Celebrating Our 20 Year Anniversary

Often, we get told, “wow, this life you live out here in the bush is absolutely amazing” or “An elephant traffic jam? This is unbelievable! How lucky are you?!”

And we can honestly say, this never gets old!

My wife Jeandra & I have always been deeply passionate about the bushveld. Africa is not just where we live, it is what runs in our veins, it is our very being. We have raised all four of our children with the same love and passion for nature and all it beholds and in their own way, they are all involved with nature is some way in their careers today.

I grew up in Zimbabwe, back then known as Rhodesia, and as a young boy, I developed a love for nature from an early age.

I met Jeandra at Technicon in Pretoria and not long after we started our family, which has not stopped growing! We have 4 kids and 3 grandchildren.

Not long after we married, we moved our family to Hoedspruit in 1996, a town nestled comfortably in the heart of the bushveld. But it was not until 2007 that we decided to join the family business here at Shumbalala and take in a General Management position. It has been one mad adventure since then. Working in the bush, each day is a surprise as you never know what you might encounter on your way to work or around the lodge and at the waterhole. Some days you can see elephants everywhere you look, and still, we take it in as if it is the first time we are experiencing it. We are always in awe of how nature just seems to flow, everything just working in unison together from little birds and bugs to the mighty Big Five.

Being a big family, we all love spending time together and sharing new memories and reminiscing about the old memories. Getting everyone together in one room is no easy feat! Therefore, we soak it in as much as we possibly can when we do get together. We have always believed that family is everything. We love and cherish each other and our children and making memories with all of them is the most valuable thing as a family.

This is why Shumbalala is so special, not just to us but to all the guests that have passed through here over the years. They all leave with a sense of "family” and often we hear them say “Shumbalala has become our second home, we left there feeling like family” They leave with a piece of Shumbalala in their hearts and long for a return visit. The same is true for us in reverse, we have made some life-long friends over the years who we met as guests. Friends that we will appreciate, love, and cherish for many years.

Our staff are not just members of the company who work for us – they are family to us too. Most of our staff has been with our family for years, and they are deeply valuable to us. They too understand the importance of family and have taken it upon themselves to make our guests feel like an important part of the Shumbalala Family.

This is what we wish to impart to all who visit this special place; Make memories and hold them near, it is something you will always have with you.

"Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” - Dr Seuss