- +27 83 670 1436
- info@sustainsafaris.com
- www.sustainsafaris.com
Michael is a dedicated naturalist, conservationist and explorer with a passion for birding, rare mammals, walking trails, and photography. With decades of industry experience, he is a registered professional in natural science, nature tour guiding, and ecotourism consulting. He has also travelled extensively through Southern and East Africa, Mauritius and North America.
His career has mainly been entrepreneurial, including nature guiding, environmental consulting, ecotourism consulting, safari lodge development, and work in operational and marketing fields. This experience, coupled with his tertiary education, has honed his expertise in these areas. In addition to owning and managing Sustain Wildlife and Birding Safaris, Michael also owns and manages the Sustain Ecotourism and Environmental consulting business.
Michael enjoys sharing nature-based and adventure experiences with people from all over the world, and despite his extensive knowledge and experience, he continually seeks opportunities to immerse himself in nature, continue to learn from it, learn from those who conserve it, and educate others about its value.
He has led tours in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mozambique, and Lesotho. He has also worked in the USA. During his Southern and East African adventures, he explored 124 national parks, game reserves and nature reserves.
By 2024, Michael had a Southern African bird lifelist of 734 species, a Southern African mammal lifelist of 136 species, a South African butterfly lifelist of 105 species, and a South African frog lifelist of 36 species. Animal behaviour, butterflies, herpetology and trees are also areas of interest.
He guides with professionalism, skill, and care, backed by his accreditations, experience in nature and outdoor adventure and extensive travel experience.
Michael and his wife, Natalie, work together in both their businesses, and have two children: a son and a daughter.
Click here to see Michael’s CV.
Michael has a dream of working with others to help restore over 1 million hectares of land to conservation, help rewild this land, and help establish at least 10 sustainable commercial safari lodges and nature tour operators.
His purpose is to:
In simple terms:
Michael intends realising his dream through his two companies, Sustain Ecotourism and Environmental and Sustain Safaris.
Natalie is the administrative and financial backbone of Sustain Wildlife and Birding Safaris and Sustain Ecotourism and Environmental, keeping everything running smoothly. With an eye for detail and highly efficient, she ensures all the necessary checks and balances are in place for optimal business operations.
Natalie holds diplomas in bookkeeping and nature conservation and certificates in financial accounting and payroll. She also has work experience in South Africa and Mozambique.
When not crunching numbers or streamlining processes, Natalie enjoys caring for her family, exploring the great outdoors and losing herself in a good book.