In July 2020, our founder of Afro Lioness Adventures Agatha Mndeme, was honoured to be awarded the title of ‘Best Upcoming Female Safari Guide of the Year’!
(See Agatha in action: YouTube)
This is a very prestigious award given by the Tanzania Tour Guide Foundation, whose patron is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism. One hundred and fifty safari and mountain guides were interviewed as leaders in their field, of which just twelve were shortlisted to participate in a Safari Field Challenge to find the best in their field. This 12 day assessment (from 5th to 17th July) took place in Tanzania’s most icon safari destinations, The Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. The guides were tested on their driving skills in the harshest terrain, knowledge of the wild animals and birdlife which live in the parks, the trees and the flowers which grow in the area, and their communication
skills imparting their knowledge and representing Tanzania’s Tourism sector – Tour guides are seen as important ambassadors of Tanzania as they spend most of their time with tourists from all over the world.
[Photo: Agatha collects the award for ‘Best up and coming Safari Guide of the Year 2020’. Congratulations to Aziza Mbwana and Mohamed Abdala for taking the titles of Best Female and Male Tanzania Safari Guides in 2020.]
There are over 3,000 guides currently in Tanzania, of which only a handful are women, making Agatha’s achievement even more impressive! Tanzania is traditionally a patriarchal society where women are perceived as being most valuable in the home.
Agatha hopes that this recognition will inspire other girls and women to become safari and mountain guides, and is a champion of the work that Mary Kalikawe and the Association of Women in Tourism Tanzania (AWOTTA) does in driving opportunities for women in the tourism sector.
