New Tourism Team at Majete

The first member of the Majete tourism team to be recruited in February 2012 was Vasco Munthali. Vasco has a wealth of experience in guiding with local and international tourists in Malawi and Zambia. He spent six years working in the North of Malawi at Vwaza Marsh Wildlife Reserve and Nyika Plateau National park for Nyika Safari Company and completed a safari and camp manager training. He has also worked on mobile safaris between Rumphi in the north of Malawi and south Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Vasco has extensive knowledge of birds and wildlife in this region.

Shelley Preece spent twenty years working in post conflict countries in South-East Asia and Africa trying to protect persons affected by war, working for the UN and international organisations. Her last posting was in the Democratic Republic of Congo where she lived on a boat and was responsible for searching for land-mines and bombs. Needing a quieter life, she re-trained as a safari lodge manager due to her passion for wildlife and conservation and worked in various lodges and national parks in Malawi before joining African Parks in March 2012 as the Tourism Marketing Manager. Shelley has excellent communications and organisational skills and has already embarked on a comprehensive marketing campaign for Majete with both the local and international markets.

Anissa Osman-Hamdani spent six years in Zimbabwe where she trained in hotel management at Meikles Hotel in Harare and returned to Malawi in 2008. Since then she has worked at the Malawi Sun Hotel as a house-keeping and restaurant manager and at the Ilovo Senior Sports Club where she was the club’s manager for two and a half years. She has a wealth of experience in cooking and restaurant management and joined Majete in March 2012. Anissa is managing Thawale Lodge and the Visitor Day Centre and has revamped the menus, trained the staff and streamlined day to day operations to ensure a professional product is delivered.

The Community camp-site, Heritage and Day Visitor Centre Staff this month have all been fitted with new uniforms and received in house training to improve their performance. During the Easter weekend, an Easter Braai Special was offered at the Day Visitor Centre which was so successful that a Braai is now being offered on the last weekend of each month.

The Thawale Lodge staff have also been issued with new uniforms and received in house training on the new menus and operational aspects of the Lodge. A new chef – Boniface Phiri (second from left) is the latest member to join the Thawale team.