Incredibly grateful to work with a knowledgeable and caring team of African Overland consultants who will do all that they can for their travellers; to ensure that they have life changing experiences on tour. Honoured to be led by a CEO who is considerate, generous, hugely hard and smart working and gives 150% for our team and our travellers. This feels like a match made in heaven.

I have always considered myself one of the luckiest people in the world having spent my childhood in the Garden Route. After having left Knysna to go to Cape Town and abroad, I have finally returned home to my roots and am having an awesome time rekindling my love affair with this incredible place we get to call home. While travelling, people would ask me where I was from and I’d very truthfully tell them, “Paradise, in the Garden of Eden”.There are few places that can compete with The Garden Route for it’s natural beauty, access to adventure, warm oceans (by Cape Town standards), dramatic mountains, indigenous forests, endless stretches of beach, freshwater lake systems, winelands, farmlands, big five safari, variety of unique accommodation and dining options, and home to some of the most interesting, kind and generous people I have met.I was inspired to start this page by Janine Tassi from What’s on in Durbanville. Janine’s page has been the ultimate source of all things going on in Durbanville and if you speak to anyone in that part of the world, they will gush about all the interesting and amazing experiences they have had thanks to Janine’s skill at finding gems, putting together event calendars, writing honest and well considered feedback and always being at the heart of the action. She has put the focus on “local is lekker” and is driving huge support to the Durbanville community.I will be driving this forward for The Garden Route and the Klein Karoo and you can expect to see local events, festivals, markets, sporting and leisure activities, shows, promotions and reviews. I will be curating this content and will be listing it for free, at my own discretion and will include content that is based on my opinion. Please get in contact with me if you have anything that you’d like me to share.Services I offer: Destination Marketing Community Management Marketing, Brand and Sales Management Digital and Social Media Management

An incredible opportunity presented itself when I decided to join Empanda. My skillset, knowledge and experience had been travel centric, so it was time to take on something completely new and learn about an entirely different business. I’ve always believed that skills, experience, and knowledge are generally transferrable, particularly if you’re from the travel industry where no two days are ever the same.Empanda was six months old and consisted of a handful of client-based SAP Change Managers, the CEO and myself. Together, over three years, we grew the company to 50 staff as the client project grew and managed to successfully downsize to 20 staff as the project closed. During this time, we diversified our eLearning capabilities, built a leadership and thought facilitation centre and started developing own brand courses. We have had the privilege of delivering Change Management, Training, Graphic Design and eLearning capabilities for clients such as Shoprite, City of Cape Town, Mass Discounters, Contract Catering Holdings and The United Nations Global Compact. My role at Empanda included but was not limited to:  Finance, Budgeting and Forecasting (hand in hand with accountants) HR, Talent Management, Recruitment and all people processes for the staff Inspiration Centre Event Coordination Client Relationship Development Marketing, Brand and Sales Management Learning Management System Development

I decided to join Nomad Adventure Tours as I had developed an excellent relationship with them while selling their tours and developing their product at Go2Africa. I have always enjoyed working in a dynamic owner operated environment with travel as the core focus and Nomad was a natural progression to complete the agency / service provider / tour operator cycle to get a full understanding of the industry.While at Nomad, I developed strong relationships and setup profitable contracts with local and international agents, I attended international and local travel shows, brought digital media to the company and enjoyed working in a busy and highly productive environment.My key achievements at Nomad: Developed Nomad’s social media community, focused on driving direct sales to the business. Designed and developed the Nomad website structure – a complex process due to the nature of the tours on offer and the first time we were able to offer online bookings. Developed new agent relationships in Australia and deepened local agent relationships. Handled all client feedback and drove resultant change to processes and procedures.  The combination of the efforts above led to an approximately 25% year on year increase in sales for our team.

I joined The Daddy Long Legs Group because of their positive attitude towards Cape Town and creative business development. Their ethos has always been to invest in character buildings and restore them to their original beauty and welcome Cape Town back into their doors. Their very nature is free thinking, maverick, risk taking, entrepreneurial and all made possible through strategic partnerships and relationships – which I wanted to learn more about. Events was my vessel into the company as well as an excellent opportunity to discover more about myself and learn about the challenges and rewards of corporate and leisure functions and events.When I started at the hotel, there was absolutely no semblance of an Events Department. By the time I left, I was heading up a team of four staff members who reported directly to me. Communication is key in this game and I needed to rely on every department of the hotel to ensure that all functions ran smoothly and according to plan. In less than two years, I successfully managed approximately 400 events as well as played a key role in the management of the hotel.The Old Biscuit Mill and The New Space Theatre also fell into my portfolio during this time and I managed all the scheduling between event clients and long term and short-term tenants use of the venues, as well as playing peace-keeper between all parties.I managed the social media for all the properties during my time at The Daddy Long Legs Group and contributed heavily to the redesign of the Grand Daddy website.

An incredibly dynamic role focused on increasing business partner and supplier portfolio product sales. Targets achieved by researching, conceptualising, developing, negotiating, contracting, implementing, and marketing a comprehensive range of product and services to complete Go2Africa's business requirements.Key Performance Areas Included: Product, destination, and portfolio development. Supplier contracting and rates negotiation and management. Ensuring data integrity and quality control on web and database. Consultant and self-knowledge development. Internal (to consultants) and External (via web and branding) product marketing. Interdepartmental and supplier relationship management. Sales reporting and increased profit generation. Business development and project management. Operational support re Policies and Procedures.

I was responsible for providing a friendly and professional service to new UK arrival clients by offering them the Kickstart Package including bank account, job and accommodation assistance: Receiving and processing Kickstart package sales requests (up to 90 per day)  Scheduling, organising, and presenting daily Kickstart orientation meetings – 45-minute PowerPoint presentations, 30 clients per meeting. Ensuring that 1st Contact products and services were cross promoted Organising, attending, and assisting with social activities and events  Maintaining and enhancing banking and 3rd party relationships. Providing detailed and correct information on 1st Contact products and services  Assisting with the management and development of the Client Interaction Programme. General administration.

Cuan Law is a live aboard dive boat, situated in the British Virgin Islands, Caribbean. My roles and responsibilities on Cuan included: Orientation, safety, and dive briefings Organizing, managing, and supervising entertainment activities for guests Co-ordination, teaching and supervising water sports activities (sailing, skiing, kayaking, wakeboarding, swimming, snorkelling) SCUBA instruction at all levels Dive shop and rental equipment management Stock control and inventorying of the boat for long ocean passages Account handling for the boutique and the dive shop Watch leader on overnight passages Senior crew member

I joined Blue Moon to complete a transatlantic crossing from Palma de Mallorca, Spain to St Maarten, Caribbean and stayed on as first mate. Responsibilities included inventorying and stocking the boat for a long ocean passage, setting up a crew watch schedule for the duration of the passage, quick and critical decision making when faced with potential hazardous situations. Once the crossing was complete and we were on charter, I was responsible for familiarising the guests with the boat, ensuring that the five-star service that we offered was being upheld, organising meals and activities for the guests on and off the boat, watchkeeping, navigation, engine room checks, maintenance, sail trimming and general duties on deck.

Trips that I guided were situated on the Cunene, Orange, and Breede Rivers and varied in length from one to fifteen days. My role included catering for groups of people from all walks of life (large corporate conference and school trips {150 guests} to smaller family and friend trips {4 guests}). I took sole responsibility for the safety of the guests both on and off the river, camp set up, driving and logistical running of each trip. I was also responsible for coordinating a river crew for on-river safety and camp duties.