Abang Africa Travel

Born in the Philippines and growing up there, in Ecuador and in Holland, you might say that travelling is in my blood. I started adult life out as a landscape architect. After a couple of years I decided to exchange cultivated nature for the real thing and started working as a tour guide. Mostly in<< back to tourism articles Africa – all along the East side from Addis Abeba down to Cape Town – but also in Latin America, the Middle East and more exotic destinations like Cambodia, Mali and Iran. In Mali I did interviews and photos for a book about the Dogon tribe, in fact the first book ever written by a Dogon about themselves.

 

The millennium saw me changing from travelling to working in the office of a Dutch tour operator, till 2008 as product manager and from 2008-2011 as Brand Manager for the brand Baobab Reizen. During my tenant there Baobab Reizen became one of the frontrunners for sustainable tourism in the Netherlands. It was also the time I fell in love with South Africa. After leaving Baobab in 2011 I decided now was the perfect moment to move to South Africa and in early 2014 I became the manager of Abang Africa Travel. Abang means to share, share with passion from within. My goal is to run Abang in such a way that tourism benefits South Africa as a whole: its nature, its people and its economy. So that our children can provide your children with the same or better experiences as we have today. Mind you, not with a raised finger, but in a #funandfair way. I spend my free time with my wife, friends and riding a motorbike wherever the road will take me.

 

Abang Africa Travel was founded in 2005 and started operating in 2006. Abang is Fair Trade Tourism approved, TopMember of TheCode and became the world’s first Travelife certified incoming tour operator in 2014. Abang Africa Travel organises tours and travel for (mostly) overseas visitors in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. Last year saw the launch of our new brand GapAfrica which offers volunteering along fair trade lines. This year we started full greenhouse gas compensation of our clients’ tour – all accommodation, car rental, excursions etc.