team here.