Manuela Wilfart

Manuela was only supposed to spend six months in South Africa… that was 23 years ago. Since arriving from Germany, she’s made a life in Hout Bay with her family, where free time usually means beach walks, hiking, running or heading down to the ocean for a coffee or sunset. She also teaches local kids in the community to become lifeguards, which seems fitting for someone who’ll choose beach over bush without so much as a pause. Africa has given her plenty of reasons to stay. She loves how dramatically the landscape changes from one country to the next, and Rwanda holds a particular place in her heart after she went Gorilla trekking. She’s also a natural question-asker, often finding herself chatting to guides about where they grew up, what brought them to the bush and the stories behind the places they know so well. After 19 years at Rhino Africa, Manuela has a pretty good sense of what makes a trip work. Her approach is refreshingly simple: tell her what you like, what you don’t, and she’ll tell you what she thinks. Not everything is for everyone, and she’d rather be honest about that than send you somewhere just because it looks good on paper.