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Vanessa
was born in Vereeniging, Gauteng, South Africa. She studied Equine
Science for three years at the Pretoria Technikon. The course
included two years theory at the Technikon and 1 year practical
in the industry, which she completed at Arkab Stud, an Arabian
stud farm in Belfast Mpumalanga.
In March 1995, she joined a small inbound Tour operator where she completed her SATOUR guide course and worked as a guide and Tour consultant. Her travels took her to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and Lesotho, West Coast of South Africa, Cape Town and a portion of the Garden route.
Vanessa moved to a small town on the highlands of Mpumalanga (Dullstroom)
in May 1997, where she worked in the Equine industry managing
a small stable and riding school. She then became involved in
the setting up of and managing of Dullstroom Reservations, the
Information centre for the town of Dullstroom.
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When she moved back to Johannesburg in February 2000, Venessa
joined safari tour operator Afro Ventures as a Tour consultant,
where she remained for two and a half years after the merger of
Afro Ventures with CC Africa. In August 2002, she joined Journey
Beyond as a Tour consultant.
From a very early age Vanessa’s family, travelled to many
of the major game reserves in South Africa; Kruger National Park,
Addo Elephant Park, Mountain Zebra National Park, Pilanesberg,
Songimvelo, Mthethamusha, Timbavati, Kalahari Gemsbok Park, Madikwe,
Sodwana and St Lucia. In later years, she spent time in the Western
Cape, Cape Town, along the Garden Route, Kwa-Zulu Natal, Mpumulanga
and the Limpopo Province. As a result, she has a very good all
around knowledge of South Africa as a destination. |
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Added to this, she has travelled extensively throughout Southern
Africa. On one visit to Botswana, she managed to fit in 26 lodges
in Chobe, Linyanti (a personal favourite!), Savute, Moremi and
Okavango Delta in just 6 short days! Her travels to Zimbabwe have
taken her to most, if not all of the main tourism areas; Victoria
Falls, the Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Eastern Highlands, Harare, Kariba
(where she relished the pampering lavished on her!), Victoria
Falls (on the Zambian side too), Hwange National Park and Bulawayo.
Namibia is also a destination she knows intimately, having visited Windhoek, the Caprivi, Etosha, Swakopmund, Sossusvlei, Keetmanshoop and the Fish River Canyon. |
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