OUR STORY

OUR STORY

ABOUT SENEGALIA WILDERNESS SAFARIS

Fuelled by passion for what we do

Ours is a personal journey that brought us full circle to what we love doing in a place we've loved since childhood - South Africa's breathtakingly beautiful Kruger National Park. It's that unique perspective and no small amount of history with the Kruger bush that allows us to create safaris that others love as much as we do.


Our company is named after the knob thorn tree (Senegalia nigrescens). We knew we wanted to use a tree as a company name because we're big tree fans, understanding the important role they play in healthy ecosystems. We settled on the knob thorn because it provides so much to so many - shade; nesting sites for birds; leaves for elephants, kudu, giraffe, impala and duiker; flowers eaten by monkeys and seeds for brown-headed parrots. It's also resilient, which struck a chord with us.


Our logo puts the knob thorn front and centre and also features a Cape buffalo - our favourite animal to view on foot - as well as a compass to guide us as we explore the African wilderness.

KRUGER, OUR HOME

A love affair with the wilderness

We're based just outside the small safari town of Hoedspruit in the heart of South Africa's magnificent Greater Kruger region, one of the most renowned safari destinations in Southern Africa. The Greater Kruger National Park is a vast region of pristine African wilderness with some of the highest concentrations of wildlife on the sub-continent spread across the fabled Kruger National Park and its neighbouring private game reserves, which are unfenced, allowing for the free movement of game. 


Senegalia was founded by Brittany and Jason Joubert who met in 2015 while working at a luxury safari lodge in the Sabi Sand private game reserve on the edge of the Greater Kruger. Three years later Jason proposed to Brittany in the Kruger National Park. They were married in the Kruger two years later in August 2020 and had their "minimoon" there too. Now, they live on its border and are proud to share this incredible region professionally through highly personalised and tailored walking safaris.


KRUGER, OUR HOME

A love affair with the wilderness

We're based just outside the small safari town of Hoedspruit in the heart of South Africa's magnificent Greater Kruger region, one of the most renowned safari destinations in Southern Africa. The Greater Kruger National Park is a vast region of pristine African wilderness with some of the highest concentrations of wildlife on the sub-continent spread across the fabled Kruger National Park and its neighbouring private game reserves, which are unfenced, allowing for the free movement of game. 


Senegalia was founded by Brittany and Jason Joubert who met in 2015 while working at a luxury safari lodge in the Sabi Sand private game reserve on the edge of the Greater Kruger. Three years later Jason proposed to Brittany in the Kruger National Park. They were married in the Kruger two years later in August 2020 and had their "minimoon" there too. Now, they live on its border and are proud to share this incredible region professionally through highly personalised and tailored walking safaris.


KRUGER, OUR HOME

A love affair with the wilderness

We're based just outside the small safari town of Hoedspruit in the heart of South Africa's magnificent Greater Kruger region, one of the most renowned safari destinations in Southern Africa. The Greater Kruger National Park is a vast region of pristine African wilderness with some of the highest concentrations of wildlife on the sub-continent spread across the fabled Kruger National Park and its neighbouring private game reserves, which are unfenced, allowing for the free movement of game. 


Senegalia was founded by Brittany and Jason Joubert who met in 2015 while working at a luxury safari lodge in the Sabi Sand private game reserve on the edge of the Greater Kruger. Three years later Jason proposed to Brittany in the Kruger National Park. They were married in the Kruger two years later in August 2020 and had their "minimoon" there too. Now, they live on its border and are proud to share this incredible region professionally through highly personalised and tailored walking safaris.

BRITTANY'S STORY

A journey back to her roots

Born and raised in the Lowveld town of Hazyview, Brittany grew up in the tourism industry. Her mother worked in hotels and her father was a guide, taking people on safari into the Kruger National Park. She remembers tagging along on trips into the park, spending weekends exploring with her parents and their guests. 


When she left school, the last thing she wanted to do was go into tourism so she headed to the US to spend a gap year figuring out her future. Time away from Africa taught her how much she loved and missed its beauty and the raw, untamed nature of its wilderness. It also showed her that she had a future in tourism!


On her return to South Africa, she moved straight into hospitality, securing a job in reservations at a safari lodge in the north of the Sabi Sand private game reserve. She was back in the bush and happy that she had made the right decision. She had always been interested in guiding and in 2015 she got her Field Guides Association of Southern Africa course books with the intention of studying, but life (and love) got in the way. She met Jason and moved with him to a lodge in the west of the Sabi Sand where she took over guest services, events, hosting and organising weddings. In 2019 she eventually took the plunge and became a student guide, completing her exams and becoming qualified. 


BRITTANY'S STORY

A journey back to her roots

Born and raised in the Lowveld town of Hazyview, Brittany grew up in the tourism industry. Her mother worked in hotels and her father was a guide, taking people on safari into the Kruger National Park. She remembers tagging along on trips into the park, spending weekends exploring with her parents and their guests. 


When she left school, the last thing she wanted to do was go into tourism so she headed to the US to spend a gap year figuring out her future. Time away from Africa taught her how much she loved and missed its beauty and the raw, untamed nature of its wilderness. It also showed her that she had a future in tourism!


On her return to South Africa, she moved straight into hospitality, securing a job in reservations at a safari lodge in the north of the Sabi Sand private game reserve. She was back in the bush and happy that she had made the right decision. She had always been interested in guiding and in 2015 she got her Field Guides Association of Southern Africa course books with the intention of studying, but life (and love) got in the way. She met Jason and moved with him to a lodge in the west of the Sabi Sand where she took over guest services, events, hosting and organising weddings. In 2019 she eventually took the plunge and became a student guide, completing her exams and becoming qualified. 


BRITTANY'S STORY

A journey back to her roots

Born and raised in the Lowveld town of Hazyview, Brittany grew up in the tourism industry. Her mother worked in hotels and her father was a guide, taking people on safari into the Kruger National Park. She remembers tagging along on trips into the park, spending weekends exploring with her parents and their guests. 


When she left school, the last thing she wanted to do was go into tourism so she headed to the US to spend a gap year figuring out her future. Time away from Africa taught her how much she loved and missed its beauty and the raw, untamed nature of its wilderness. It also showed her that she had a future in tourism!


On her return to South Africa, she moved straight into hospitality, securing a job in reservations at a safari lodge in the north of the Sabi Sand private game reserve. She was back in the bush and happy that she had made the right decision. She had always been interested in guiding and in 2015 she got her Field Guides Association of Southern Africa course books with the intention of studying, but life (and love) got in the way. She met Jason and moved with him to a lodge in the west of the Sabi Sand where she took over guest services, events, hosting and organising weddings. In 2019 she eventually took the plunge and became a student guide, completing her exams and becoming qualified. 

JASON'S STORY

Living his dream

Unlike his wife, Jason knew he wanted to be in the bush right from the start! Born and raised in the town of Stanger, now known as KwaDukuza, north of Durban, as soon as he left school he headed straight for the Kruger, spending a year studying and qualifying as a trails guide under legendary safari guide Lee Gutteridge. 

He moved straight into safari lodges, doing the practical part of his guides' training locally and getting the experience he needed working in the Eastern Cape and Free State, which is where he fell in love with walking. He then spent time in the Welgevonden private game reserve in South Africa's Waterberg before relocating to the Sabi Sand, where he spent eight years crafting his profession and observing wildlife behaviour, an invaluable tool for when on foot in the African bush.

JASON'S STORY

Living his dream

Unlike his wife, Jason knew he wanted to be in the bush right from the start! Born and raised in the town of Stanger, now known as KwaDukuza, north of Durban, as soon as he left school he headed straight for the Kruger, spending a year studying and qualifying as a trails guide under legendary safari guide Lee Gutteridge. 

He moved straight into safari lodges, doing the practical part of his guides' training locally and getting the experience he needed working in the Eastern Cape and Free State, which is where he fell in love with walking. He then spent time in the Welgevonden private game reserve in South Africa's Waterberg before relocating to the Sabi Sand, where he spent eight years crafting his profession and observing wildlife behaviour, an invaluable tool for when on foot in the African bush.

JASON'S STORY

Living his dream

Unlike his wife, Jason knew he wanted to be in the bush right from the start! Born and raised in the town of Stanger, now known as KwaDukuza, north of Durban, as soon as he left school he headed straight for the Kruger, spending a year studying and qualifying as a trails guide under legendary safari guide Lee Gutteridge. 

He moved straight into safari lodges, doing the practical part of his guides' training locally and getting the experience he needed working in the Eastern Cape and Free State, which is where he fell in love with walking. He then spent time in the Welgevonden private game reserve in South Africa's Waterberg before relocating to the Sabi Sand, where he spent eight years crafting his profession and observing wildlife behaviour, an invaluable tool for when on foot in the African bush.

THE PATH TO SENEGALIA

Fuelled by passion for what we do

At the end of 2019 Brittany and Jason left the Sabi Sand to begin the next chapter of their story and their love affair with wild Africa, moving to the Balule private nature reserve to take over the reins of a small trails camp offering walking safaris. Just as the trails season was about to open in March 2020 COVID19 took the world by storm. Everything changed in an instant. 


They found themselves without a job, with no tourism whatsoever and no idea of how long it was going to take to get back to some semblance of normality. They spent the next two years freelancing, exploring and connecting in the Greater Kruger Region, finally taking the plunge and launching Senegalia Wilderness Safaris in early 2023.