African Travel Specialist Ilona graduated in Travel and Tourism in 1995 and credits her love of travel to her dad who made sure they travelled the length and breadth of South Africa as a family when she was growing up. She first started her career in a corporate travel agency but soon realised her passion for safaris. She joined a very well-known safari operator and spent several years with them, affording her the opportunity to travel to some of Africa’s most exclusive and pristine wildlife areas.
Family commitments required more of her time and she left tourism for a while before recently coming back to the sector – it is after all her first love and passion!
My favourite moment must be the time I went on a Zambezi canoe safari at Mana Pools in Zimbabwe. We were heading for the riverbank for a lunch stop when a herd of elephants came down to the water and our paths crossed. We were still sitting in our canoes at the time and were so close that, if I had wanted to, I could have touched one of them. We felt so small against these giants! We were all frozen with a mixture of fear and excitement at the special predicament we found ourselves in.
I love spending time on or near water: in a mokoro in the Okavango Delta, staying on a houseboat on Lake Kariba, canoeing at Mana Pools, or simply walking along one of South Africa’s many beautiful beaches. I always find water environments peaceful and soul recharging; it also gets one up close and personal with nature.
