MEET OUR TEAM

Despite the fact that she is tall and blonde, Mary was born in Ethiopia, which is probably where she first caught the ‘Africa bug’. Mary’s parents worked as Flying Doctors in Zambia and Ethiopia in the 60’s and 70’s and also travelled through the Serengeti in a Volkswagen Beetle. So, it comes as no surprise that Mary is exceptionally safari savvy.

She studied criminal law and history at Leiden University in the Netherlands before working for a beer company in Amsterdam for a few years. Then in 2003, Mary and her partner Bas decided to take a year off from their corporate jobs in Amsterdam and went to work in Tanzania. She was immediately inspired by the bush and going on safari, which lead to her becoming co-director of a small safari company in 2004. In 2009 Mary became the sole owner, moved down to Cape Town and changed the company name to Planet Africa Safaris. Mary loves going on weekend trips to the bush with Bas and their children, Morris, Kiki and Finn. She is extremely fond of giraffes and elephants, but with her feather-phobia, you won’t catch her anywhere near the local birdlife!

TOP PICK:
Mahale Mountains National Park in Tanzania for the remote location and wild verdant forests.

TRAVEL TIP:
Take beautiful pictures on safari, but for the rest of the time try to really sink into the experience, looking at it with your eyes and not too much through your camera lens.