People
Tanya Ritchie – One Woman One Merc
I’ll start with Tanya as she is Hari’s guardian, in South Africa, when I’m not there. She’s also one of the first people I met, and we’ve since become good friends! Smart and courageous, she’s travelled Africa in various vehicles – first crossing the Sahara in a Landy Series III many years ago and, more recently, driving to Mombasa in her yellow Mercedes 123, Mustafa. So many people took an interest in this feisty lady and her quirky companion that led to a huge following and sponsorship for the journey. They also took part in the in the Zimbabwe Safari Rally which is no mean feat from what I hear.
Tanya is not just daring but smart too and has written a book to encourage solo travel for woman which includes loads of practical tips regarding planning and much, much more. Well worth a read if you are a woman contemplating travel alone but nervous – and even if you’re not nervous there is a wealth of information in it.
She also boasts an AirBnB on her property, which lies in beautiful surroundings, close to Fourways in Johannesburg and Lanseria Airport, comfortably sleeping 8. There’s also a vehicle inspection pit on site, for enthusiastic travellers and a 4x4 workshop very close by!
Sandra Naledi Rubins
When I met Sandra in Maun on my first visit arranged via that chance meeting of a work colleague of hers on my flight from Doha to Johannesburg to meet Hari for the first time, it was clear this would be a lasting connection and friendship.
Sandra not only invited me to stay with Hari on her property and in her annex, but she welcomed me into her family and it’s not a small one! My family in Maun now consists of 3 fantastic children (well there are four but one had already left home so I don’t know her so well and one has since left to boarding school), Aunty Roo who looks after her youngest whilst she’s working, FuFu the Jack Russell, a baby when I met him, and the patriarch of the family Rooney.
A dedicated community development and sustainability specialist, Sandra works with Natural Selection in the 200,000-hectare Khwai Private Reserve in Botswana's Okavango Delta.
She co-founded the Naletsana charity and the Maria Ramsden Learning Centre in Khwai Village, securing funding from Khwai Private Reserve and African Bush Camps to provide education and daily meals for local children.
Natural Selection now also fund this project and the new The Learning Tree in Shorobe, as well as another in Namibia.