AWOL’s travel
experts have the knowledge and understanding of what
makes a trip a unique, travel experience with tailor-made itineraries
to suit your travelling requirements and budgetary constraints
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The members of the AWOL team come from many
diverse backgrounds, and each person brings thier own unique
personality and expertise to the company:
Sally
Petersen
(nee de Jager
)
had a dream to share her travel experiences
with others coming to South Africa. After
graduating Sally spent a few years travelling and working throughout
Europe, Asia and Africa. She was nominated as Outhere Magazine
"Adventurer of the year" finalist in 2001 after cycling from London to
Cape Town in order to raise funds for Survival International.
Returning home to Cape Town she decided to pursue a career in tourism
and thus founded AWOL in 2002. She has extensive experience
working as a qualified Nature Tour Guide and now, after guiding many
AWOL
trips, Sally now spends most of her time making use of
her extensive travel knowledge to design perfect travel packages for
guests to South Africa. Sally’s wide travel experience and enjoyment of
the learning journeys give her the perfect background for pursuing the
aims of AWOL.
Louise Kingston
grew up on an Aboriginal Mission station in the Yuendumu
community in
Central Australia. She is one of the few Westerners to be privileged to
have a tribal name, Ngubanunga. She started her tourism career in 1990
running trips out to Uluru National Park. She then went on to do a
travel course in London where she worked for many years as a travel
agent. She has traveled extensively through South America, Asia and
Europe including a 6 month trip in the back of an old Bedford London
Ambulance. She has 14 years experience working in tourism in Australia
including places like the Great Barrier Reef (South Mole Island).
Louise is a qualified International Travel Consultant and advises AWOL
guests on the vast variety of exciting travel opportunities Australia
has to offer. She is keen to share with travelers her love and
knowledge of the indigenous aboriginal culture and people she has known
since childhood.
Tour Guides
Jason Menzies
is another valued member of the AWOL team. After 8 years in the
local film industry and almost as many years abroad, travelling and
cycling globally and working as a cycle messenger in London, he
returned to South Africa and chose tourism as a career in order to
share the joys of discovery with both local and international guests.
In between leading AWOL's guests, Jason has trained hiking guides for
Table Mountain National Parks renowned ‘Hoerikwaggo Trails’ network. He
is passionate and optimistic about the future of South Africa and
believes that responsible and sustainable tourism practices are the key
to harmonious relationships with our natural environment, the people
that live here and the people who come to experience it all.
Vanessa Nixon
comes from a family who travels a lot. She got the bug from our
Grandfather, who is a retired pilot and has many exciting African
travel tales. She has travelled extensively in Africa since 1991 when
she got a Beetle for her 21st birthday which took her through 9 African
countries, through rivers, mud, snow, sand, mountains, herds of
elephants and baobab forest. After that trip she was addicted to
African travel, and spent the next three years gaining extensive and
valuable experience guiding one to three week camping safaris all over
southern Africa for a well-known local tour company. She is now based
in Cape Town, South Africa and loves sharing her travel experiences
with others. The Kalahari is a special place for her and she has made
good friends with the Komani bushmen over the years. Each safari
has a life of its own and she believes there should be a balance
between organization and freedom, so that there is space for adventure.
Henk Blanckenberg
also leads trips for AWOL. He grew up in Cape Town and is married
with
2 kids. From an early age Henk was involved with action activities such
as hiking, trekking, cycling, windsurfing and canyoning. He then
started concentrating on hiking and cycling trips for mostly overseas
visitors, all over the Cape and Garden Route. As a mature guide, Henk
has been guiding for the past 6 years with all the accreditation,
background and experience required. He has also led cycle trips in
Europe (England, France, Poland, Lithuania) and India and hikes up Mt
Kilimanjaro or in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains. Being a guide he
is used to carrying great responsibility and takes the safety of the
participants very seriously. He feels it a privilege and a pleasure to
be working and acting as an ambassador to this beautiful, vibrant
country of South Africa.
Alan Thomas
is also a Cape Town native who studied a B.Com after finishing
school and 2 years in the army. A runner and cyclist, Alan has cycled
the Karakoram Highway from Islamabad to Kashgar as well as from Lhasa
to Kathmandu via Everest base camp. Having travelled extensively in
Europe, Asia, Southern Africa and Australasia to rid himself of
wanderlust, he returned to his beloved Table Mountain and the Mother
City. Tour guiding seemed a natural progression and for the last 5
years he has concentrated on taking guests around South Africa. When he
is not guiding he is a fulltime toy for his little daughters.
Leonard McMillan
is the latest addition to the AWOL Team. He has fantastic
experience leading hiking trips on Table Mountain having worked for
Table Mountain National Parks for last four years. Having grown up on
the Cape Flats in an impoverished environment, it was a life changing
for him to participate in a school hike and then later be selected for
the Hoerikwaggo guiding programme. He is ecstatic to be part of the
AWOL family and enjoys working in a more personalised environment where
clients become friends and we go the extra mile for our guests to
provide that personal service. He is hopeful and optimistic about the
tourism industry and the boost the South African economy will receive
in 2010. He is a proud ambassador of our beautiful country.
Specialists
Eugene Moll
is a retired professor of botany who grew up in Zimbabwe, living
and working as an ecologist in diverse and interesting regions
including the Galapagos Islands, Australia and Southern Africa. At
present he is chairman of the Botanical Society of South Africa and is
currently writing a book on African people and the environment.
Leif Petersen,
a Conservator who grew up in Australia has completed his master’s
degree and is pursuing a PhD in subsistance livelihoods.
Having lived and worked throughout Australia, New Zealand and Southern
Africa he has an interesting view on life, politics and the
environment. He has done around-the-world community and conservation
marketing exercises including Australia, USA, Brazil, Holland and the
United Kingdom. Leif does marketing and educational trips to
Australia for AWOL.
Mzwamadoda Mtshaba (Zwai)
– is 31 year old
Xhosa
male who grew up in King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape. After
completing school , he was selected for the Table Mountain National
Parks Hoerikwagga guiding program as an NQF level 2 site Nature guide
in December 2007. He now works as AWOL's Township Guide in
Masiphumelele. He also asssist BEN (Bicycling Empowerment Network)
Masiphumelele Bicycle shop fixing and repairing bicycles. Zwai is
fluent in English and very reliable and often does all the organising
and tour arrangements prior to guest arrival. He is compassionate and
has a friendly personality and is easily able to talk to and convey
information about his culture to guests coming on tour. He enjoys
interacting with guests and showing people around his community.
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