Lale Biwa

Ethiopia

A Kara elder from the village of Dus, Lale Biwa is a renowned guide to the lower Omo Valley from the base of the eponymous Lale’s Camp. His standing locally, together with his command of multiple languages and dialects, mean that Lale is the ideal person to provide a respectful and sensitive link between international travellers and the remote tribal cultures of this part of Ethiopia. It is something that Lale has been doing for decades, originally with his mentor the late Halewijn Scheurman. In his words: “I’m grateful to be able to help visitors understand more about the Kara, Hamer and Mursi communities, and the challenges that they’re facing today.”

camps

Bemnet Gizachew

Ethiopia

Born in Addis Ababa, Bemnet (or ‘Bem’) is passionate about travel and being exposed to new environments, cultures, customs and beliefs. It is a passion that was inculcated in him as a youngster when accompanying his father on business trips around Ethiopia. It is the historical circuit of the north of Ethiopia – Amahara, Tigray and beyond – where his expertise is most developed and where for more than a decade he has hosted and guided guests from many different backgrounds and nationalities. Equally adept at answering the needs of the first-time traveller or those of seasoned specialists Bem’s familiarity with the highlands of the Ethiopia mean he is also an excellent birder.

camps

Tihitina Yoseph

Ethiopia

Country manager and one of the founders of Wild Expeditions Ethiopia, Tihitina, or Titi, was born and raised in a town in the Ethiopian Rift Valley called Hawassa. Inspired by her late father, who was passionate about the tourism industry and one of the founders of the former Lumale Tours, Titi studied Tourism Management at the University of Gondar in the northern highlands and thereafter joined Lumale Tours in 2012 as office administrator and later Operations Manager. Since 2016 Titi has formed a core part of the Ethiopian team of Wild Expeditions as the Sales Manager, a position where she is able to indulge her passion for promoting Ethiopia’s historical, cultural and natural treasures to travellers from around the world.

camps

Pierre Bester

Madagascar

A budding career in law was abandoned early in Pierre’s adulthood in favour of adventure and pioneering sea kayak expeditions in the Great Rift Valley and the east African coast. This led to settling down on Lake Malawi and building two award-winning island eco-lodges in the mid-1990’s. Itchy feet led to Madagascar and the remote Masoala Peninsula in the north-east of the island. The annual Masoala kayak expeditions became legendary and resulted in the creation of the Masoala Forest Lodge, where Pierre and his wife Maria have built a fantastic team of Malagasy staff from the local villages and raised their two young children.

camps

Maria Bester

Madagascar

A year-long adventure from her hometown Aachen in Germany, through Africa, culminating in Cape Town, was undertaken in an old ice cream truck. Yes, an ice cream truck. It was a trip that introduced Maria to two loves of her life. The first (after thousands of kilometres of diverse scenery, wildlife and interesting cultures) was Africa, the second her now husband Pierre, who she met in Cape Town at the end of the trip. A whirlwind romance took her to Madagascar with Pierre, where she ‘upgraded’ Pierre’s expeditions-style camp into the beach-chic Masoala Forest Lodge of today, where equal emphasis was finally put on comfort as well as adventure.

camps

Paula Jao

Madagascar

Paula joined the Masoala Forest Lodge team almost 20 years ago in the early 2000s as a purchaser of provisions in Maroantsetra, a frontier town where the Masoala adventures start and end and where she and her husband live. Over this period, through her unfailing positive energy, enthusiasm and diligence, never mind her unflappable island grace, she has worked herself into the position of manager of all lodge operations in Maroantsetra. Amongst her myriad tasks, she is the smiling face of Masoala that meets all of our guests on arrival and facilitates their smooth transfers to and back from the lodge.

camps

Jemma Ackerman

Zimbabwe

Proudly Zimbabwean born and raised, Jemma’s childhood was firmly rooted in the national parks and wild areas of the country and it was inevitable that after stints living and working in first Australia and then South Africa and Botswana that she would return home. The foundation for this return was built on a budding ecotourism career with some very well-respected safari brands operating camps all over southern and east Africa. Her skills for writing and an innate understanding of the natural world first led her into marketing roles that subsequently morphed into being ‘bush-based’ and it was in reconnecting with her natural heritage that Jemma became convinced to take on the management of Camp Hwange in the exceptional Shumba Concession.

camps

Olatotse Sarefo

Botswana

Olatotse Sarefo, or Ola, is an elder of the Gudigwa community with both Bukakhwe San and Hambukushu heritage. His long career in ecotourism began in the mid-1990s when he started work as a guide that saw him employed by some of the best safari companies across the Okavango Delta. It was always his dream to start his own safari company however and some years ago he achieved this vision with the establishment of Camp Karangoma Safaris, a mobile safari operator. This dream has grown into Karangoma Camp in the remote northern reaches of a wildlife management area known as NG12, a fitting full circle for Ola whose family called the area home until some 30 years ago.

camps

Explore with us

We love talking to past and future guests and helping plan trips of a lifetime, but we don’t take direct bookings.

Instead, we work with a wide network of specialist tour operators all around the world in order that our guests can liaise with someone in their own jurisdiction, time zone, culture and language to craft the perfect African expedition for them.

Contact us - We’d be happy to help design a trip and recommend a tour operator that is right for you.