A snapshot

Catherine is by far the most well-traveled Yellow Zebra, having visited over 100 countries across seven continents. When the travel bug bit her, it bit her hard! However, as with all at YZ, Africa remains the firm favorite. As Operations Manager, Catherine uses her extensive knowledge of travel to make sure your trip goes as smoothly as possible. 

African countries visited

Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Recent travel experience

On Catherine’s most recent trip to Safari Africa she and the Operations Team visited Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. They visited Wilderness Toka Leya where they relaxed on the Zambezi and enjoyed Victoria Falls; saw Cecil the Lion’s son in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe; saw more wildlife than imaginable at Wilderness Mombo in the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana and enjoyed seeing hippos and monitor lizards at Wilderness Vumbura Plains in the Okavango Delta also in Botswana.

Most memorable experience

"Having traveled a fair bit around the world, it’s pretty hard for me to pick just one experience! Seeing playful leopard seals in Antarctica, stumbling upon sand cats in Saudi Arabia and gorilla trekking in Uganda top the list, though while on my most recent safari to Botswana, I saw so many leopards! I couldn’t believe my luck because on previous safaris around Africa I’d maybe catch a glimpse of a leopard in the distance, but on this occasion, at Wilderness Mombo, I saw five! The final leopard I saw while in Botswana was waiting for a family of warthogs to come out of their den and was patiently waiting. The warthog kept poking its head out of the den and the leopard would perk up and try and get closer. Night was falling, so I’m not sure of the outcome, but I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to see several leopards at just one camp.

Another experience for me would be seeing a cobra in Hwange National Park. I am not a snake person at all, but I did appreciate how difficult it was for my guide at Wilderness Linkwasha to spot the cobra in the grass. There was a bird that had landed near the cobra and seemed oblivious to the danger just a few inches away. The cobra was alert and watching the bird. The bird got a little too close and the cobra went to strike the bird, but it flew away. The cobra slithered off and that’s when we realized just how big this cobra was."

Catherine's biography

Catherine’s love for travel has been burning for as long as she can remember! Growing up in America’s Midwest, Catherine studied maps as a child and tried to work out how to travel from her home to far-flung destinations (she once suggested her family drive all the way to Russia and Brazil!). While her family were not too keen to do that, Catherine still developed a love for travel and jumps at the chance to explore whenever she can.

At university, Catherine studied International Relations and had the opportunity to sail around the world for a semester. It was on this trip that she visited South Africa for the first time, and it sparked her love for safaris.

Catherine has set foot on all seven continents and has visited over 100 countries! But the one place Catherine loves the most is Africa, and this passion is what drew her to join our Operations Team in 2016.

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