After college, Lisa joined safari tour operator, Afro Ventures, in 1997 as a Reservations Consultant and made her first visit to Botswana. Her memories of this trip include watching the sun set from a mokoro in the reeded channels of the Okavango Delta and the privilege of having an encounter with a pride of lion in the Moremi Game Reserve.
On her next trip, she went to Kwando Lebala Camp, at the southern edge of the massive Kwando concession, and to Kwando Lagoon, some 30 km away on the banks of an oxbow of the Kwando River. The guide was Mark Tenant, one of the best private safari guides in Botswana. Lisa lists the highlights of this trip as following a pack of wild dogs at night (by vehicle) as they hunted, and sighting of a mother cheetah and her cub strolling across the plains just outside of camp! Then, at Chief’s Camp in the Mombo Concession, their guide spotted a leopard in a tree in broad daylight, which proved the start of superb sightings in this extraordinary area.
She next packed her bags and headed for Swakopmund (Namibia), a small coastal town surrounded by desert. Swakopmund is the activity centre of Namibia and provides a wide variety of adventure activities for tourists and locals alike. First up was a dolphin boat cruise, followed by champagne and oysters at the seal colony the boat had stopped at for this feast. Once the group had regained their land feet, it was off into the white coastal sand dunes on quad bikes, topping off the days’ exhilaration with sand boarding.
Another of her favourite destinations is Mozambique: a land of contrast and unspoilt beauty; azure seas edged with sandy white beaches. She also enjoys the traditional Portuguese preparation of seafood in Mozambique!
Lisa has travelled extensively in South Africa and visited the Timbavati, Bongani, Madikwe, Londolozi and Phinda wildlife reserves, each unique in it’s own way.
Lisa admits that Cape Town is one of her 'absolute favourites!'
'Table Mountain, the Wine Route, beaches and shopping! What more could you ask for? Having ex-prisoners guide visitors through the Robben Island tour brings it alive for people. Plettenberg Bay and surrounds has so much to offer and the Grahamstown Arts Festival is definitely worth a visit.'
When Afro Ventures merged with CC Africa, Lisa joined the sales department. In 2002, she took on the job of reservations supervisor at the inception of Journey Beyond.
Lisa prefers to work in a setting where she knows a guests’ entire itinerary and what their main object of travel is. She believes that 'you can only give people the maximum benefit of experience when you have the whole picture.'
Lisa enjoys developing her expertise. Since she joined Rainbow Tours, she has visited South Africa and Mauritius and says that 'It is particularly fulfilling when clients come through with unusual requests and making them work for the traveller.' Lisa has recently visited Tanzania, re-visited South Africa, Kenya, Seychelles and the most recently Northern Mozambique.