Guides and Drivers Profiles

What was your funniest moment on tour?
At the Snake Park in Arusha, there were about 7 trucks there, all with similar tents. All the guides decided to move the tents around. Then we sat on the roof of one of the trucks and watched the drunken clients figure out what tent was whose.

Share a few adventure tips:
Patience. Participate in the group. Be considerate and ask your guide instead of fellow traveller.

Share some of the romances:
Two of the couples on my truck got married.

Where have you travelled?
Entire Southern Africa.

What was your funniest moment on tour?
For the first time to have my Birthday in another country, in Lesotho 2007

Share a few adventure tips:
Not to carry your problems from  home if coming to travel you want to enjoy. Please listen to the Tour Leader when he/she is speaking so that there is no repeating the same thing.

What is a realistic expectation of game viewing?
Can see the big five, depending on the park you’re in.

Where have you travelled?
South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia

What was your funniest moment on tour?
Watching the expressions on peoples faces when they do the rafting in the Zambezi.

Share a few adventure tips:
Good pair of shoes and a rain coat – African weather is crazy sometimes

What is a realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
Like we always tell the guests... These are wild animals!
They are not tied to trees, so it ranges from the AWESOME Big 5 to maybe only an impala. But usually it has: elephants, various Antelopes, Hippo, Jackals, Great Bird life, lions.

Where have you travelled to?
“All continents except Asia”

What was your funniest moment on a tour?
“Telling the client that these huge tire tracks through the bush were snakes – his face dropped!"

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips.
“Respect”

What is a realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
“Expect to see nothing and then be grateful to see anything!
Depends on time of year and location.”

Where have you travelled to?
"Travelled through twelve countries, namely South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ruanda, Swaziland and Lesotho.”

What was the funniest moment on a tour?
“When one the guides was telling a story of a client who asked whether giraffes hunt in flocks.”

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips.
“Look quiet and shy like me, but do anything that is adventure but within your safety range.”

What is a realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
“Depending on the park – Normally lions, elephants, rhinoceros at 8.00 pm at okakueto zebras, giraffes.”

Where have you travelled to?
“Southern Region Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho but above them all I like I like Swaziland – their culture in particular!”

What was the funniest moment on a tour?
“It was right in the beginning in Swakopmund. After dinner we went out to a night club. The clients did not want to go back to the lodge. They enjoyed the kind of entertainment. It was already 4 o'clock. They asked if we could stay in Swakopmund much longer.”

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips.
They should know that we are the leading tour- operators. That we are the top of the chart (we are running a professional business). By so doing they can gain confidence with us.”

What is a realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
“The above mentioned including lions are probably the best desire aspect of any game nature drive. They also provoke excitement.”

Where have you travelled to?
“East Africa, Southern region”

What was the funniest moment on a tour?
“When it was raining in Delta and I had to cook on fire!”

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
“Nomad Adventure is the best overland company in Africa!”

Share some of the romances you've seen passengers develop on a tour
“On first days they will be two girls and two guys sharing the tent. After a week there are changes: a guy sharing with a girl and a girl sharing with a guy!”

What is a realistic expactation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
“Depends on luck. The Animals move from one place to another!”

What was the funniest moment on a tour?
“(well, among many:)
a guest borrowed my bino's in KNP stopped at a big bird and I said it was a Juvenile brown snake eagle with much enthusiasm. (it was a frieken white back vulture) We quickly moved on and changed the subject.:-)”

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
“No more high heels please, ladies!
If you see a snake – don't touch it! hehe”

Share some of the romances you've seen passengers develop on a tour
“It was so beautiful. It's called Tequila! Short and sweet. Most passengers meet that way!”

What is realistic expactation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
“Kruger National Park: Lots of elephants, impalas, most other antilopes...”

Where have you travelled to?
“Around South Africa through Swaziland and Lesotho. Also Cape Town to Victoria Falls through Namibia and Botswana. I've been to Mozambique at Inhanbane. And Zambia at Livingstone.”

What was your funniest moment on a tour?
“So many people like scrambled eggs! (said my Mr. Lee Beng Boo from Korea)”

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
“- Always wake up early to see most animals and stay awake...You sleep, you snooze!
- Good shoes for walks, sunscreen, mozzie repellent and a raincoat.
- Lastly: Be nice to the Chef!!!”

What is realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
“Lots of Impala (Kruger National Park)
lots of Springbok (Etosha National Park)
lots of elephants (Chobe)
Baboons everywhere in Victoria Falls
Lions, you can see lots of them, sometimes don't see lions at all throughout the tour
Leopards... You can see them if you are lucky, if you not lucky you'll see them in the book!”

Where have you travelled to?
All countries in Southern Africa and part of East Africa except Kenya and Uganda

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
Make everyone participate in group activities.

What is a realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
Big Five has always been the best!!!

Where have you travelled to?
Whole of Southern Africa .

What was your funniest moment on a tour?
It was in Malealea when Ishamel came for dinner with a wig dressed as a lady.

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
-Passengers have to respect and trust their guides at all times to avoid problems

-Whenever passengers are not happy with what is happening on tour they should open-up and talk to guides before it's too late

Share some of the romances you've seen passengers develop on a tour.
People usually get to like each other during the last week of the tour.

What is a realistic expactation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
Most of the time, ladies are crazy about Elephants especially the little ones. Passengers value a game drive by viewing cats (Leopard, Lion, Cheetahs).

Do you have a nickname and why?
Armstrong (I feel very comfortable when driving our truck called Armstrong).

Where have you travelled to?
Around Southern Africa.

What was your funniest moment on a tour?
Tree Canopying in Tsitsikama not forgetting Zambezi White Water Rafting (most enjoyable moments).

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
-Tell them exactly what is on the ground. (Clients should known the conditions & customs of Africa)

What is a realistic expactation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
Completing the Big Five (what all wants, not always possible)

Do you have a nickname and why?
Bjornie, in belgium it's normal to add -ie, -je,-tje, -tjie to make things smaller, supposed to be cuter.
Other nicknames: Heartbreaker, playboy, womanizer,.. No idea how I got it those though.

Where have you travelled to?
Check me out on facebook, often Europe and South America, a couple of times Asia and North America and Africa of course!!!

What was your funniest moment on a tour?
Probably some questions from guests like:
-To see a shooting star shall I turn my head all the time and try to look everywhere or should I fix one star and wait for it to shoot?
-Are wild dogs that nobody looks after?
-Is the black market, a market, where only black people go?

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
-Read the pre-departure information!
-Know that things won't be like at home(e.g shower with guaranteed hot water)
-Be flexible and patient, in the western world you guys have expensive watches, we have time...
-Respect the rules on personal luggage!

Share some of the romances you've seen passengers develop on a tour.
-The most unexpected one was a belgian guy and a Swedish lady, she didn't speak any french and he didn't speak any Swedish, both were quite poor in English, but they managed to understand each other very well.

What is a realistic expectation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
-A lot depend of you guys ! 20 pairs of eyes see more than 2, if everybody goes 100% for it, we always see more than the average.
-The time of the year; in a lot of the year in guidebooks you will read that the end of the dry season is best for game viewing, rain season a bit less, I would say, it;s easier in dry season and a little bit more challenging in rain season, anyway you never know with animals! You have to take what nature gives, If you want to be sure to see a certain animal, I suggest you go to a zoo
-We are now in the rain season, grass is very high, I finished a trip to Kruger National Park yesterday, we saw the Big 9, Elephant, zebra, giraffe, buffalo, rhino, cheetah, lion, leopard, on top of that several antilope species, wild dogs, hyenas, monkeys and loads of different birds, it's supposed to be the “bad” time of the year for animals, I never has such a succesful tour in the “best” time of the year.
-Also depends where in Africa you travel, you won't find asingle gazelle in Kruger Park, for example, animals who need a lot of water e.g buffalo, hippo, crocodile,.. are seldom seen in Namibia, plenty of those in Botswana. At the end of a 3 week trip, you usually have about 6-7 of the big nine plus a lot of antilopes, monkeys, birds,... We always see a lot of animals but nobody can predict which ones, for how long we see them, when and how close to us, that's the beauty of a game driving, it's a whole new adventure and challenge every time.

Do you have a nickname and why?
Yes I do, because some people couldn't say my name correctly (mzingeli) Albert is my nickname.

Where have you travelled to?
I have travelled to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho .

What was your funniest moment on a tour?
Every tour I enjoy.

Share a few Adventure tips that you know would help our passengers on our trips
They must read and understand what type of trip he or she is doing so that we don't come across any problems when we come to tours.

What is a realistic expactation for game viewing on tour (I.e. a lot of Elephants, rarely Leopards etc?)
Since game drives are done in a National Park which is an open place with animals moving all over the park so by chance we might be lucky...