What was the name of the African safari guide who accompanied Hemingway in the 1930s?
Answer
Philip Percival
Answer
Philip Percival
The African safari guide who accompanied Hemingway in the 1930s was Philip Percival.
Philip Hope Percival was an English-born safari guide and professional hunter who worked in colonial Kenya. He guided Ernest Hemingway on both of Hemingway’s African safaris, beginning with the first expedition in 1934. Hemingway reportedly called Percival “Pop,” reflecting the friendship and respect that developed between them.
Percival’s influence reached Hemingway’s fiction as well as his travels. Hemingway drew on him when creating the character Robert Wilson in “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” although Bror von Blixen-Finecke has also been identified as another influence on the character. Percival was known in hunting circles as the “Dean of Hunters.”
Denys Finch Hatton was a different famous figure associated with East African safari culture, best known through Karen Blixen’s writings. Beryl Markham was an aviator and author, while Patrick Hemingway was Ernest’s son. None of them is the guide described in this question.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Aug. 2026