Nicole D. Ford (Las Vegas) - Balafon Nikki: Abercrombie & Kent 50th anniversary gala at The Bellagio

NICOLE D. FORD (Nikki) Web: http://www.nicoledford.com Email: nicoledford2014@gmail.com Nicole is Co-Founder, Drummer and Executive Producer of Triba! or Triba World Percussion, Music & Entertainment Web: www.tribaworldentertainment.weebly.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TribaWorld/ Email: tribaworld@gmail.com Olabisi African Dance & Drum Ensemble at Abercrombie & Kent hosted a 50th anniversary gala at Virtuoso Travel Week at The Bellagio in Las Vegas. Olabisi African Dance & Drum Ensemble https://www.facebook.com/olabisi.africandancetroupe West Las Vegas Arts Center http://www.artslasvegas.org/classes/wlvac.htm Nicole D. Ford playing balafon Virtuoso Travel Week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1d9y... http://www.virtuoso.com/ Abercrombie & Kent https://www.youtube.com/user/abercrom... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omNIU... http://www.akphilanthropy.org/ Abercrombie & Kent pioneered luxury adventure travel with the first African photographic safaris in 1962. Today its award-winning travel services extend around the globe to more than 100 countries on all seven continents. A&K’s custom itineraries and small-group journeys offer one-of-a-kind inspiring experiences, while 52 on-site offices ensure invitation-only access to the people and places that make every destination unique. The secret of the company’s success begins with its history. Geoffrey Kent’s life began, much as he continues to live it today, amidst excitement and adventure in an exotic location.He was born while his parents, Colonel John and Valerie Kent, were on safari in Northern Rhodesia, which is now Zambia. Growing up on the family farm in the Aberdare Highlands of Kenya, Kent's childhood was spent in the wilds untamed Africa. He attended the then-new Duke of York School in Nairobi, which would ultimately produce many of Kenya's business and science leaders. In the 1970s, he entered into partnership with Jorie Ford Butler of Oak Brook, Illinois, to expand Abercrombie & Kent.To this day, they continue to travel the world in search of the kinds of adventures that will surprise and thrill their guests. Under their passionate and visionary guidance -- Geoffrey Kent serves as Chairman and CEO, Jorie Butler Kent as Vice Chairman -- Abercrombie & Kent represents the uncompromising best at every turn in the road. Abercrombie & Kent offers its guests unrivaled service, with more experts in more places than any other travel company. It was the first to focus on “experiential” travel, beginning with safaris in Africa, then as the first international tour operator in China and finally by turning adventure cruising into a luxury pursuit. Further distinguishing A&K is the fact that the company owns luxury safari lodges in pristine wilderness areas, including Sanctuary Chief's Camp and Sanctuary Chobe Chilwero in Botswana (featured in Architectural Digest, Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure); exclusive rights to camps with some of Africa's finest game-viewing; a fleet of well-maintained ground transport vehicles; the Sanctuary Sun Boats on the Nile, considered by Opinionated Traveler as “Cadillacs of the waterways, offering cleanliness, comfort and excellent food and service," in addition to the finest boutique cruise ship in China, Sanctuary ‘Yangzi Explorer’ and the most luxurious river cruiser in Myanmar, Sanctuary ‘Ananda.’ A&K also creates memorable travel experiences built around ‘Le Boreal,’ the only all-balcony expedition ship in Antarctica and the Arctic, in addition to the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and Royal Scotsman luxury trains, and more than 30 canal and river cruisers in Europe, Asia and the Amazon. The Kent formula of providing a "luxury cocoon" from which to explore the world attracts prominent guests as diverse as James Brolin, Kristin Davis, Bill Gates, John Grisham, Tom Hanks, Dr. Henry Kissinger, Goldie Hawn, Lauren Hutton, Sharon Lawrence, Liam Neeson, Rachael Ray, Diane Sawyer, Jane Seymour, Barbara Walters, Denzel Washington and Oprah Winfrey.These high-profile travellers are among the literally thousands of well-known people who have journeyed to the wildest and most remote corners of the globe with A&K. A keen and abiding passion for wildlife has been the centerpiece of both the careers and personal lives of Geoffrey Kent and Jorie Butler Kent. In 1982 they founded Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy (AKP), an award-winning nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting ecosystems and wildlife, while supporting indigenous communities. Working through A&K offices around the globe, AKP makes it possible for A&K guests to give back to the places they visit. The U.S. headquarters for Abercrombie & Kent are just outside Chicago in Downers Grove, Illinois. The Abercrombie & Kent Group of Companies has 52 offices around the world employing more than 2,500 travel professionals.