female safari guide

This Kenyan Woman Landed Her Dream Job As a Safari Guide

Charity Cheruiyot made history as the Masai Mara Reserve’s first-ever female guide.

“Look, do you see that lion cub eating its prey with his mother, way off in the distance, behind those tall pieces of grass?” my safari guide Charity asks me and my husband, Rahul. We’re on a morning game drive in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, and Charity—the first-ever female safari guide in “the Mara”—is pumped that we have stumbled upon the aftermath of a “kill.”

I strain my eyes and peer through a pair of binoculars, but sadly, I don’t see anything. Rahul doesn’t, either.

“Look again,” Charity encourages us. “If you let your eyes adjust for a long enough time, you will see.” And soon enough, we do: There, lying in the grass, is a lion and its young cub, feasting on a freshly-killed wildebeest whose blood is still lingering on both lions’ whiskers. Charity expertly maneuvers the safari truck to bring us closer to the action, and, before long, we’re inches away from the feast, watching in awe as the two lions go to town on their prey.

“This is what you came for,” Charity whispers as she quietly takes the keys out of the ignition so that we can sit in the utter stillness of the Mara.

You would think, given Charity’s laser-sharp, eagle-eye vision and intrinsic animal intuition that she grew up around the “Big Five” animals: lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos, and buffalos. Or that she’s been living in the Masai Mara for her entire life. But Charity Jemutai Cheruiyot, who is in her 30s but insists that “a lady never reveals her age,” grew up in a small village in the Rift Valley, Kenya, miles away from the bush life that is the Masai Mara. In fact, as a member of the Kalenjin tribe, she lived a very “simple life” in the farmland. She went to school, studied hard, and, as the second-oldest child in a family of eight, helped her parents raise her younger siblings. In other words, her life was far away from safari vehicles and “kill” sightings.

But after she graduated from secondary school, Charity’s life began to take a different turn. While most women in her village grew up to be nurses or school teachers, she knew from an early age that wasn’t her passion. Though her mom desperately wanted her to stay home and follow the path of her peers, Charity felt a strong urge to be a flight attendant.

“I’m a very strong believer in callings and the fact that God is above everything,” she says. And so, when she felt her heart “skip a little bit” whenever she would read about planes or saw one fly above her village, she took that as a sign that she was meant to create a life around planes. “I would just feel something in me after I saw or read about one, and I would think, Yes . This is what I want to do. I saw the planes as a calling that pulled me toward being a flight attendant, and I knew I had to follow that calling.”

Charity’s mom, however, had different plans. She set Charity and her sister up with interviews for teacher’s courses, but Charity bailed on the interview and instead applied for a flight attendant course. When she didn’t get accepted, rather than surrendering to discouragement, she applied for a travel consultant course, instead. She was accepted, and her dad paid for her tuition, because “he believed in doing what you love.” But once she graduated, there was no job in sight—which brought on the guilt tripping from Mom. “Because my course didn’t lead to a job, my mom had every reason to blame me. She would say to me, ‘So-and-so just finished teacher’s college, and so-and-so just finished a nursing course, and now they are employed by the government. But you’re just sitting at home and you have nothing to show for it.’ It was very difficult.”

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A friend from Charity’s village who lived in Nairobi soon heard about her situation and invited her to come stay on her couch in the city. Charity got a waitressing job at a hotel, and from there, another friend introduced her to an employee at City Africa, which later became the travel company andBeyond . Charity applied for a job with the company, and after about four months of waiting (and a mountain of paperwork) she got the gig...without even really knowing what the job actually entailed . “All I wanted was a job in tourism to get me started,” she explains. “After looking for a job for quite a long time, if somebody gives you even a slight opportunity, you have to grab it.”

Turns out the job was to be a ranger guide in the Masai Mara—the first female guide there in history, back in 2007. “They told me, ‘We want to see if we can employ female safari guides in Kenya. We’ve never done it before, and it’s a very challenging job. You could be the first one.’” Charity had never even been to the bush before—let alone taken people through it—but she accepted, and the team sent her to a six-month training course at Klein’s Camp in the Serengeti in Tanzania.

“That training was the hardest thing I have ever done, and most of the time, I felt like I had made the wrong choice,” Charity recalls. One day, for example, it was downpouring rain, and she and her group—three men and two women—had to cross Tanzania’s rushing Grumeti River in their safari truck. “The river was overflowing, and I didn’t even know how to swim,” she says. “I was terrified.” Eventually, Charity completed the course, an accomplishment she credits to an overall attitude shift. “We left at 5 A.M. every day, so I would wake up before that and look in the mirror and say, ‘Charity, you can do it. If someone else has done it, you can do it, too.’ I was fighting a huge battle in my mind, but ultimately, I told myself that I could do it—and I won.”

It’s been about 13 years since that training, and Charity hasn’t looked back. But that’s not to say that she hasn’t faced difficulties along the way. She is still one of only three female guides at Kichwa Tembo Camp and Bateleur Camp , her two headquarters at andBeyond, and there are fewer than ten female guides in all of Kenya. And considering that the safari industry is still dominated by males, women are not always treated equally. “Sometimes guests will ask to switch guides when they find out I’m a woman. One of my guests recently told me that he doesn’t like ladies because we are ‘stupid like wildebeests.’ I felt sad for his wife, and asked my manager to switch guests. Then I was so happy because I took my new guests on a fantastic game drive and we saw animals my original guests didn’t get to see. I thought to myself, Yes .”

Other male safari guides in the Mara don’t always treat her equally, either. “When I first started, it was still all men in the Mara, and they kept doubting me, asking, ‘Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?’” she says. One day a couple of years ago, a senior male guide started chasing her car with his, just to get a reaction out of her. “I pulled over to the side to let him go and I realized that some people were just not very happy to see me intruding on their space. But he just gave me more reasons to believe in myself.’”

In the end, she’s certainly proven the doubters wrong. Even her mom is a believer now, thanks in part to a trip to the Mara to see her daughter in action. (Charity’s father passed away in 2009, so she also sends her mom money now to help support her siblings.) But most importantly, she’s proven herself right. From the beginning, Charity always knew that she must follow her calling, even though her dream went against the typical role of women in her village. And even though her calling didn’t turn out to be a flight attendant, she did land in the tourism industry—where she drives her guests to and from bush jumper planes every day. But most importantly, she simply loves her job.

“I think everybody is created with at least a little bit of passion in themselves,” she reflects. “My advice is to keep listening to that one thing deep inside you that makes your heart tick, and then follow that and don’t give up.”

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Annie Daly is a New York City-based freelance writer, editor, and author who specializes in wellness, travel, and culture. She is the author of Destination Wellness (2021), and co-author of Island Wisdom (2022). A former editor at SELF, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed Travel, Yahoo Travel, and Good Housekeeping, she has also written for a variety of publications, including Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue, Travel + Leisure, Marie Claire, InStyle, and AFAR, among others. To follow her work, find her on IG @anniemdaly and subscribe to her Substack, Destination Wellness .

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The Women Changing Safari

By Mary Holland

My guide is easy to spot at the Seronera Airstrip in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. Just five feet tall or so, she has bright eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a wide smile. In a sea of male safari guides, she sticks out like a meerkat popping its head up from an empty plain . She runs toward me, hands in the air, shouting, “Karibu, I am Kazawadi! We are so happy to have you here, Mary!”

Jonesia “Kazawadi” Dominic grabs my bag and steers me through the tiny airport towards the vehicle. My first impulse is to seize the other strap of the bag from her. Not because she doesn’t look capable (she is petite, yet sturdy) but because I’m also a woman, and it’s in my nature to want to help another woman. But I allow her to do her job—to carry my bag—as I would expect any male safari guide to do.

Dominic and I are on our way to Dunia Camp , an entirely female-run safari property located in an unfenced part of the central Serengeti. There are 16 women on staff at the eight-room tented camp, who do everything from the typically all-male bastions of security watch, guiding and chasing away animals like black mambas and elephants, to the more commonly female-infiltrated ranks of cooking and cleaning. Dominic bounces into the Toyota Land Cruiser’s driver’s seat, layered with cushions to prop her up. In this male-dominated industry, two women in a vehicle is as rare as a pangolin sighting, and as we drive past trucks with men at the wheel, other safari-goers stare curiously at us. Dominic is totally unfazed, and continues to drive through the muddy landscape.

The team at Dunia Camp.

When we arrive at the camp, Angel Namshali is waiting for me with open arms. Namshali has been Dunia’s manager since before the camp became all-female in 2016. Asilia Africa , who owns the camp, made the decision to staff the lodge with women because they’d found the right woman to manage it: the incredibly capable, tenacious, and jubilant Angel. She’s funny and easygoing, possessing both a no-nonsense attitude and the ability to put others at ease. As the first female Tanzanian camp manager in the Serengeti (at the once male-staffed Dunia) Namshali had displayed powerful leadership.

“In Angel, we had found the woman who could drive this project and see it through. She had long ago proven herself to us,” says Jeroen Harderwijk, managing director at Asilia Africa. “We have always aspired to right the gender imbalance in the industry, and we were making progress in an incremental way. We realized we needed a high-profile project that was going to empower women and create role models, not just in Tanzania but across the industry."

The first time I traveled to the Serengeti, I stayed at a typical all-male safari camp. If you’ve been on safari in Tanzania, you’ll know that this is an extremely common and culturally rooted scenario. Like much of East Africa, Tanzania grapples with a deep-seated gender inequality, resulting in fewer opportunities for women in most professions—especially safari tourism. Girls are often denied the opportunity to go to school (because of the travel distances and prices for school extras), or they drop out due to pregnancy. At home, women are typically expected to look after children; violence, child pregnancy, and child marriage are all threats to independence.

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations , 52 percent of Tanzanian women’s time is devoted to reproductive activities, compared to 32 percent of men’s. The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women 2007 states that Tanzania’s “low education levels, lack of qualifications, and patriarchal attitudes limit women’s opportunity of being recruited and promoted.”

In 2001, though, Tanzania implemented a policy that abolished primary school fees and made enrollment compulsory at age seven. But in rural areas, sending girls to school can be seen as misspending hard-earned money. “Because of the local belief that women will be married into a different family, many people think there’s no advantage to educating girls. Why waste the money?” says Dominic. Namshali, who grew up under the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro , says she couldn’t to attend university because there was only enough money for her two brothers. She cried for two days. Then she lifted her head, got a job organizing the linen cupboard at a safari lodge in the Ngorongoro Crater, and worked her way up through the ranks, all the way to manager of Tanzania’s first female-safari camp.

One of the rooms at Dunia Camp.

“It took me months to decide I was ready for this,” Namshali says. Six months after the executive managers at Asilia suggested the role of manager to her, they returned to see if she was prepared. “I said yes, but only if they interview other women who are ready to work in the bush,” says Namshali. We’re sitting on the deck over a lunch of roast chicken and vegetables, looking onto the luscious, dewy plains of the Serengeti and distant kopjes. “Nobody thought we could do it,” she says with a characteristic giggle. I’ve encountered many memorable male managers at safari camps across Africa, but when I study Namshali interacting with her guests and team, she offers a certain uncommon tenderness and humility. When she talks to her staff, it’s always with the same respectful, friendly tone.

“When we first began with an all-female team it was hard,” says Dominic, who often faces challenges like changing a tire in the middle of the Serengeti—even if its pounding rain or there’s a pride of lion nearby. Day-to-day tasks require emotional and physical strength: Everything is run on solar power, there’s no access to shops, and the camp isn’t fenced, so animals can easily walk past the tents. Sometimes the water pipe is destroyed by elephants. “Everyone tried to discourage us!” says Dominic. “They said, 'Bush life isn’t easy for girls.' But we’ve shown them we are strong.”

Jessica Puckett

Alex Erdekian

Dominic was fortunate to have parents who supported her decision to become a guide, but most of these women face the utmost adversity—not just from their families and nearby communities, but from other safari guides and guests. Namshali tells me about a male guest who refused to have the female security guard escort him to his room at night, insisting that the male truck driver (who delivers groceries from Arusha and happened to be staying at the camp that night) take him. “I told him that the truck driver won’t know what to do if a lion comes out the bush, but the security guard will,” Namshali says. Eventually, the guest backed down. Dominic tells me how tourists often stop her vehicle and ask if they can take her picture, as though they’ve spotted a lioness.

At home, the challenges continue. Women with children have to rely on family members to support their kids while they’re at work, usually for six weeks at a time. But the women at Dunia have created a firm sisterhood in which they can lean on each other for support. “If a car gets stuck in the mud, then we all go together and get it out,” Namshali says. When she talks about her co-workers, many of whom had never been to the bush before they were hired, she smiles. “They said, 'Yes, yes, we can.' So we gave them a chance,” says Namshali. “I’m so proud of these women. At first they were too scared to walk anywhere without a [flashlight]. Now I have to remind them to take one!”

On my second day, Namshali, Dominic, and I traverse the great, grassy plains of the Serengeti in search of the migration. We stop the truck when we see two male cheetah prudently stalking a small wildebeest. The one cheetah distracts a larger wildebeest while the other attempts to pounce on the smaller animal, but alas, it’s unsuccessful. Next, we see a lone, sick, and hungry lioness, too weak to hunt. Namshali and Dominic explain how that the lioness will waste her limited energy if she tries to make a kill. They also tell me funny stories, like how they once had to chase an elephant out of the camp—all 16 of them. As we thunder through the reserve, we find ourselves in fits of laughter. “We’re the three dadas (sisters)!” cries Domenic, from behind the wheel.

When we stop to tell another vehicle about the leopard sighting, we see a lone female traveler sitting on the back seat. She peers down at us with a furrowed brow. It’s a look I’ve gotten used to over the past few days. Namshali turns to the traveler and tells her that we’re from a lodge in the central Serengeti. “It’s run by females, you should go!” I yelp from the back of the truck. “Why?” asks the woman dubiously. Dominic bears that wide smile of hers and says two words I frequently hear her say, “Why not?”

A central Serengeti migration.

Across the continent, the safari industry is starting to shift, from South Africa all the way up to Tanzania and Kenya. “It differs from country to country and tribe to tribe, and it also depends on the location of the lodge or safari camp, but the changes are coming,” says Nicky Fitzgerald, founder of Angama Mara in Kenya and one of Africa’s few female lodge owners. “It’s a deeply cultural matter, so it will take years before women are granted the same educational opportunities as men.”

At Angama Mara, only 20 staff members of 120 are female. “In Maasailand, the women are generally expected to stay home and look after the children, they build their houses and work with their crops,” Fitzgerald says. “I am, however, proud to say we have just promoted one of our three female security officers (out of a team of 22) to assistant security manager.”

Some women who’ve broken into the safari tourism business think of their gender as something of an advantage. At the Tanzania operation of Thomson Safaris, half the managers are women. “It’s perhaps not typical in a patriarchal society but, therefore, even more important,” says Judi Wineland, co-owner of Thomson Safaris . “They are true pioneers, tenacious fighters, keen to succeed. Rose Ngilisho [the Manager of the Camping Department] for example, runs our six safari camps, each of which employs 14 men in hospitality operations as well as supervising her home office team of women. She’s entrepreneurial, resourceful, self-taught and frankly, just extraordinary,” says Wineland. “Women are intuitive and filled with emotional intel,” says Deborah Calmeyer, founder and CEO of safari outfitter ROAR Africa , who believes that women are often more attuned to smaller details. Calmeyer tells the story about how one of her clients mentioned having a headache on a flight. When a female private guide overheard this, she texted the lodge and asked them to have an espresso and aspirin waiting for the guest on arrival.

Angel Namshali, Dunia's manager.

Jonesia “Kazawadi” Dominic.

Chantel Venter, the head guide at Singita Kruger National Park and who oversees all the guides for Singita’s Kruger properties, has witnessed a spike in women infiltrating the industry. “Initially, not all companies were open to the idea of hiring female guides, but this has definitely changed,” she says. The sous chef at Singita’s Sweni and Lebombo lodges, Tsakane Khoza, has become a star after successfully completing an internship at New York’s Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Botswana’s Chobe Game Lodge has an all-female safari guide team known as the Chobe Angels. South Africa’s Tswalu has employed more than 75 women, some of whom fill the roles as guides, camp managers, and chefs. Fireblade Aviation , which shuttles guests between camps, has four female pilots. And most daringly, South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Zimbabwe’s lower Zambezi Valley have entirely female anti-poaching units , who head out into the bush on foot every day.

For Asilia, the all-female team at Dunia has been an unequivocal success. “We really feel it’s worked and we are keen to roll out more camps. It’s been an amazing exercise externally, but also internally, as we have really changed the thinking of a lot of our colleagues,” says Mercedes Bailey, who handles PR and brand building for Asilia Africa.

On my last night, sitting around the hissing camp fire with the distant sound of whopping hyenas, Dominic, Namshali, and I talk about how, if they want to see more women in the industry, they have to continue the fight. Dominic recalls the day a male safari guide almost refused her help when his truck got stuck in the mud. When she asked if he needed a hand, he laughed: “Do you really think you can do it?” And she responded pragmatically: “Do you need my help or not? Just say yes or no.” When he eventually agreed, she hauled the tow rope out the trunk, tied it to his car and successfully pulled him out of the mud. The guests on the vehicle were in shock. “I knew I could do it,” she says. “Why not?”

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Living up to her name

Our first female guide in east africa, aziza mbwana, shares her inspiring story of perseverance….

Her name, ‘Aziza’, is a beautiful Swahili word meaning ‘powerful and beloved’ and she most certainly lives up to it. Aziza Mbwana, Assistant Head Ranger at &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge , is affectionately referred to as ‘Mama Tembo’ (tembo being the Swahili word for elephant), not just for her impressive knowledge of the gentle giants, but also for being one of the most respected matriarchs at the helm of &Beyond ’s world-renowned herd of expert guides.

‘Aziza’ is also a palindrome, meaning it reads the same, backwards and forwards. Just as her name implies, Aziza means what she says and says what she means and her no-nonsense, can-do attitude has turned her into an admired role model.

Rewind to 2004, when Aziza became the first ever female guide employed by &Beyond in East Africa and the second female guide in all of Tanzania. Now, with 16 years of guiding under her belt, Aziza was recently named the Best Female Safari Guide in the 2020 Tanzania Tour Guide Awards, a truly well-deserved (and long overdue) accolade.

Female power

Growing up in Tanga in northern Tanzania, Aziza always had a fascination with nature and knew by the age of ten that she wanted to become a safari guide. Although Aziza’s father had insisted that she become a doctor or an accountant, her late mother always encouraged Aziza to follow her dreams, and that’s exactly what she did.

When Aziza completed high school, her mother supported her dream further by sending her to a tour guiding school in Arusha. This was the defining catalyst that would determine Aziza’s bright future and soon-to-be role model status.

Sink or swim

Armed with a certificate in tour guiding, Aziza returned to her coastal hometown to work for the cultural tourism office, where she organised snorkelling and river cruises for guests. Ironic, given she wasn’t a strong swimmer, however, Aziza donned a lifejacket and remained dedicated to her ongoing quest for knowledge and personal upskilling.

When Aziza accompanied two American marine biologists to Maziwi Island, they were shocked to discover that she couldn’t swim and insisted on teaching her right then and there. Ever the quick learner, Aziza learned how to swim in a day.

From that day forward, she realised that each time she was faced with an obstacle, she had two choices: she could either sink or swim. This life lesson would prove invaluable in her determined pursuit of becoming a fully qualified guide.

Demolishing stereotypes

Aziza was on a driving course in Arusha when she overheard that &Beyond was looking for new guiding recruits for our Mwewe Ranger Training School at &Beyond Klein’s Camp . “I didn’t have my driver’s license yet,” Aziza recalls, “but I remember thinking, you never know, this could be my chance.”

When Aziza arrived at our Arusha office on recruitment day she was one of 300 possible candidates. Immediately she started receiving untoward comments from fellow recruits, like, “You should be in the office, not the bush,” and “You’ll never make it, this is a man’s job.”

With 300 hopefuls and only a select few openings on the guiding course, Aziza knew she had to step up and prove herself. During the first interview, there were six other females. After the second interview, there were only two. At the driving assessment, Aziza was the only female left, and she passed, securing herself a coveted seat at Mwewe.

The journey to become a guide at &Beyond is no mean feat, especially 16 years ago, as a young female, not only in a male-dominated industry, but also in a traditionally male-dominated culture. “It wasn’t easy starting out in a man’s world,” Aziza explains. “On top of all the oral and written exams, there were mentally and physically challenging activities. We had to walk for 7 hours with 10 kg on our backs, we had to push broken-down vehicles for 3 hours and we had to practice carrying the heaviest trainee on a stretcher for 2 km. It was hard work.”

From those initial 300 hopeful candidates, there were only four successful graduates from Mwewe’s Class of 2004. Proudly and deservedly among those four, Aziza officially became the first female guide to be employed in &Beyond ’s East African operations and the second in Tanzania as a whole — a remarkable milestone achievement her mother would have been immensely proud of.

Proving them wrong

Aziza started guiding at &Beyond Lake Manyara Tree Lodge and even though she had graduated on her own merit, she still had to keep proving herself in those early days. “I had to go the extra mile all the time because I am a woman. Not all of the staff supported me back then, many of them said the company had lost direction by hiring me,” Aziza recalls.

“There were only three women at the lodge and there was a lot of animosity when I first arrived. I was often told, ‘This is not your home.’ The men used to place bets that I would get lost in the bush with my guests and they’d often ask me what I’d do if I got a flat tyre. I just told them I would change it, as any other guide would.”

Resilient, resolute and utterly determined, Aziza stood her ground and continually showed not only that she had thick skin, but that she could do anything her male counterparts could do. She quickly earned the respect of her colleagues, the guiding industry and indeed the Tanzanian people.

A positive role model

With hard work and perseverance, Aziza’s dream came true and she has been guiding for nearly two decades. She has guided world-famous A-listers, including Leonardo DiCaprio, but Aziza has actually become a well-known celebrity in her own right.

“One day I was driving to town and I gave a lift to a young schoolgirl.” Aziza recounts. “I recognised her textbooks, so I asked her what she was studying and she told me ‘tour guiding’. I asked why she decided to study that when there aren’t many women doing that job. She said, ‘For your information, there are many women who are doing that job!’”

“I asked the girl if she knew any of these female guides and she responded that she knew Aziza,” Aziza chuckles. “When we got to town I asked her if she really knew Aziza and she said yes. So I told her that the Aziza she was talking about was actually me. I’m very happy and flattered to see that I am a role model for young women in Tanzania.”

Aziza continues to pay it forward not only by mentoring the strong team of expert guides that look up to her, but also by encouraging other women to join the world of guiding. She gets lots of calls from women seeking advice and her inspiring story continues to be shared in Tanzania and abroad.

A balancing act

Life keeps throwing us challenges and Aziza’s greatest obstacle nowadays is the continual balancing act of being a full-time guide and mother of three. As a guide, the six-weeks-on and two-weeks-off cycle means that she had to make the very difficult decision to send her two daughters to boarding school, while her little boy stays at their family home in Arusha with her younger brother and a nanny.

“I want my children to have the best chance at life. People believed in me and I was given a chance and I wish the same for them. I want them to follow their dreams … anything is possible if you are persistent.” Aziza smiles.

A word from her mentors

“Aziza, this is a great achievement for you and an inspiration for so many young women out there who can see that a life in the wilderness is not beyond their reach. And being the mother of two girls must make it that much sweeter! Thank you for flying our flag high out there, I’m sure it wasn’t easy.”

~ Graham Vercueil, &Beyond Group Field Manager

“Aziza, the proverbial mother of the &Beyond Tanzanian guiding family. It is not easy to step up and be assessed in a competition after doing something for so many years. To allow yourself to be vulnerable to judgment is an accomplishment on its own. Thank you for putting our &Beyond guiding values out there to be recognised and rewarded, through your knowledge and understanding of what we do.”

~ Andrew van den Broeck, &Beyond Regional Ranger Trainer for East Africa

Main banner image courtesy of Sadock M, photographer for the Tanzania Tour Guide Awards.

SEE WHAT LIES BEYOND

Come and explore the picturesque Ngorongoro Crater with Aziza as your guide.

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Across Africa, the safari industry is shifting. Gone are the days when safaris were exclusively led by men. For too long, antiquated attitudes in the industry limited women from leadership roles. As global gender equality progresses, finally more women can stand proud for wildlife conservation and tourism in their countries.

Female Safari Guides: Masai Mara National Reserve

During our time exploring the Masai Mara National Reserve in June 2021, I had the pleasure of befriending one of the few women guiding in Kenya, Lorna Sipato. In my years enjoying safaris in Botswana , South Africa , Tanzania , and now Kenya – Lorna was the very first female guide I had the pleasure of meeting. She is one of just four women guiding with the &Beyond company in the Masai Mara. During our four-day stay at Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp , we got to know our trusted guide quite well. Having enjoyed nearly ten different game drives with Lorna behind the wheel, most of which were just myself and Lance, we soaked up every moment with her. In the end, we spent more than 35 hours exploring the Mara with Lorna’s guidance. The time we spent together on game drives allowed us to quickly discover her sharp sense of humor, and precision in providing an outstanding safari experience.

Equality for Female Safari Guides

Lorna grew up near the Mara. Living within close proximity to the reserve meant that safari guides were a fixture in daily life, including her own uncle Johnstone Kisotu, a devoted guide within the Masai Mara. From his example, she was drawn to the idea of leading safaris herself. To this day Lorna is reminded of this inspiration, passing her uncle regularly on the dirt roads throughout the park as they both guide within the reserve.

Becoming a safari guide is no simple feat. In Kenya, aspiring guides are tasked with oral and written exams, on top of field training for maneuvering vehicles and trekking the bush. Guiding is a complex task, including navigating impossible terrain, interpreting wildlife behaviors, and even hosting the happy hour tradition of sundowners. Following Lorna’s initial training in tourism, with a specialization in guiding and operations, she went on to &Beyond’s ranger training school, based in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park . This intensive training equips students with the skills needed to balance the needs of guests with the complex nature of the wildlife they have come to see. Having joined the &Beyond company in 2018, she has led countless bush walks and game drives throughout the Mara. Securing a job within a company like &Beyond can be quite competitive, but Lorna proved her merit and is a proud member of one of Africa’s finest guiding teams.

Differences Between Female and Male Guides

Guides, like Lorna, begin their days well before sunup, by preparing the safari vehicles and the day’s supplies. Most drives last around three hours, but some of our treks extended as long as eight hours, as the three of us were immersed in wildlife viewing. Many guests, myself included, insist that female guides shine in their ability to read guests and anticipate their moods. The awareness of every detail does not go unnoticed. On multiple occasions, Lorna was able to read our body language in a flash and know what we were wanting. Where I noticed the biggest difference between male and female guides is their tactics in approaching wildlife. All too often male guides lean into the thrill of chasing sightings, zooming off to the next stop before each guest had properly soaked up the last. Oppositely I felt the great care that Lorna took in approaching wildlife. Instead of a full-throttle chase, she remained aware of the wildlife nearby and perfectly predicted their movements to optimize our viewing. My favorite example of this was our lucky sighting of a mother black rhino and her calf on the move. Instead of racing off directly towards the rhinos, Lorna instead veered in the opposite direction to follow the path in which they were moving. Her attention to their behavior gifted us the perfect view as mother and calf crossed the road right in front of us.

East Africa’s First Female Safari Guides

Journeys like Lorna’s are relatively new. In 2004, Aziza Mbawane became the first female &Beyond guide in East Africa, and just the second woman to do so in Tanzania. Today she is the Assistant Head Ranger at &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge . In Kenya, it wasn’t until 2007, that Charity Cheruiyot became the country’s first female guide. Considering the safari industry is still dominated by men, women are sadly not always treated equally. All female guides have had their share of discrimination and poor treatment. Some experiencing horrid guests that have even asked to switch guides upon discovering theirs was a woman. And while women remain outnumbered by men in the field, the individuals leading the shift are ensuring that unbalance will become a fixture of the past.

Q&A with Safari Guide Lorna Sipato

• What obstacles did you face beginning your career as a guide?

In the beginning, Lorna said she was nervous working within a male-dominated career but quickly learned that all jobs are created equal and for everyone. 

• What training courses did you take to become a guide?

“Tourism, with a specialization on tour guiding and travel operations.” – Lorna

• What year did you begin working with &Beyond?

“Started working with &Beyond in 2018.” -Lorna

• How many women guide with &Beyond in the Masai Mara?

Lorna said, for now, there are four women guiding between Kichwa Tembo and Bateleur Camps in the Mara.

• What do you wish more people knew about female safari guides?

Lorna hopes to debunk the idea that only men can do this kind of work, “especially driving those big vehicles.” And ultimately for more folks to realize guiding is for anyone who is ready to put in the work. Lorna continues to strive for setting the new standard that women can lead safaris even better than men! 

Additional Safari Planning Resources

• Beginners Guide to Packing for Safari
• Reimagine Solo & Think Safari
• What to Expect for an Ethical Night Game Drive Safari
• Skip the Safari Jeep: Discover Wildlife on Foot

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In Serengeti, Women Are Making History at the First All-female-run Safari Camp

Have a one-of-a-kind safari experience at the first and only all-female-run camp in Africa.

Over the roar of lions and a symphony of Serengeti birds rises an effervescent song carrying the voices of the women of Asilia Africa's Dunia Camp . This first-of-its-kind, all-female-run safari camp beckons with laughter and courage of Tanzanian women. They have traded a traditional life, leaving their homes for months at a time to work in the dangerous bush, be independent, support their families, and provide an exceptional experience for guests. Opening in 2016 with an all-female staff, and closing briefly during the pandemic, Dunia has triumphantly returned to hosting guests.

Set in the woodlands of central Serengeti, the eight-unit luxury safari camp — complete with four-poster beds, lavish bathrooms, in-room Wi-Fi, and gourmet food — employs only women, from the chefs and guides to the managers and housekeepers. Some are mothers and wives, while others are young and single. Most importantly, they are fearless. Working in the bush isn't easy, but the Dunia Angels, as they call themselves, make it seem effortless. They are equipped with a steadfast determination and a sisterhood that bonds them in the African wilderness. And they want other women to follow suit and guests to have a distinct safari experience .

Braving the Wild

Central Serengeti is famous for its rhino, leopard, lion, and wildebeest sightings. At Dunia and similar semi-permanent camps, the fear of encountering wild animals is always present; structures are situated within the national park without fences, each guest tent surrounded by long savanna grasses. But the women of Dunia see the beauty, rather than the danger. "It's breathtaking, being so close to nature and the animals," says Doris Moshi, a 26-year-old who started out as a trainee and became a waitress at Dunia this year. "Everybody is dying to be here and I feel lucky."

Doris, like the rest of the staff, works eight weeks straight and gets two weeks off to visit family. She uses this time away to encourage other women to work in the bush. "I go out and tell them that you get to see wild animals and mingle with guests from different countries. You learn many things."

Forming a Sisterhood

Females in the safari industry face many challenges. Chief among them is feeling homesick, says Siyaeli (Elly) Moshi, manager of Dunia. "We are remote, of course. Everything is far away from everyone. Most of us are mothers. We leave our kids at home and miss our families," she says. Since she's not alone in feeling this way, the women of Dunia formed a sisterhood, and she considers them her second family. "We share so much and we have fun together. We are really, really close. We make it happen as a team," says Siyaeli.

Doris (no relation), agrees. "We are sisters, we are relatives. We are the only people we mingle with. If I am in any trouble, or in any need, they are the ones first attending to me."

The strong bond they share and their joy of working in the Serengeti is obvious. From the moment guests arrive to the last wave of tutaonana baadaye ("goodbye for now" in Swahili), they become part of the Dunia family. The women join in song and dance to celebrate the comings and goings, milestones, and life itself around the evening fire, at the dinner table, and by the entrance. There's a spring in their step and a sense of pride that comes with being accepted and rewarded for their contributions, and one can't help but feel elated to witness it.

Providing a World-class Safari Experience

Serengeti National Park is one of the most remarkable, wildlife-rich places on Earth. On game drives, Dunia visitors can witness everything from the Great Migration to lions, hippos, elephants, and a plethora of stunning birds in the scenic Moru Kopjes and Seronera regions. For an unforgettable Serengeti safari, it's important to have a knowledgeable and passionate guide.

In the past, being a guide was considered a man's job because of the work involved: long hours, navigating muddy roads, changing tires, and protecting guests in the event of wild encounters. But Grace Matemba is just 26 years old and already considered one of the top guides of Asilia Africa. "A good guide needs to be confident, compassionate, patient, and knowledgeable," says Matemba, with a beaming smile and eyes scanning the tree canopies for a hanging leopard tail.

Thanks to companies like Asilia Africa, women are empowered to not only take on jobs as waitresses, guides, chefs, and managers, but also to excel in them.

Before coming to work at Dunia, Matemba recalls not even being able to drive her own vehicle during her freelancing days. "When I got to Asilia, as they like to empower women, they taught me everything: how to jack up a car, how to change a tire, and how to handle anything that we may come across. I go by myself now," she says.

A Worry-free Vacation

Even before your vehicle arrives at Dunia, you can hear and see the entire staff dancing and drumming to their welcome song, "Jambo Jambo." This jubilant melody invites guests to have a hakuna matata experience, with no worries during their stay. The camp itself, set in a tranquil corner of the Serengeti amid an open woodland, affords expansive views of the bush. Each spacious tent includes a bathroom with a hot shower, in-room Wi-Fi, a safe, desk, and luxurious bed. Plus, it comes with a large veranda to take in the views.

Guests can experience two game drives, or a full-day drive, in the endless plains daily. A gourmet breakfast and lunch are available at the camp or in the bush. In the evenings before dinner, everyone congregates by the campfire for drinks and "bush TV." The entertainment is the roaring fire, impressive sunset, and vivacious singing and dancing of the Dunia women.

Choosing the Right Safari Company and Tour Operator

Founded in 2004, Asilia Africa is an East African company with 95% of staff from the African continent. It operates eco-friendly, solar-powered camps and lodges in Kenya and Tanzania . The concept of the all-female camp came to fruition in an effort to help women feel more confident and comfortable living in the bush, miles from home for months at a time. The company provides upward mobility and opportunities for all of its employees. When you book a safari with Asilia, rest assured that your money is being put to good use.

Asilia partners with tour operators, rather than booking guests directly. Guests can choose from a conscious operator, like Alluring Africa , to plan their entire safari and other activities like fly camping, hot-air balloon rides, and stays at additional camps. The tour operator also assists with arranging COVID-19 testing to move between countries, and provides a comprehensive list of the forms needed to travel seamlessly.

Climbing kilimanjaro

• Lemosho Route
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Safari in Tanzania

Your trip to africa, travel safe |, 3 days lodge safari.

Lake Manyara National Park , Ngorongoro Crater , Tarangire National Park

From: $ 1,670

3 days tanzania comping safari, from: $ 1,500, 4 days lodge safari.

Ngorongoro Crater , Serengeti National Park , Tarangire National Park

From: $2,700

4 days tanzania camping safari, from: $1,670, 5 days tanzania camping safari, from: $1,750, 6 days tanzania camping safari, from: $2,250.

Having a dream and finally being able to make it come true is the best feeling ever! So that's what we do at Afro Lioness Adventures - make your dreams come true! We know that to go on Safari in the Serengeti, witness the Great Wildebeest Migration, climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro and relax on the pristine white beaches of Zanzibar are at the top of many travellers wish list. These dreams and many more can only come true on a trip to Tanzania, and we are here to show you up-close and personal, the amazing wildlife, heritage, traditions and vibrant cultures of our wonderful homeland. Please look through our website to find out more about what Afro Lioness Adventures can offer, then contact us to tell us what African dreams we can help you fulfill! We shall look forward to hearing from you. Asante sana!

Meru Mountain

Situated in northern Tanzania, Mount Meru rises high above the surrounding forests and ser engeti. At 4,562 meters in elevation, Mount Meru is the second highest peak in Tanzania and the fifth highest in all of Africa. Conveniently located just 70 kilometers (43 miles) west of Kilimanjaro, the peak attracts mountain climbers for its own merits as well as serving as a warm up for one of the world’s Seven Summits. The journey to the top of the peak tends to take three to four days and begins by driving into Arusha National Park via the Momela Gate. After arriving at the trailhead, an armed range accompanies....

Climb kilimanjaro Mountain

Lemosho route | 7 / 8 days

Price from: $ 2,043

Machame route | 6 / 7 days

Price from: $ 1,988

Rongai route | 6 / 7 days

Price from: $ 2,062

Shira route | 7 / 8 days

Price from: $ 1,760

Marangu route | 5 / 6 days

Price from: $ 1,627

Umbwe route | 5 / 6 days

Price from: $ 2,008

TALES FROM TANZANIA OUR LATEST NEWS

Agatha wins 2020 top safari guide award.

In July 2020, our founder of Afro Lioness Adventures Agatha Mndeme, was honoured to be awarded the title of ‘Best Upcoming Female Safari Guide of the Year’! (See Agatha in action: YouTube ) This is a very prestigious award given by the Tanzania Tour Guide Foundation, whose patron is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. One hundred and fifty safari…

AGATHA WINS 2020 TOP SAFARI GUIDE AWARD!

01/08/2020 Company news In July 2020, our founder of Afro Lioness Adventures Agatha Mndeme, was honoured to be awarded the title of ‘Best Upcoming Female Safari Guide of the Year’! (See Agatha in action: YouTube ) This is a very prestigious award given by the Tanzania Tour Guide Foundation, whose patron is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. One hundred and fifty safari and mountain guides were interviewed as leaders in their field, of which just twelve were shortlisted to participate in a Safari Field Challenge to find the best in their field. This 12 day assessment (from 5th to 17th July) took place in Tanzania’s most icon safari destinations, The Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. The guides were tested on their driving skills in the harshest terrain, knowledge of the wild animals and birdlife which live in the parks, the trees and the flowers which grow in the area, and their communication skills imparting their knowledge and representing Tanzania’s Tourism sector – Tour guides are seen as important ambassadors of Tanzania as they spend most of their time with tourists from all over the world.

[Photo: Agatha collects the award for ‘Best up and coming Safari Guide of the Year 2020’. Congratulations to Aziza Mbwana and Mohamed Abdala for taking the titles of Best Female and Male Tanzania Safari Guides in 2020.] There are over 3,000 guides currently in Tanzania, of which only a handful are women, making Agatha’s achievement even more impressive! Tanzania is traditionally a patriarchal society where women are perceived as being most valuable in the home. Agatha hopes that this recognition will inspire other girls and women to become safari and mountain guides, and is a champion of the work that Mary Kalikawe and the Association of Women in Tourism Tanzania (AWOTTA) does in driving opportunities for women in the tourism sector.

Best Time For The Wildebeest Migration

Hurry, this month (September) is probably your last chance this year to witness the epic Mara River crossings of the Wildebeest migration! The Great Wildebeest Migration is often referred to as ‘nature’s greatest show on earth’. Over two million wildebeest (members of the antelope family), zebras and gazelles move from the Masai Mara through the Serengeti ecosystems in search of…

BEST TIME FOR THE WILDEBEEST MIGRATION

Key facts when planning your trip.

• The Wildebeest Migration is a year-round, circular journey (clockwise).
• If you are planning a migration safari then decide on either Kenya or Tanzania. Logistically it is best to handle the Serengeti from Arusha, which is where we are based!
• The bulk of the Migration takes place in the Serengeti (Tanzania) crossing into the Masai Mara (Kenya) for a few months (Aug-Oct).
• December to March is when the wildebeest are in the southern area of the Serengeti, in Ndutu (the Ngorongoro Conservation Area) and it is calving season. February is the only time of year when you are almost guaranteed to see the big herds all together because of this. It is a fabulous time to see the herds congregate on the sweeping African plains.
• April to June (plus November) is when the migration is considered as “in-between” locations and, as such, these months are slightly transitional times to see the herds
• July to October is when the wildebeest are in the northern Serengeti plains and you have the chance of seeing thousands crossing the great Mara River – they are elusive, happen quickly but are unforgettable experiences to witness!
• Your best chance of seeing river crossing will involve spending all day/s at a site where the wildebeest have massed. It is not wise to think that you can fly in and out on a specific day to witness such a spectacle – nature doesn’t work that way! There is a range of budget and luxury tented accommodation (mobile) to cater for your wait.
• During the high season, you’ll find that the best space gets sold out quickly, so book early to get the best availability and reasonable prices.

Over the years Afro Lioness Adventures have built up a wealth of knowledge and a network of partners on the migration route to ensure we meet your every need, so please contact us if we can assist you in any way ( Mail Us ).

How To Conquer Mount Kilimanjaro!

Every year around 30,000 people from all over the world attempt to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro – One of the Seven Summits of the World, Africa’s highest peak and the world’s tallest free-standing mountain at 5,895 metres. Around 60% of people make it, with most of those who do not abandoning their dream due to the…

HOW TO CONQUER MOUNT KILIMANJARO!

Our top tips for qonquering mount kilimanjaro.

• Get physically fit before you leave home: Cardio-strength, muscle strength in the legs and flexibility will make your climb more enjoyable and ultimately aid success. Do some long day hikes in the weeks before your climb, as you will need to be able to walk 5-7 hours a day, with the final climb to the summit taking 6-8 hours and the descent taking 5-8 hours all on the same day!
• Pack only essential & good equipment: Temperatures on Kili can range from the high 20’s in the daytime to -15c at night, so layers of clothing are best to wear. Mittens are also a must plus a pair of comfortable walking boots – don’t try and break in new boots on the mountain! Kilimanjaro National Park operates a strict limit of 15kg per porter so pack efficiently and remember single-use plastic bags are banned in Tanzania!
• Travel at the best time: May to October and December to March are the best months to climb when the weather is mostly dry and clear, although you will share the experience with more climbers! Many of our clients extend their time by adding a safari before or after their climb, as the Serengeti other parks are nearby, so keep this in mind if you also want to view specific animals during your trip.
• Choose a route to the top to match your level of skill: There are four routes up Kilimanjaro that we recommend within National Park: the Machame Route (most popular), Lemosho route, Rongai route and the Northern Circuit. Some are more challenging than others so read about them online and decide which you think will best suit your time and fitness level. We are happy to help you make the right decision.
• Climatisation – Pole! Pole! (i.e. slow and steady!) Ascending Kili too quickly can result in Altitude Sickness and mean the end of your climb. As you ascend, the oxygen content in the air drops rapidly, meaning that with every breath you are getting less power and moving more slowly. By the time you reach the summit air pressure is down to 49% of what it was at sea level, so climatising your body is essential to reach the top. Unless you are an experienced climber we recommend taking a minimum 6 day climb, the more days the better! We also recommend simple breathing techniques along the way and suggest you think about packing some altitude sickness tablets just in case!
• Stay Hydrated and eat plenty: Fuel your climb! It is very easy to dehydrate at altitude without noticing. The air is very dry so you breathe off more moisture. Also, your body adjusts to the high altitude by eliminating more water. Keep replacing it. Most people also lose their appetite at altitude, but the cold weather and the long days mean your body burns through a lot of calories. Keep replacing them!
• Nurture a positive mindset: The biggest difference between those who reach the summit successfully and those who turn back is often mental tenacity! Passion and self confidence will help you get to the top of anything you want to do in life!
• Use the services of an experienced tour guide company: You will not be able to climb Mount Kilimanjaro without the support of an experienced guide and a good company.on the ground. Our team at Afro Lioness Adventures grew up the mountain, and have thousands of hours of experience taking climbers of all levels up and down Kilimanjaro. They see being female as their greatest strength in assisting climbers to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro as ‘it is the woman who carries a child for 9 months and then has the daily responsibility to protect, nurture and inspire it to achieve great things in life’!

Agatha Invites You To Burigi-Chato National Park!

Burigi – Chato National Park is the 3rd largest park in Tanzania, upgraded from a reserve in 2019. The park is located between Lake Victoria and Rwanda, and has a diverse habitat ranging from swampy vegetation to riverine forests, rolling hills and rocky outcrops. It is surrounded by the Kagera River and Lake Burigi, offering a rich environment for a…

AGATHA INVITES YOU TO BURIGI-CHATO NATIONAL PARK!

Get in touch and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. We looking foward to hearing from you!

Fixed Tour Groups with Us You can join

Join 7 days rongai route.

End: 21 Jun, 2023

Price: $ 1,610

Join 6 Days Rongai route

End: 30 Jun, 2023

Price: $ 1,870

Join 6 Days Marangu route

End: 25 Jul, 2023

Price: $ 1,365

Join 8 Days Lemosho route

End: 17 Aug, 2023

Price: $ 2,135

End: 8 Jan, 2023

Join 7 Days Machame route

End: 7 Febr, 2023

Price: $ 1,590

TRAVEL ADVICE

If you have never been to Tanzania before, here are our top tips on how to make sure your trip is safe, hasslefree, inspiring and unforgettable. We share our experiences in more detail in our news posts, so please make sure you read them regularly to pick up our latest advice.

Your health and safety is our priority - COVID19 update

All travellers to Tanzania are required to prove they are fully vaccinated for COVID-19. If you’re not fully vaccinated, you must present a negative COVID-19 RT- PCR or NAATs test certificate or take a Rapid Antigen Test on arrival. Please check with your local embassy before arrival for the latest health information.

Choose the right experience for You!

Tanzania can offer wildlife safaris, Mount Kilimanjaro climbs, cultural heritage sites, golden beaches and water-based activities to both thrill and excite! It is important to choose an experience that suits your interests, budget, time, level of fitness and also the weather at the time you plan to visit. Please contact us for any local advice and guidance before you travel.

Plan ahead but remain flexible

Sometimes things happen that you did not plan for – that’s one of the challenges when travelling through Africa! Please don’t worry as there are always alternatives, staying flexible and open-minded will ensure that you continue to enjoy your trip. Adaptability is what we do best, and you can always place your trust in us!

Visa, Money and essential items to Pack

• A valid passport and visa are required to enter Tanzania. Please check with your local Tanzanian Embassy for the latest information on visa requirements
• The local currency is the Tanzanian shilling (Tsh). It is best to carry a small amount of shillings in your pocket for drinks, tips etc. Major currencies (US Dollar, English Pound and the Euro) are easily changed in large towns, with US Dollars being the preferred choice. Credit cards are accepted only at major lodges, hotels, and travel agents. ATM’s are available in banks around the country which allow you to withdraw cash from VISA and/or MasterCard accounts; however, there are daily limits for withdrawals (e.g. USD$200) and fixed transaction costs are applied, so it is more cost-effective to withdraw higher amounts.
• Tanzania is a large country. It can be hot at the coast and cold in the Ngorongoro highlands – you’ll need to bring clothing for all weather if you are travelling around. What you bring depends a lot on what you are planning to do – climbing Kilimanjaro obviously require extra equipment! The Swahili coast can be hot and humid and there will be mosquitoes, so pack long trousers and sleeves plus mosquito repellent! For hiking, bring layers and comfortable hiking boots. For the beach, bring a sarong not a beach towel, to blend in with the locals! You will need a hat, sunglasses and suncream; and we also recommend that you bring some rich moisturiser – the air in places can be very drying!

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WELCOME TO AFRO LIONESS ADVENTURES, AN AWARD-WINNING GUIDE AND TOUR COMPANY BASED IN ARUSHA. WE ARE OWNED BY AND EMPLOY ONLY FEMALE DRIVERS, GUIDES, PORTERS AND TRANSLATORS, MAKING US UNIQUE IN TANZANIA. OUR PROFESSIONAL TEAM OF WOMEN SPECIALISE IN LEADING WILDLIFE SAFARI’S AND CLIMBS TO THE TOP OF MOUNT KILIMANJARO.

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Botswana’s Chobe Game Lodge Is Changing Safaris With All-Women Guide Teams

One game lodge in botswana is revolutionizing the safari industry with its team of “chobe’s angels.”.

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Once they began hiring more female guides, Chobe Game Lodge noticed an uptick in positive reviews and a decrease in overhead expenses.

Courtesy of Chobe Game Lodge

As guests arrive at Kasane International Airport in the northeastern corner of Botswana, a woman driver begins to load luggage onto an open-air jeep. Wearing a khaki uniform with a red and white scarf tied neatly around her neck, she helps the fresh arrivals into her vehicle and cruises through the city’s asphalt roads until she arrives at the entrance of Chobe National Park . As she navigates the park’s bumpy dirt path, she points out blossoming fever berry trees, starlings winging away overhead, and a savanna elephant plodding along as her passengers ooh and ahh. She pauses for a moment to breathe in the air of the plains, before continuing on to join her 19 other fellow safari guides at Chobe Game Lodge —all of them women.

Established in 1973, Chobe Game Lodge is one of the premier safari destinations in the country and the only permanent hospitality lodging available within Chobe National Park. The reserve sits in an interesting geographic location that straddles four distinct ecosystems: the lush floodplains of the Chobe River and the dense forests that surround it, the wetlands of the Savuti Marsh, the remote Linyanti swamps, and the dry savannah lands scattered in between. The chance to catch a glimpse of Africa’s Big Five, as well as other animals like hippopotamuses, tsessebe, and painted dogs, draws visitors to Chobe from all around the world—and to the only luxury lodgings in the area, naturally.

Thanks to Chobe National Park’s unique location, it borders four ecosystems.

Photo by Sucheta Rawal

With a five-star hotel rating, the lodge prides itself on stylishly blending the line between wilderness and luxury. Moorish-style architecture and Zanzibar-inspired interiors are filled with African artwork and offer guests a relaxing place to unwind after a day out exploring the park. But perhaps what Chobe Game Lodge is best known for is its women—specifically the safari guides, who are affectionately known as “Chobe’s Angels.” In 2004, the lodge employed its first woman safari guide and has been steadily increasing their numbers ever since.

Going with the Flo

Florence Kagiso, the head guide at Chobe Lodge, has kind eyes, a wide smile, and often wears her hair slicked back in a ponytail. She prefers to go by just “Flo.” Kagiso hails from a remote region of Botswana’s swampy Okavango Delta and didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a safari guide. In fact, she initially wanted to work in fashion. After studying fashion design for three years at Boiteko Academy in Francistown, the second largest city in Botswana, she felt herself longing for the open spaces of the bush. A place where she wouldn’t be woken by the honks of cars in the street and where the spaces around her were peppered with wild, free-roaming animals. “I wasn’t meant to be there,” Kasgiso says. “I missed the surroundings I had grown up in.”

As she spent more time in Francistown, Kagiso found herself frequently thinking about her blind grandmother, who introduced her to the beauty of Botswana and its wildlife when she was just a young girl. “My grandmother couldn’t see, but she knew how to live with wildlife in harmony,” Kagiso says. “We did not have vehicles, so we just walked in the bush, tracking the animals, listening to the birds, and detecting paw prints.”

Feeling inspired to pursue a career that would nurture her love for animals, Kagiso quit fashion and signed up for a six-month training course at the Botswana Wildlife Training Institute in Maun. After completing an internship at another lodge, she landed a job at Chobe Game Lodge in 2004 and immediately noticed something odd—she only had male colleagues. As the sole woman on the team, Kagiso dealt with many snide comments from the men. Some told her that she should take on a more “feminine role,” such as in housekeeping—she refused. “I studied harder to become a better guide than them,” Kagiso says. “I tried to drive my vehicle and boat better, and make my guests happier.”

Florence Kagiso was Chobe’s first woman safari guide.

Today, Kagiso is one of the most popular guides at Chobe Game Lodge and the guide who has been employed there the longest—she’s outlasted all of the male coworkers who discouraged her. Her trailblazing work was even recognized internationally in 2021 when National Geographic Traveler named her Innovator of the Year. Kagiso now oversees hiring and training other female guides, all while managing her own duties, which include escorting guests on safaris, identifying the area’s flora and fauna, and even changing heavy tires when needed. “I am often teased [and called] ‘the matriarch’ because I have been here for 18 years,” Kagiso says. “I show young guides the ways, always with patience and gentleness.”

Naturally, Kagiso’s success has had an inspirational effect on the women around her. Monica Modimowaitse, a 25-year-old guide from a small village called Pandamatenga in northern Botswana, has worked at Chobe since 2018. A naturally shy person, she wanted to pursue guiding to help support her parents and two sisters back in her home village but felt intimidated at the thought of having to interact with strangers all day. Working with Flo gave her the confidence she needed to take guiding seriously and also helped her develop a deep love for nature. “As a guide under Flo’s mentorship, I have learned to be positive in every situation, not just at my workplace, but in life in general,” says Madimoswaitse. “Flo’s confidence, passion, and professionalism has inspired me and other women, and I have matured to be a better person.”

However, the Lodge didn’t begin hiring more woman guides purely for altruistic reasons—it was a practical choice, too. Once Kagiso and other women joined, management noticed an increase in positive reviews and a decrease in overhead expenses. “Cost of maintenance and fuel consumption went down significantly, in some cases by up to 25 percent, in comparison to vehicles and boats driven by male guides,” says Andrew Flatt, marketing manager at Chobe Game Lodge. The women were simply driving more conservatively, management soon realized.

Having female safari guides on staff also made women guests feel more comfortable out in the bush in situations where the only place to use the restroom might be, well, behind a bush. With fresh feedback and the numbers under their belt, the lodge made a conscious effort to offer more opportunities to women students graduating from training programs across Botswana—it now only hires female guides. “As more women finished their training and joined the working guiding force, it became more apparent that this all-female team would operate at the same, if not higher levels than male guiding teams in the region,” Flatt says.

For the women at Chobe Game Lodge, working as a safari guide comes with a welcome amount of prestige (guides are a highly respected profession in Botswana) and financial security. Plus, they’re able to join a community of hardworking, like-minded women who are also mothers and wives. The women safari guides are on an intense rotating schedule that requires 26 days at work and four days off a month, but to them, their labors are not a waste. Many of the women support their families in their home villages and send money back when they can. “I am not only working for myself, I am supporting my immediate and extended families, including my nephews and nieces,” Kagiso says. “I am improving my life and theirs.”

Women and wildlife

In addition to educating guests about local animals and the natural rhythms of Chobe National Park, the Lodge is also making moves to protect the hotel’s greatest asset—the environment. It has strict sustainability practices in place, which include things like ecofriendly clear water treatment, glass recycling, composting, and stocking biodegradable toiletries in rooms. The Lodge is also in the process of adding more electric-powered vehicles to its fleet. Former head guide and lodge environmentalist trainee, Vivian Diphupu, leads the Back of House Eco Tours for interested guests who want to see the recycling and composting facilities on the property’s premises.

The company also has a vested interest in supporting the people who call the lands in and around Chobe National Park home. In 2014, it launched Chobe Farms, a project that aims to help alleviate overfishing of the Chobe River by sustainably farming fish. It sells the fish to the blossoming population of Kasane, a nearby town, at a lower price than locals would usually get at the market. And when the wildlife tourism industry took a nosedive during the onset of the COVID pandemic, Chobe Game Lodge and its parent company Desert & Delta Safaris started the CARES Movement , a fundraiser that secured $20,000 to be invested into local communities located in wildlife areas. In 2020, they also donated 10 percent of their revenue to Elephants Without Borders , a nonprofit organization that seeks to preserve wildlife corridors and reduce farmer- and elephant-related conflicts in the Chobe region.

Chobe Game Lodge is taking steps toward protecting the local environment, including adding new electric vehicles to its fleet.

As the Chobe Game Lodge approaches its 50th anniversary in 2023, the hotel is reflecting on what it has achieved since its founding. Adopting sustainable hospitality practices has been a major win, considering how unique and ecologically fragile the Chobe region is. But, for James Wilson, the marketing director of Desert & Delta Safaris, Chobe Game Lodge’s major accomplishment is employing an all-women safari guide team—it’s a move he hopes gains recognition and will be imitated around the world. “These women have to work harder to achieve the same as their male counterparts,” Wilson says. “Creating equality in the professional safari guiding industry in Botswana, let alone in Africa, is a mammoth task, and one that we cannot achieve alone, but we can certainly lead the fight.”

>>Next: The Great Nebraska Migration of the Sandhill Cranes and the Birders Who Love Them

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Women & Girls

Female safari guide: 'i am a lady but i am telling you, i am capable'.

Ginanne Brownell Mitic

Lucy Nabiki Takona of the Masai community is a female safari guide in a male-dominated profession. Men don't always think she can handle the job, but she just forges ahead. Ginanne Brownell Mitic for NPR hide caption

Lucy Nabiki Takona of the Masai community is a female safari guide in a male-dominated profession. Men don't always think she can handle the job, but she just forges ahead.

Ever since Lucy Nabiki Takona was a young girl growing up in a village not far from the Masai Mara game reserve in Kenya, she knew she wanted to have a career in education.

So when her father told her at age 14 that she would have to drop out of school to marry the son of her father's friend, she ran away. It took her three days to walk through the bush to her aunt's house.

"I was used to walking — getting water is far and collecting firewood is far — so for me it was not something big," Takona, 26, says. "It was more scary to get married than walk on your own in the bush."

Schooling for many Masai girls ends in their early teen years. Many undergo female genital mutilation and are married off for a dowry of cattle.

But Takona's aunt talked to some influential elders in the community who were able to persuade her father to let her continue her schooling — while another sister of Takona's was married off to the young man.

That was only Takona's first obstacle on her path to becoming a safari guide, a profession dominated by males. As a woman, she has fought an ongoing battle for education — and against harassment.

As a child, Takona says, she thought her only career option as a woman was to be a teacher. She didn't see women working in any other professions — and few, even, were educators. But during a trip to the Nairobi National Museum in her last year of high school, she realized there were other possibilities.

"A woman took us around the museum and she really had knowledge, so from that day forward I knew girls could be something more than teachers," Takona says.

So she went to study at the Koiyaki Guiding School for two years on a scholarship from the volunteer travel organization African Impact. She then worked for the group as a guide for 18 months in return.

Takona has since gone on to work for a number of safari camps dotted across the southern Mara.

"There is still an element whereby women are often looked down upon among the [Masai] community with the perception that they cannot perform as well as men," says Lincoln Njiru, a project manager with African Impact . "I would say [Takona] is a role model in the Masai community."

But on the road to success, she has had to make personal sacrifices. Takona is the single mother of a 4-year-old boy who lives with a nanny several villages away from the safari camp. She is not in touch with his father.

On Nov. 23, Takona hopes to add one more credit to her résumé. She's taking an exam to earn a silver guide's badge. Of the 4,302 members of the Kenya Professional Safari Guide Association, only 404 members have silver badges, just 15 of whom are female.

Results from the exam are announced after three days. If Takona passes, she will be only the second Masai woman to reach this qualification. Sample question: List five differences between common and Grevy zebras.

"It's unique in a [Masai] community to be an independent woman," says Evaline Sintoya Mayetu, who in March 2015 was the first Masai woman to get the silver guide qualification. "I would like to see more Masai women go for not only silver [but] go to school, to have a career of their own and break some barriers of traditional culture."

Overall guests and other guides are impressed that Takona is working in a male-dominated profession. But she says she still encounters prejudice.

"The boss at one place where I worked said, 'You cannot guide unless someone drives you.' And I asked why and he said, 'You are a lady,' " she recalls. "And I said, 'I am a lady but I am telling you, I am capable of doing it.' "

Another time, when she was speeding across the savannah to check out a leopard sighting with some guests, she overheard on the radio a few other guides questioning her ability to get her jeep through a deep gully.

"One guide said he wanted to take his vehicle before me," she says. "I told him 'No, I will cross first.' And he was talking on the radio after saying, 'Oh, she has made it. That girl's tough.' "

Ginanne Brownell Mitic writes about arts, culture and education and is the co-founder of the women's webzine she-files.com . Find her on Twitter @ginannebrownell

• Maasai Mara

Meet One of the Few Female Safari Guides in Kenya

Though outnumbered by their male counterparts in the field, women have begun to take the reins in ecotourism

Meredith Bethune

In Kenya, aspiring safari guides are taught that the ideal guide should possess boundless knowledge of the local flora and fauna, rock-solid survival skills, mastery of the communication arts, and an unflagging sense of humor. And until recently, these guidelines also included an unspoken rule—that guides should be male. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Lorna Seela Nabaala is among a small but growing handful of women trying to change that perception. She estimates that she’s one of only 10 women out of about 400 safari guides working today in the  Maasai Mara , a wildlife reserve in southwestern Kenya and one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. She says that many times, when she picks up a group of unsuspecting safari-goers at the airstrip, they are initially startled, asking, “Wait, are  you  the guide?” 

Most who visit the Maasai Mara board a tiny plane in crowded  Nairobi  and touch down 45 minutes later on a tarmac in the middle of the remote savanna. It's while in the air that they first realize why Mara, meaning “spotted” in Nabaala’s native Maa language, is such a fitting name for this reserve: herds of zebra, Thomson’s gazelles and the occasional giraffe can be seen grazing among the circles of trees, brush and dark shadows that span the 583 square miles of open grassland. 

The Maasai Mara is home to 400 bird species and 95 mammal, amphibian and reptile species—and that doesn’t begin to account for the abundant plant life. This land is also the traditional home of the Maasai, the ethnic group to which Nabaala—like many guides—belongs, and for which the other half of the wildlife reserve is named. Easily recognizable with their scarlet red cloaks and intricate beaded jewelry, the Maasai people are renowned as legendary warriors throughout Africa and around the world. 

A semi-nomadic people, the Maasai have traditionally relied upon herding cattle for their food. But over the course of the 20th century—through British control followed by Kenya's independence in 1963—their territory has been reduced, ultimately shrinking their grazing lands. As a result, with dwindling cattle herds, some Maasai have moved into the cities for work; others, like Nabaala, have sought employment closer to home within the tourism sector. 

Yet even as traditions have evolved, it's still the norm within this region to observe clearly defined gender roles. In village culture, it is typically the men who are expected to herd cattle, and as Nabaala explains, a man who does not marry may be considered by many to be homeless or in some way incomplete. “Women play a very important role in all the villages,” she says, adding that women traditionally fulfill domestic duties, including fetching water from the river, collecting firewood for cooking, milking the cows every morning and evening, and tending to the sick among the herd. Customarily, the women even build houses for their families.

Nabaala grew up about an hour away from the Mara in the tiny village of Oloirien, named for the African Olive tree. Living within close proximity to the reserve meant that safari guides were a fixture in daily life, regularly driving back and forth in their impressive vehicles. Encountering them so frequently, Nabaala had wanted to be a guide for as long as she can remember. Yet she knew it would not be an easy road. Raised in a traditionally large Maasai family, Nabaala was one of 10 children, and as she explains, this can make it difficult for parents to find the resources needed to educate all children equally. In many cases, young boys have taken priority within the family since, according to custom, Maasai men are the ones to eventually care for their elderly parents. The promise of a marriage dowry for the girls may also be an incentive to avoid schooling young girls. Both of these factors contribute to low school enrollment numbers for girls in this region. According to the  Maasai Girls Education Fund , just 48 percent of Maasai girls enroll in school, and only 10 percent advance to secondary school. “It was not easy for my dad to educate us all,” Nabaala recalls. “He struggled ... including selling almost all his cows to see us through.”

Determined, Nabaala began pursuing her dream more aggressively in secondary school, poring over books on the native wildlife to supplement her firsthand knowledge of the many animals she had grown up alongside. Although her parents were supportive of her education, they weren't initially receptive to the idea of their daughter becoming a guide—long considered to be a male profession. “It was really hard, especially for my mother,” Nabaala recalls. “She [first encouraged] me to work in the hotel industry as a receptionist, waitress, room attendant—but not as a guide.” In the end, though, an elder brother stood up for Nabaala and supported her decision, convincing her parents to come around to the idea, as well. And ultimately, Nabaala was accepted into the prestigious  Koiyaki Guiding School , one of the first institutions of its kind to accept female students. 

Of course, for many women in Kenya, the challenges don’t end with enrollment in a guiding school; ten to 15 percent of them have ended up leaving for reasons that are likely familiar to women around the world, from the inequities of working in a male-dominated field, to simply needing more time to care for small children at home. Other challenges are uniquely cultural, though, as most Maasai women do not drive. “It’s very rare," explains Debby Rooney, who has worked in Maasai communities for years as co-founder of  BEADS for Education . "For a woman to drive, they think it’s shocking.” That makes learning to steer a manual safari vehicle through the treacherous dirt roads of the Mara reserve all the more intimidating for many Maasai women. 

For eight years following her studies, Nabaala worked as a guide at the luxury  Karen Blixen Camp , where she has escorted guests to see an incredible variety of rare animals, from lion cubs to endangered rhinos. Securing a job like that one can be quite competitive, but once there, Nabaala proved her merit—and her services grew to such high demand that, thanks to glowing referrals based on her reputation, she now works as a self-employed freelance guide. Nabaala now owns her own Toyota Land Cruiser and gives special tours, in addition to hiring out the vehicle to other local camps who know to contact her when their own transportation is insufficient for visitor demand. Today, she’s preparing to launch her own company,  Mara Natives Safaris —and she has even greater plans for the future, including building her own safari camp in the Maasai Mara. 

Through it all, Nabaala continues to mentor other women at guiding school, reminding them that anything is possible and asking them simply, “If I’m doing it, then why not you?” As she explains, “When I began, most of [my male peers] said it will never be possible for ladies to do this. I proved them wrong, and I’m sure in the coming years there will be [even more] ladies doing this.” 

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Female Safari Guides: The Women Leading Africa

Across Africa, the safari industry is shifting. Gone are the days when safaris were exclusively led by men. For too long, antiquated attitudes in the industry limited women from leadership roles. As global gender equality progresses, finally more women can stand proud for wildlife conservation and tourism in their countries.

Female Safari Guides: Masai Mara National Reserve

During our time exploring the Masai Mara National Reserve in June 2021, I had the pleasure of befriending one of the few women guiding in Kenya, Lorna Sipato. In my years enjoying safaris in Botswana , South Africa , Tanzania , and now Kenya – Lorna was the very first female guide I had the pleasure of meeting. She is one of just four women guiding with the &Beyond company in the Masai Mara. During our four-day stay at Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp , we got to know our trusted guide quite well. Having enjoyed nearly ten different game drives with Lorna behind the wheel, most of which were just myself and Lance, we soaked up every moment with her. In the end we spent more than 35 hours exploring the Mara with Lorna’s guidance. The time we spent together on game drives allowed us to quickly discover her sharp sense of humor, and precision in providing an outstanding safari experience.

Equality for Female Safari Guides

Lorna grew up near the Mara. Living within close proximity to the reserve meant that safari guides were a fixture in daily life, including her own uncle Johnstone Kisotu, a devoted guide within the Masai Mara. From his example she was drawn to the idea of leading safaris herself. To this day Lorna is reminded of this inspiration, passing her uncle regularly on the dirt roads throughout the park as they both guide within the reserve.

Becoming a safari guide is no simple feat. In Kenya, aspiring guides are tasked with oral and written exams, on top of field training for maneuvering vehicles and trekking the bush. Guiding is a complex task, including navigating impossible terrain, interpreting wildlife behaviors, and even hosting the happy hour tradition of sundowners. Following Lorna’s initial training in tourism, with a specialization on guiding and operations, she went on to &Beyond’s ranger training school, based in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park . This intensive training equips students with the skills needed to balance the needs of guests with the complex nature of the wildlife they have come to see. Having joined the &Beyond company in 2018, she has led countless bush walks and game drives throughout the Mara. Securing a job within a company like &Beyond can be quite competitive, but Lorna proved her merit and is a proud member of one of Africa’s finest guiding teams.

Differences Between Female and Male Guides

Guides, like Lorna, begin their days well before sunup, with preparing the safari vehicles and the day’s supplies. Most drives last around three hours, but some of our treks extended as long as eight hours, as the three of us were immersed in wildlife viewing. Many guests, myself included, insist that female guides shine in their ability to read guests and anticipate their moods. The awareness of every detail does not go unnoticed. On multiple occasions Lorna was able to read our body language in a flash and know what we were wanting. Where I noticed the biggest difference between male and female guides is their tactics in approaching wildlife. All too often male guides lean into the thrill of chasing sightings, zooming off to the next stop before each guest had properly soaked up the last. Oppositely I felt the great care that Lorna took in approaching wildlife. Instead of a full-throttle chase, she remained aware of the wildlife nearby and perfectly predicted their movements to optimize our viewing. My favorite example of this was our lucky sighting of a mother black rhino and her calf on the move. Instead of racing off directly towards the rhinos, Lorna instead veered in the opposite direction to follow the path in which they were moving. Her attention to their behavior gifted us the perfect view as mother and calf crossed the road right in front of us.

East Africa’s First Female Safari Guides

Journeys like Lorna’s are relatively new. In 2004, Aziza Mbawane, became the first female &Beyond guide in East Africa, and just the second woman to do so in Tanzania. Today she is the Assistant Head Ranger at &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge . In Kenya, it wasn’t until 2007, that Charity Cheruiyot became the country’s first female guide. Considering the safari industry is still dominated by men, women are sadly not always treated equally. All female guides have had their share of discrimination and poor treatment. Some experiencing horrid guests that have even asked to switch guides upon discovering theirs was a woman. And while women remain outnumbered by men in the field, the individuals leading the shift are ensuring that unbalance will become a fixture of the past.

Q&A with Safari Guide Lorna Sipato

• What obstacles did you face beginning your career as a guide?

In the beginning Lorna said she was nervous working within a male dominated career, but quickly learned that all jobs are created equal and for everyone. 

• What training courses did you take to become a guide?

“Tourism, with a specialization on tour guiding and travel operations.” – Lorna

• What year did you begin working with &Beyond?

“Started working with &Beyond in 2018.” -Lorna

• How many women guide with &Beyond in the Masai Mara?

Lorna said, for now there are four women guiding between Kichwa Tembo and Bateleur Camps in the Mara.

• What do you wish more people knew about female safari guides?

Lorna hopes to debunk the idea that only men can do this kind of work, “especially driving those big vehicles.” And ultimately for more folks to realize guiding is for anyone who is ready to put in the work. Lorna continues to strive for setting the new standard that women can lead safaris even better than men! 

Additional Safari Planning Resources

• Four Reasons for Planning Our Honeymoon Safari in Kenya
• Beginners Guide to Packing for Safari
• Reimagine Solo & Think Safari
• What to Expect for an Ethical Night Game Drive Safari
• Skip the Safari Jeep: Discover Wildlife on Foot

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Female Safari Guide: 'I Am A Lady But I Am Telling You, I Am Capable'

by Ginanne Brownell Mitic

• Global Health
• Maasai Mara

Ever since Lucy Nabiki Takona was a young girl growing up in a village not far from the Maasai Mara game reserve in Kenya, she knew she wanted to have a career in education.

So when her father told her at age 14 that she would have to drop out of school to marry the son of her father's friend, she ran away. It took her three days to walk through the bush to her aunt's house.

"I was used to walking — getting water is far and collecting firewood is far — so for me it was not something big," Takona, 26, says. "It was more scary to get married than walk on your own in the bush."

Schooling for many Maasai girls ends in their early teen years. Many undergo female genital mutilation and are married off for a dowry of cattle.

But Takona's aunt talked to some influential elders in the community who were able to convince her father to let her continue her schooling — while another sister of Takona's was married off to the young man.

That was only Takona's first obstacle on her path to becoming a safari guide — a male-dominated profession. As a woman, she's fought an ongoing battle for education — and against harassment.

As a child, Takona says, she thought her only career option as a woman was to be a teacher. She didn't see women working in any other professions — and few, even, were educators. But during a trip to the Nairobi National Museum in her last year of high school, she realized there were other possibilities.

"A woman took us around the museum and she really had knowledge, so from that day forward I knew girls could be something more than teachers," Takona says.

So she went to study at the Koiyaki Guiding School for two years on a scholarship from the volunteer travel organization African Impact. She then worked for the group for 18 months in return as a guide.

Takona has since gone on to work for a number of safari camps dotted across the southern Mara.

"There is still an element whereby women are often looked down upon among the [Maasai] community with the perception that they cannot perform as well as men," says Lincoln Njiru, a project manager with African Impact . "I would say [Takona] is a role model in the Maasai community."

But on the road to success, she's had to make personal sacrifices. Takona is the single mother of a 4-year-old boy who lives with a nanny several villages away from the safari camp. She is not in touch with his father.

On November 23, Takona hopes to add one more credit to her resume. She's taking the exam to earn a silver guide's badge. Of the 4,302 members of the Kenya Professional Safari Guide Association, only 404 members have silver badges, 15 of whom are female.

Results from the exam are announced after three days. If Takona passes, she will be only the second Maasai woman to reach this qualification. Sample question: List five differences between Common and Grevy Zebras.

"It's unique in a [Maasai] community to be an independent woman," says Evaline Sintoya Mayetu, who was the first Maasai woman to get the silver guide qualification in March 2015. "I would like to see more Maasai women go for not only silver [but] go school, to have a career of their own and break some barriers of traditional culture."

Overall guests and other guides are impressed that Takona is working in a male-dominated profession, she says she still encounters prejudice.

"The boss at one place where I worked said 'You cannot guide unless someone drives you.' And I asked why and he said 'You are a lady,' " she recalls. "And I said 'I am a lady but I am telling you, I am capable of doing it.'"

Another time, when she was speeding across the savannah to check out a leopard sighting with some guests, she overheard on the radio a few other guides questioning her ability to get her jeep through a deep gully.

"One guide said he wanted to take his vehicle before me," she says. "I told him 'No, I will cross first.' And he was talking on the radio after saying, 'Oh, she has made it. That girl's tough.' "

Ginanne Brownell Mitic writes about arts, culture and education and is the co-founder of the women's webzine she-files.com . Find her on Twitter @ginannebrownell

Support quality journalism, like the story above, with your gift right now.

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Female Guide for your African Safari

• African Travel Blog
• African Safaris

Why Visit Gishwati Mukura National Park Rwanda

Driving Distance from Akagera National Park to Kigali City

Experience an African Safari Guided by Women – Embarking on an African safari unveils the awe-inspiring world of wildlife. To truly capture those extraordinary moments, a skilled guide is your key. Meet the remarkable female guides, masters of their territories, who contribute to crafting unforgettable safari adventures . Championing local knowledge and passion, these women redefine traditional roles, leading the way to exceptional encounters.

Empowering Female Guides in Africa’s Spectacular National Parks

Within Africa’s majestic National Parks, a groundbreaking shift is taking place. All-female guiding squads have emerged as trailblazers, reshaping norms and setting new standards. These guides, meticulously trained and exuding confidence, break barriers and elevate guest experiences. As you embark on your African safari , their expertise becomes an integral part of your journey.

Empowering Women in the African Bush

The African wilderness is no longer solely a man’s domain. Meet the inspiring women who have chosen to forge their paths as guides and rangers in this untamed realm. On your African safari, you’ll have the privilege of being guided by these remarkable women, enriching your adventure with their unique insights and expertise.

A Memorable Safari Experience with Female Guides

Venture into the heart of an African safari with the guidance of skilled women. Experience the magic of the wilderness through the eyes of these guides, who bring a fresh perspective and a wealth of knowledge to your journey. With Trek Africa Expeditions, your exploration is enhanced by the presence of dedicated female guides.

Unveil the Charms of the Wild with Female Guides

Embark on captivating game drives led by our accomplished female guides. As you traverse the National Parks, you’ll not only witness wildlife wonders but also connect with the vibrant personalities of your guides. Their sharp wit and impeccable service ensure a safari experience beyond compare.

Equality and Inspiration for Female Safari Guides

For many female guides , the inspiration to embark on this path is deeply rooted in their surroundings. Growing up in close proximity to National Parks, they witnessed the daily impact of safari guides. The legacy of their parents’ dedication ignited a spark, propelling them to follow in their footsteps. Guiding within the same reserve as their parents, these women continue a tradition of passion and commitment.

A Glimpse into the Unique Approach of Female Guides

The journey of a female guide begins before sunrise, as they meticulously prepare safari vehicles and supplies. With drives lasting hours, these guides excel at understanding guests’ moods and preferences. Their innate ability to read body language allows them to anticipate needs and enhance your experience. The hallmark of a female guide lies in their mindful approach to wildlife encounters.

A Thoughtful Approach to Wildlife Encounters

Female guides stand out for their mindful and patient tactics in approaching wildlife . Unlike rapid pursuits, they maintain a watchful awareness of nearby creatures, predicting their movements to optimize your viewing. Instead of rushing headlong towards animals, they skillfully track their path, granting you front-row seats to nature’s unfolding drama.

A Safari Enriched by Female Expertise

In the realm of African safaris , female guides are crafting an extraordinary narrative. With precision, empathy, and an unmatched connection to the wild, these women usher you into a world of captivating moments. Witness animals crossing your path, guided by the intuitive strategies of female guides, as they orchestrate a safari experience that will linger in your memory forever.

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Meet the Aspiring Female Guides in Botswana

“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Female empowerment is all about giving women the tools they need and the power to make all of the decisions that affect their lives and communities positively.

Female empowerment includes the betterment of women’s lives through education, work, literacy, training, and other things. Female empowerment is about promoting a woman’s self-worth, her ability to do things on her own, and her right to make changes in the world for herself and for other people.

WITH THAT SAID, WE WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR FEMALE GUIDE PROJECT:

In November 2021, we launched the African Bush Camps Female Guides project. This project aims to empower females in Botswana through professional skills development and accredited safari guide training.

It is no secret that females in Botswana’s villages, do not have the same professional options as men, in their communities. When it comes to being a professional safari guide, it is still a male-dominated profession. How many times have you gone on safari and had a female guide take you on an authentic safari experience?

Little to none, right?

More than 90 percent of Bostwana’s safari guides are men. Females get a lot of training, mentoring, and development now, but less than 5% of the workforce does.

Since there was no active investment, training, or skills development in female guides. We decided to step in with ABCF, to make sure these females recieve the skills and experience they need to become professional safari guides, and provide for their families while doing so.

OUR FEMALE GUIDES PROJECT

Our female guides project aims to increase the number of job opportunities for local women in the field of safari guiding and other closely linked fields. This project aims to train female safari guides in the field of wildlife conservation through a combination of skills training, mentorship, work shadowing, and rotations at  African Bush Camps , among other methods.

An overwhelming number of women from Botswana have expressed an interest in participating in this initiative. We have selected five women to be a part of the first cohort of participants.

ABC will provide safari guide training over the course of two years, with a combination of classroom, practical, and on-the-job experience. The five ladies who have been selected for the programme have already spent four weeks in theory and four weeks on safari with the  African Guiding Academy  before starting their careers as trainee guides at ABC.

Each of the following departments at the camps is expected to provide one week of training for the guides. Which includes training in cleaning, waitering, maintenance, and cooking. This will provide them with holistic training in the way that each camps operate.

Following their time spent in each department, their focus will be to assist their potential colleagues. This will take place on a rotational basis in order for each  trainee to become familiar with the camps and the diverse contexts in which we work.

WHAT IMPACT WILL THIS PROJECT HAVE?

The first cohort of this project aims to develop these female safari guides through thorough training and practical experience. At the end of the project, each trainee will receive their professional guiding license. These ladies will develop new skills which revolves not only around guiding, but other popular activities offered by our camps, such as walking safaris, canoe safaris, and mokoro safaris.

This programme will allow them to gain significant professional experience in travel and tourism, as well as other related fields, such as hospitality. Through personal mentorship and relationships, we aim to boost their confidence. Our top priority is building a competent group of ABC female guides that will join our renowned group of professional guides.

ONCE THE PROJECT IS COMPLETE OUR FEMALE GUIDES WILL BE EXPERTS IN:

Southern Africa has a diversity of wildlife, especially in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is our aim to equip our female guides with knowledge of these majestic animals, so that they will be able to easily identify them when they take their guests on safari and be able to answer any questions relating to them, in a meaningful and educational way.

CONSERVATION

Our female guides are nature’s teachers. They understand conservation, and its impact on local communities and take responsibility for conserving their surroundings.  In the words of our founder, Beks Ndlovu, “I believe that the world’s solution to crisis will be derived from nature, and that’s why I believe the survival of the world’s wilderness areas is key to the survival of humanity.”

SAFE PRACTICES

Part of being a professional guide means that you are responsible for travellers’ safety while exploring the African bush. It is important that our female guides know how to handle their weapons, are equipped with first aid skills, understand wildlife behaviour, and know how to respond to potential threats.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Our female guides will also be trained to handle photography equipment and to capture some of the priceless moments, you may experience on an  African safari.

NATURAL HISTORY

Our professional guides are natural historians in the sense that they operate in the areas where they were born and grew up. Guides will also be educated in the cultural, environmental, and political history of the region, to offer every traveller a fully immersive safari experience.

WE INTERVIEWED THE FIRST FEMALE COHORT…

WATCH VIDEO

Tracking animals in the wild is truly the art of reading natures headlines. Our guides need to know what clues to look for when tracking a herd of elephants or a pride of lions, even leopard cubs. Great tracking leads to great wildlife experiences. It is equally important that our guides are the centre of attention of your African safari. You need to be engaged in a meaninful way, while experience the safari of a lifetime. A strong personality will also help our guides manage difficult situations.

COMMUNICATION

Great communication goes along way. It is important to us that our guides are able to articulate themselves well and are able to communicate in a effective way. Most of the skills acquired by our guides require a certain level of communication.

The African bush requires a lot of patience. Some safaris may take hours, and others may be full of wildlife surprises. It is important that our guides do not only rely on luck, but on their experience when it comes to providing travellers with breathtaking

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Meet the safari guide empowering women in East Africa

Leading the way for safari guides in the Greater Maasai Mara, Evalyn Sintoya Mayetu from Kenya is defying conventions in a male-dominated industry.

“ It’s something that’s always been within me,” smiles Evalyn Sintoya Mayetu, gazing at a herd of buffalo resting in the midday heat of the Kenyan plains. “Wildlife and me, we have a connection. I feel like I belong among these incredible animals. I don’t know how to explain it. They inspire me, they excite me.”

As a guide at Asilia Africa’s newly refurbished Naboisho Camp , set in the rolling grasslands of the Mara Naboisho Conservancy in the Greater Maasai Mara, Evalyn has more reason than most to relish the prospect of going to work. “If you have passion for what you’re doing, if you enjoy what you’re doing, every day is a gift,” she says, explaining the thrill she still gets from watching wildlife like cheetahs, lions and elephants in the wild. “Guiding is what I’ve always wanted to do.” Then she laughs. “I almost feel sorry for my managers, sitting in their offices every day. I don’t think I would have the patience.”

Several years ago, her dedication saw her become the first female guide in the country to attain Silver Level qualification with the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association , reflecting the level of her expertise in the field. Evalyn is now setting her sights on accreditation as a Gold Level guide — an achievement that would be monumental in what is a heavily male-dominated industry. Even today there are relatively few female safari guides — not only in Kenya but in Africa as a whole.

Evalyn’s story is more remarkable given her upbringing. Growing up in a rural herding community where the children were unschooled, she defied cultural convention by running away from home at the age of nine in search of an education. With the help of an aunt, she made it through both primary and secondary school, excelling in her studies and deciding against domestic married life. When she finished high school, her goal lay on the savannah.

“From the first day I opened my eyes as a baby, I was surrounded by the wild, so for me, training to become a guide felt natural,” she says. Evalyn still recalls her very earliest childhood encounters with the warthogs and giraffes. “You know, for a child, a giraffe is such a magnificent animal. It’s the tallest animal on the planet. When it’s looking right at you, it’s so beautiful.”

Driven by a desire to prove that female guides could match their male counterparts, she gathered all the field experience she could while studying wildlife management, working part-time jobs to fund her own progress. When she landed a job on the conservancies — the sweeping, animal-rich plains where visitor numbers are far more regulated than in the main Maasai Mara National Reserve — it was a dream come true. She’s now been part of the guiding team at Naboisho Camp since 2015.

Around eight years after starting her role, each drive remains a joy, she tells me. “Every part of the day has its own magic, but I love the very early mornings. It’s a new day, a new beginning, and the animals have a certain energy, as though they’re giving praise that they survived the night. That time of day, at first light, it’s so special.”

Evalyn talks about the conservancy as “a paradise area” — an apt description for somewhere with a mere handful of camps scattered across over 5sq miles of prime Kenyan wilderness. “It’s full of wildlife, with one of the highest concentrations of lions in the world,” she adds. “But also, I just love the spirit we have in the camp. It’s a small camp with just nine tents, but that means we’ve been able to manage it and mould it into exactly what we want. There are times when I’m driving out from camp alone, I’ll look around at the animals on the plains and just feel the tears of joy."

Related Topics

• WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
• WILDLIFE WATCHING

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A new dawn for Kenyan safaris: how Maasai communities are empowering women

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Meet the Aspiring Female Guides in Botswana

“As women achieve power, the barriers will fall. As society sees what women can do, as women see what women can do, there will be more women out there doing things, and we’ll all be better off for it.” – Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Female empowerment is all about giving women the tools they need and the power to make all of the decisions that affect their lives and communities positively.

Female empowerment includes the betterment of women’s lives through education, work, literacy, training, and other things. Female empowerment is about promoting a woman’s self-worth, her ability to do things on her own, and her right to make changes in the world for herself and for other people.

With that said, we would like to introduce you to our Female Guide Project:

In November 2021, we launched the African Bush Camps Female Guides project. This project aims to empower females in Botswana through professional skills development and accredited safari guide training.

It is no secret that females in Botswana’s villages, do not have the same professional options as men, in their communities. When it comes to being a professional safari guide, it is still a male-dominated profession. How many times have you gone on safari and had a female guide take you on an authentic safari experience?

Little to none, right?

More than 90 percent of Bostwana’s safari guides are men. Females get a lot of training, mentoring, and development now, but less than 5% of the workforce does.

Since there was no active investment, training, or skills development in female guides. We decided to step in with ABCF, to make sure these females recieve the skills and experience they need to become professional safari guides, and provide for their families while doing so.

There is More Than One Way to Make An Impact

Visit Our Foundation Website Today 

Our Female Guides Project

Our female guides project aims to increase the number of job opportunities for local women in the field of safari guiding and other closely linked fields. This project aims to train female safari guides in the field of wildlife conservation through a combination of skills training, mentorship, work shadowing, and rotations at African Bush Camps , among other methods.

An overwhelming number of women from Botswana have expressed an interest in participating in this initiative. We have selected five women to be a part of the first cohort of participants.

ABC will provide safari guide training over the course of two years, with a combination of classroom, practical, and on-the-job experience. The five ladies who have been selected for the programme have already spent four weeks in theory and four weeks on safari with the African Guiding Academy before starting their careers as trainee guides at ABC.

Each of the following departments at the camps is expected to provide one week of training for the guides. Which includes training in cleaning, waitering, maintenance, and cooking. This will provide them with holistic training in the way that each camps operate.

Following their time spent in each department, their focus will be to assist their potential colleagues. This will take place on a rotational basis in order for each  trainee to become familiar with the camps and the diverse contexts in which we work.

What Impact Will This Project Have?

The first cohort of this project aims to develop these female safari guides through thorough training and practical experience. At the end of the project, each trainee will receive their professional guiding license. These ladies will develop new skills which revolves not only around guiding, but other popular activities offered by our camps, such as walking safaris, canoe safaris, and mokoro safaris.

This programme will allow them to gain significant professional experience in travel and tourism, as well as other related fields, such as hospitality. Through personal mentorship and relationships, we aim to boost their confidence. Our top priority is building a competent group of ABC female guides that will join our renowned group of professional guides.

Once the project is complete our female guides will be experts in:

Southern Africa has a diversity of wildlife, especially in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is our aim to equip our female guides with knowledge of these majestic animals, so that they will be able to easily identify them when they take their guests on safari and be able to answer any questions relating to them, in a meaningful and educational way.

Conservation

Our female guides are nature’s teachers. They understand conservation, and its impact on local communities and take responsibility for conserving their surroundings.  In the words of our founder, Beks Ndlovu, “I believe that the world’s solution to crisis will be derived from nature, and that’s why I believe the survival of the world’s wilderness areas is key to the survival of humanity.”

Safe Practices

Part of being a professional guide means that you are responsible for travellers’ safety while exploring the African bush. It is important that our female guides know how to handle their weapons, are equipped with first aid skills, understand wildlife behaviour, and know how to respond to potential threats.

Photography

Our female guides will also be trained to handle photography equipment and to capture some of the priceless moments, you may experience on an African safari.

Natural History

Our professional guides are natural historians in the sense that they operate in the areas where they were born and grew up. Guides will also be educated in the cultural, environmental, and political history of the region, to offer every traveller a fully immersive safari experience.

We interviewed the first female cohort…

Watch Video

Tracking animals in the wild is truly the art of reading natures headlines. Our guides need to know what clues to look for when tracking a herd of elephants or a pride of lions, even leopard cubs. Great tracking leads to great wildlife experiences. It is equally important that our guides are the centre of attention of your African safari. You need to be engaged in a meaninful way, while experience the safari of a lifetime. A strong personality will also help our guides manage difficult situations.

Communication

Great communication goes along way. It is important to us that our guides are able to articulate themselves well and are able to communicate in a effective way. Most of the skills acquired by our guides require a certain level of communication.

The African bush requires a lot of patience. Some safaris may take hours, and others may be full of wildlife surprises. It is important that our guides do not only rely on luck, but on their experience when it comes to providing travellers with breathtaking

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