Ellie leads as Director of Brand Experience, with over 12 years of travel experience in the safari industry.
A snapshot
Ellie’s passion for Africa started early. She has South African family and she spent multiple holidays there during her childhood. During her 20’s she travelled independently across Southern and East Africa, before joining a safari specialist in 2006. Since then she has been to Africa 25 times and she has accumulated over 20 years’ experience in the safari industry.
Expert destinations
Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, the Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia.
Recent travel experience
Ellie has enjoyed a two-week trip around Zambia’s lesser-visited Kafue National Park, followed by a family trip to Ruaha National Park in Tanzania to do what she loves best – a walking safari.
Ellie's most memorable safari experience
"I have always loved walking safaris, and so it is no wonder that my most memorable safari experience was whilst I was on foot. I was staying at Kichaka Camp in Ruaha National Park and being guided by the renowned Moli, known for getting people up close to elephants. We had seen two young bulls from a distance and with the wind in our favour approached them on foot. With no more than 10 metres between us and them, they suddenly caught our scent and turned with heads raised. Moli’s upstretched hand said it all: ‘Do not move!!’ What felt like minutes later, after a trumpet and a forward lurch in our direction, the two bulls moved away, leaving us with our hearts in our mouths."
Ellie's biography
As a child, Ellie would go to South Africa to visit family every summer. She fondly remembers spending time in her grandparents’ garden chasing lizards and chongololos, swimming in the sea near their house, and going on camping safaris to Pilanesberg National Park. But it was a family holiday to the Okavango Delta when she was a teenager that started Ellie’s passion for safari.
A few years later, during her year before university, Ellie boarded a plane bound for Dar es Salaam. A three-month conservation research placement on Pemba Island followed by a six-month backpacking adventure down to Cape Town took Ellie through most of Southern and East Africa. As if that were not enough, she returned to the continent after university for a short stint of volunteer work at an orphanage in Kisumu – a small town on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya – and then again took to the road to travel through the areas she had missed out the first time.
On her return to the UK in 2006, Ellie started working for an esteemed UK safari specialist, moving up the ranks from Safari Specialist to General Manager by the time she left. During her career there she helped to set up the Northern Tanzania and Kenya programme, was a contributing author to the Rough Guide to Kenya and the Zambia Bradt Travel Guide, and helped the company grow to three times the size it had been when she started. She joined Yellow Zebra at the end of 2018.
Client reviews
"Yellow Zebra Safaris created a fabulous three location trip for our honeymoon in Tanzania. Their expertise from on-the-ground experience shone throughout the booking process, and during the trip itself... Truly cannot recommend YZ enough. Fabulous company, and thank you especially to Ellie : ) Look forward to travelling with you again!"
"Yellow Zebra are genuine specialists; they know the African bush like the back of their hand."
Brian Jackman, safari expert for The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Condé Nast, and the BBC
'Europe's Leading Safari Tour Operator' at the World Travel Awards
9 years in a row, since 2015
"I contacted two safari companies regarding a safari to Kenya to take place in Jan 25. One of these I had used several times before (Let's call this particular company, company B). YZ Safaris replied by return and arranged for a phone call to further consult on exact requirements. These were discu..."
Phil Lewis
"Our daughter and son in law used Yellow Zebra to plan their honeymoon and couldn't have been more pleased from the initial laying out of the trip through the entire experience. For us, working with Catherine to put the trip together was wonderful and she addressed our questions in a very timely..."
Louann Cummings
"I would highly recommend yellow zebra for their professional, interactive & friendly approach. Kelly was superb in assessing our family’s wishes & making an itinerary that covered them. She offered choices at every level & I can’t wait to actually go on the safari."
D Singh
"yellow Zebra made our safari trip in Tanzania outstanding - there were with us every step of the way, including during our trip with a dedicated whatsapp group, and the service they provided was exceptional from the first contact onwards. They made organising our trip so easy, and we wouldn't que..."
Luke Newham
"Excellent service. Emma had personal knowledge of the parks I wanted to visit in Zambia and quickly grasped the type of camps I wanted to stay in.Emma was able to put a proposed itinerary together quickly and answered all my queries. This is my second safari holiday with Yellow Zebra,both tailore..."