Key members of the team
The people in our team are what makes A Tent with a View tick. We are proud to say that all of our young managers are Tanzanian who joined us on our graduate recruitment program experiencing every aspect of the business before being given a management role with all of the responsibility that brings. The key to the longevity of the team we have today is loyalty and commitment. If we see that commitment, we give it back. It is no coincidence that nearly all comments that we receive from our guests refer to our fantastic team who constantly go the extra mile.
There are some 90 people these days in the team. Here we have selected key members from the office and across all of our camps.
David is
our MD and, with Masoud, is one of the founders of A Tent With A View. David
has spent over half his life in Tanzania and relishes the chance he can head
off on foot or car alone making new safari routes away from the crowds.
With over 30 years working on conservation and
community issues, David has increasingly been finding his role as that of an
advocate for the protection of wild areas, climate change and the battle for a
fair and equitable world. David’s latest project is as part of a task
force working to create UN sustainable development goal centres within the
tourism industry.
Masa is co-founder of A Tent With A View with David and is our FD as well as chief architect responsible for the building of all of our safari camps. There is little that Masa can’t achieve, even the maddest of ideas that some out of David’s mouth! Masa spends his year in Tanzania with occasional visits to the UK to support marketing campaigns. Father to 5 daughters and 2 sons and grandad to 7 grandchildren, Masa is kept busy when he manages to get home too! You are also likely to meet Masa out on safari when he guides.
Tara is responsible for marketing the Tent with A View portfolio. Tara spent ten years living in Tanzania, first as a lawyer, before joining the Tent With A View team. These days, as well as the marketing, Tara works closely with the sales team and is also responsible for the health & safety procedures within the safari camps, hotels and tours, contractual negotiations and the company legal work. Tara knows Tanzania inside out and there are few places there that she hasn’t visited.
We’ve know Peter since the mid 2000’s after he, together with David founded a brown bear project in the beautiful High Tatras mountains of Slovakia which followed a European break taken by David and Tara whilst living in Tanzania. Today, the “Walking with Bears” small group tours continue to be led by Peter or David. Peter’s strong passion for wildlife took him to visit Tanzania and then on to joining our team. Peter brings with him a wealth of knowledge, particularly focused in the area of digital marketing. Peter is married to Joska and has one daughter, Emma. Peter is based close to Slovakia’s stunning Slovensky Raj national park.
Pray has quickly worked his way up the ladder on our graduate recruitment programme and has had experience in just about every area, except being a chef! Pray started in the office on logistics and then sales. From here he moved on to camp management at Little Okavango Camp as well as overseeing the logistics for the Bush Rover Suites. Pray has also increasingly been gaining experience in the area of tour leading some of our groups. We have high hopes for Pray!
As the newest addition to our fab sales team, Fiona has perhaps visited more countries than all of us put together. Fiona first visited Tanzania over 30 years ago and has been back many times since; she has a great knowledge of the Tent with a View product, particularly our safari camps in southern Tanzania. We persuaded Fiona to join us part-time (her other life is being a teacher, a job she’s enjoyed for the last 22 years!). Moving into travel is something that Fiona has been thinking about for some time so when MD David (who also happens to be her big brother!) found out, the transition was obvious. Fiona looks after our larger agents and works with the Tanzania sales team from her UK base where she lives with husband Iain and daughters Keeley and Tegan, son Finlay and not forgetting Arley the dog.
Rehema, affectionately known as Rey, is the 3rd eldest daughter of Masa and a key member of our team. Rey did her degree in accounting and is now using these considerable skills for the benefit of our company and is in training to eventually take over the FD role from her dad. You will also meet Rey in sales as she works closely with Fabiola putting together super tour presentations. Rey got married just last year and is mum to a gorgeous little girl. It’s remarkable to think that Rey was just a baby herself when A Tent With A View began.
Johnny
Giles or “JG” is one of our longest serving members of the team. Johnny
“Walker” Giles started as a barman in the original camp in Saadani National
Park back in 1996. From here Johnny spent time behind the bar in Selous at
Sable Mountain Lodge and moved on to assistant camp manager at Sable before
heading back to Saadani where he was the general manager of Simply Saadani Camp
and Babs’ Camp for many years. Johnny is
Dad to 3 lovely daughters who live further north from Saadani along the coast
in Tanga.
Today,
Johnny manages Little Okavango Camp with Tino who he spent years with in Simply
Saadani Camp.
The brother of Masa, Mrisho has been with the company for many years. Mrisho is responsible for the management of The Zanzibari hotel as well as being on charge of all personnel and government issues. Mrisho also has a role in the accounting for the company. Mrisho is a busy man being dad to three daughers and one son as well as being in the heart of the day to day operation of the company.
Joseph
began his career with us as a guard at our Zanzibar hotel. From here he moved
to Simply Saadani Camp where he started to learn more about safaris and
hospitality. Joseph was one of the stars
during a highly intensive emergency first aid course run specifically for
Rangers. After spending a few years as
front of house at Simply Saadani Camp backing up Johnny & Tino in the
management of the camp, Joseph
moved north to Serengeti and now manages our Bush Rover Migration Camp.
Shaban was assistant to Mbasha for several years at Sable Mountain Lodge before taking on the role of GM. Today he manages Sable with Freddie. Between them they bring a wealth of experience and compliment each other well.
Freddie is in charge of food and beverage at Sable Mountain Lodge, from making sure you get ice in your G&T (it sounds simple but can present a challenge with solar powered camps!) to getting bacon with your eggs on the table in the morning. Together with Shaban, they are the management team at Sable Mountain. Freddie is also a mean footie player as well as displaying some extraordinary netball skills (minus usual rules…).
Tino started as a waiter at Simply Saadani Camp in 2011 and quickly moved up to food and beverage manager. Tino is one of our most popular members of the team who clearly loves his job, particularly creating cocktails for happy hour. The “Tinotastic” cocktail tastes divine but creeps up on you - it can knock a full-grown man down after the 3rd! Tino loves being with people from all over the world and is fantastic with our younger guests enjoying playing cards, football and flying kites on the beach. After many years, Tino left Saadani and is now based at our Little Okavango Camp as one of our 3 managers there.
Rama is a fantastic member of the team, always willing to help in any way he can. Rama is a superb waiter and trained to be a chef with Mussa and Ema. You’ll find him now either waiting at Simply Saadani or preparing your food at Babs’ Camp. A keen birder, Rama has a pretty good idea of most of the birds you’ll see in Saadani.
Edo was a guard as part of our Maasai team firstly at our Zanzibar hotel and then at our Simply Saadani Camp. In Saadani, Edo trained under Tino as a waiter before heading north to our Little Okavango Camp where he took his new waitering skills. These days Edo is the assistant manager at the Bush Rover Migration Camp.
Tiso has been with us in Saadani since the early noughties and now heads up our guide team at Simply Saadani Camp and Babs’ Camp. Tiso is short for “Matatiso”, Swahili for “trouble”. Clearly, he has stayed out of it enough to mean he is still with us and continues to grow in reputation as a guide. It’s remarkable how Tiso never appears to age! Tiso spent years in Saadani before moving south and inland to Nyerere National Park where he takes safaris from our Sable Mountain Lodge. Tiso specialises particularly in birds.
Charles is a superb chef as well as recently revealing that he is an incredible acrobat as well! These days Charles is the head chef at our Lake Victoria camp, Little Okavango which brings him closer to his family. Charles started with us in Zanzibar and from there moved to the Bush Rover camp until last year. Charles has always impressed our guests with what he produces from his bush kitchens.
We met Mbasha when we were building Sable Mountains Lodge in 1999. Mbasha started as a waiter and barman in the new Sable when it opened for the Millennium. From here he rose through the ranks quickly and took over as GM of Sable in 2010. You’ll meet him these days at Little Okavango Camp on Lake Victoria or at the Bush Rover Migration Camp in Serengeti. Mbasha is one of our main tour leaders, specialising in groups.
Ema started as the main pastry chef at our Zanzibari hotel. From here he went into the bush in Saadani National park at Simply Saadani Camp to head up that kitchen. With wife Basilisa and two children Veronica and Venuns, they moved to Mkwaja village next to our Simply Saadani Camp. Basilisa worked for several years as a waitress before the birth of their second child. Whilst Ema’s main talent lies in his amazing desserts, his main and fish courses are also something to behold!
Helen graduated from Tumaini University in Iringa where she was on the same course as Praygod, being cultural anthropology and tourism. Born in Kilimanjaro, after several years on various medical research projects, Helen headed south and joined the sales and logistics team based at Simply Saadani Camp. Helen is on our graduate management scheme and is now looking after sales and reservations at The Zanzibari hotel. Helen enjoys reading and is a film addict when not wowing us on the netball court!
A Tent With A View would not be the same without Mzee Hoza. Mzee is a trained TANAPA (Tanzania National Parks Authority) ranger and previous to that his considerable bush skills were all self-taught as he grew up in his village. Content to be alone, Mzee spends much of his time at Babs’ Camp even when there are no guests. Even when we try and tempt him to a night of social revelry at Simply Saadani Camp, he refuses, preferring to keep watch from the Babs’ Camp crow’s nest. You will meet Mzee Hoza if you visit Babs’ Camp as he will accompany you on foot safari with your guide. Mzee continues to learn English which he practices on guests whenever he gets the chance.
