Kirsty Gordon Didn’t Want This Blog

But I so did! As Anywhere in Africa Safaris’ Marketing Manager for the past seven years, I’ve grown particularly fond of Kirsty Gordon. And luckily for me, her incredible African safari-planning skills don’t extend to the backend of this website, where you find me now, telling the world just how wonderful it is to not only work with Kirsty Gordon, but to call her a dear friend.

Had I snuck this blog in last month, it might have taken a little of the shine away from an equally important blog on Debra Stevens. And luckily for us, it’s Heritage Month in South Africa, so in the spirit of celebrating the people who make this country what it is, here’s a blog about one of my favorite South Africans, and the woman who has shaped my career in more ways than she probably realizes.

Kirsty has changed the direction of my career from hardcore advertising girl, obsessed with European travel and big-brand campaigns, to someone far less interested in KPIs and wooing clients with impressive pitch decks. I’m now unhealthily obsessed with planning a trek with silverback gorillas or spending a night under the stars in the Okavango Delta.

I blame her entirely.

Where It All Began

When we first met, I remember presenting some of my ideas to her for the first time. Rather than picking them apart or telling me why they wouldn’t work - which was something I had become very used to in the ego-filled corporate world - she believed in them.

She gave me a chance.

She trusted me with her brand and, more importantly, she trusted me to bring my own ideas to the table.

That might sound like a small thing, but it isn’t.

There are plenty of people in this industry who will tell you no before you’ve even had the chance to show them what you can do. Kirsty has always been the opposite of that. She has an incredible ability to see potential in people.

And if an idea flops? Well, we try again.

Kirsty took me under her wing, showed me the ropes and opened doors I didn’t even know were there. She introduced me to a side of travel I had barely scratched the surface of, and gave me opportunities that have shaped the work I do today.

P.S. Stay tuned for my upcoming series on the site inspections and launches we’ve been lucky enough to attend this September as proof of the above! 

Working with Kirsty Changed the Way I See Travel

I loved travel before I met Kirsty. But my idea of travel was very much centred around the destinations everyone knows and expects you to want to go.

Then Kirsty started sharing some of her personal photographs from exploring Africa.

Between lifting my jaw off the ground and remembering to breathe, I distinctly remember exclaiming:

“Stuff the Arc de Triomphe. I want to see Noah’s Ark. In Africa.”

She made me curious about Africa in a way I hadn’t been before.

That has had a huge impact on me professionally.

Because selling travel to Africa isn’t really about selling a destination. It’s about understanding what makes a place special, knowing which experiences are genuinely worth the journey, knowing who to trust on the ground, and understanding that the difference between a good trip and an extraordinary one can sometimes be a single person, guide, lodge or seemingly insignificant detail.

Kirsty understands those details.

No Egos Here

Kirsty has also taught me something I think is even more valuable:

You don’t need to have an ego to be successful.

She has decades of experience in travel. She has seen the industry change, watched trends come and go, built relationships across the continent and created a career that most people could only dream of.

Yet she has never made me feel like the person with less experience in the room.

She reminds me that experience is something to share, not something to guard. That there is enough room at the table for everyone.

It’s a lesson I’ve carried with me far beyond marketing and into motherhood as well.

Why Human Expertise Still Matters

The safari-planning industry is changing.

Artificial intelligence is changing the way people research travel, compare destinations and plan their holidays. In a few seconds, you can ask a chatbot to build you a two-week African itinerary, recommend a safari lodge, tell you when to see elephants and even suggest where you should have dinner.

And some of that is pretty damn impressive! Dare I say it! 

But here’s the thing.

Africa is not an algorithm or as clear as a map showing you the distance between two places. It also cannot fit neatly into a spreadsheet. It’s bigger than that!

A bot can tell you that a particular lodge has excellent game viewing. It can’t tell you that a particular guide has a knack for finding wild dogs when everyone else has given up.

It can recommend a gorilla trek. It can’t understand what it means to have spent years building relationships with the people who make that experience possible, or know which operator will look after you when things don’t quite go according to plan.

So, if you’re still reading this - THANK YOU - but here’s my plea:

Trust the human. Trust Kirsty. 

Trust the people who have traveled Africa and who know its quirks and characters and who can recommend places that are genuinely special and not just “built for the Gram”. Trust the people who have picked up the phone, built the relationships and put in the years.

Because when you’re spending your hard-earned money on what might be a once-in-a-lifetime journey, you deserve more than an itinerary that is technically sound(ish).

You deserve someone who understands you, understands Africa, and knows how to bring the two together.

That’s what Kirsty does.

And after seven years of working alongside her, I can say with absolute certainty that she has not only changed the way I see Africa, but the way I see my own career.

You didn’t want this blog, Kirsty.

But you bloody well deserve it.