About Us

Two Paths Converge in Tanzania

Rick Thomson and Judi Wineland first met on safari in Kenya in 1979, where Rick was guiding and Judi had come to learn more about the safari business. Their paths to East Africa had been very different. Their shared fascination with Tanzania would eventually bring those paths together. Less than two years later, they founded Thomson Safaris.

Judi Wineland

Judi’s life in travel began long before Thomson. In 1969, she traveled internationally as a singer and guitarist with the USO, performing in Japan, Guam, the Philippines and Vietnam. Travel soon became more than a passion: she entered the emerging adventure travel business and began building a company of her own.

East Africa had captured her imagination years earlier, when a seventh-grade research project on poaching in Kenya left her determined to experience the region’s wildlife for herself.

At Thomson, Judi brought the traveler’s perspective. She listened closely to guests and paid attention to the small things that could change how a safari felt. She recalls suggesting something as simple as turning the beds in a tent so guests could wake to a better sunrise or sunset.

That attention eventually extended beyond the traveler. As Thomson’s relationships in Tanzania deepened, Judi became increasingly focused on how tourism could benefit the communities surrounding the places guests came to experience.

Rick Thomson

Rick’s path to Tanzania began with an overland journey from London to Nairobi in 1979. He stayed in Kenya to guide safaris, but stories of the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater soon drew him south.

Rick was an automotive engineer by trade, and his technical instincts became part of the way Thomson operated from the beginning. Guiding taught him what safari demanded in the field. His mechanical background helped him think through everything from vehicles and tents to refrigeration, lighting and camp systems.

Over the years, Rick customized safari vehicles around the needs of wildlife viewing and photography and helped develop solar-powered LED lighting for the camps.

A Partnership That Shaped Thomson

Judi kept asking what would make the journey better for the traveler. Rick kept asking how to make it work in the field.

That combination of human attention and practical ingenuity helped shape Thomson Safaris from the beginning. Their day-to-day roles have changed, but their influence is still visible in the way Thomson approaches safari: pay attention, know the place and take care of the details that allow the experience itself to come forward.

Their partnership extends well beyond Thomson Safaris. Married and sharing a lifelong love of Tanzania, Rick and Judi have passed that passion on to their two children and grandchildren, who have also fallen in love with the country that brought their family story together.