Charan Saunders grew up in Cape Town and studied a BSC in genetics and microbiology. She then went on to become a chartered accountant. She has worked in London as a finance manager in the forensic science field. Upon return to Cape Town she served as the CFO of a major vaccine manufacturer for 6 years. She has a strong interest in science, the environment and the long-term sustainability of natural resources.

Christopher Clark is a freelance writer and wanderer based in Cape Town. He has worked in 13 different African countries and writes about people, places, conservation and current affairs for local and international publications including CNN, Huffington Post, The Times, Daily Maverick and Business Day. Christopher has twice been featured among South Africa’s best writers by The Big Issue magazine.

Cindy has worked as a journalist and editor for the last decade, in both South Africa and South East Asia, during which time she has contributed to a wide spectrum of both online and print publications. After six years living in Thailand and travelling the East, Cindy returned to the Mother City in September 2010 and joined The Publishing Partnership as a features writer and, subsequently, editor. She currently works as a freelance editor and journalist on a number of different titles.

CJ Carrington is a South African born Nature Lover. She has post-graduate qualifications in Agriculture and her work includes teaching sustainable organic farming to rural communities. She is actively involved in Mining Rehabilitation and Environmental Management of sensitive areas. Carrington works and travels all over Africa and speaks just enough Swahili to get herself in trouble. Wanderlust is her drug of choice, and her heart beats to an African drum.

With 30 years’ experience in the tourism industry – she has worked as guide, manager and company owner – Clarissa’s knowledge is varied and wide. Her interest lies at the nexus of human development and environmental conservation.  Clarissa also has an interest in African culture.  She is a co-founder of the Nhabe Museum in Maun, Botswana as well as the author of a book on the indigenous beliefs around the night sky titled ‘Flowers in the Sky – a celebration of southern African starlore‘. She is the author of a number of tourism and African culture related articles and is a member of the International League of Conservation Writers.

Colin Bell is a tourism professional with 35 years of experience and co-author of “Africa’s Finest” a new book out on the good, the bad and the ugly of the tourism industry.  His operations have successfully re-introduced rhino into the wilds of Botswana and pioneered sustainable partnerships with rural communities in Namibia that ensure that rhino thrive outside of protected areas.

Don Pinnock is an associate of Southern Write, a group of top travel and natural history writers and photographers in Africa. He’ s a former editor of Getaway magazine in Cape Town, South Africa He has been an electronic engineer, lecturer in journalism and criminology, consultant to the Mandela government, a professional yachtsman, explorer, travel writer, photographer and a cable-car operator on the Rock of Gibraltar. His present passion is the impact of humans on planetary processes.

Gerrit Rautenbach is the founding editor of the travel magazine Mooiloop and has travelled far and wide to look for great stories and pictures. He has done more than 30 trips into Africa, the longest of which was 28 000 kilometres over 6 months, visiting 13 countries. 

Glynis O’Hara lives in Cape Town and is a former editorial director for Media24 Africa, overseeing five publications in Kenya, Nigeria and Angola, as well as a former editor of Femina and The Big Issue. Now freelancing as  a writer and consulting editor, she won a Mondi runner-up award for a feature in 2003 and won seven awards for Femina magazine in just two years, from 2007 to 2009. After many years of helping people fix up their copy, bring passion to picture editing, effectively combine meaning and design and solve crises, she’s returned to the craft of writing. Anything to do with nature, the wild, conservation and the planet floats her boat.

Ian has spent the last 24 years working as a specialist guide, safari operator, photo-journalist and consultant across Africa, including a stint of 13 years based in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. His writing covers topics on conservation, wildlife management, ecotourism, and the environment in general, and he has been a regular contributor, columnist and blogger for Africa Geographic over the past two decades. Ian is a member of the International League of Conservation Writers and is the author and photographer of seven natural history and travel books on Africa. Prior to his life in the wilderness, he spent eight years practicing as a stockbroker in Cape Town and Johannesburg. He currently lives along the Garden Route where he runs Invent Africa, an inbound safari company that takes guests to 15 countries across Africa. 

Janine Avery is passionate about many things. Among those dabbling in digital marketing, spreading messages on social media, and taking audiences on a journey through her travel stories rank high on her list of priorities, but it’s conservation issues that really tug at her heart strings. Raised by a menagerie of artists, creatives, scientists, researchers, biologists and botanists, it’s fair to say that her blood runs green – and it’s something she is proud of.

Katie de Klee moved to South Africa from the UK after graduating from Edinburgh University. Since arriving here she has been working as a freelance journalist and writer, and is currently the Deputy Editor of online youth culture magazine Mahala.

Lisa Johnston is a freelance writer and photographer who predominantly writes lifestyle and travel pieces for magazines and newspapers. She also does frequent work for NGOs, which helps to keep her feet on the ground and sustains her interest in grassroots issues. She has a keen interest in urban farming and self-sufficiency.  

Louise has a PhD in environmental management and a passion for Africa and wildlife conservation. Starting in academia, she later founded a sustainable tour operator business, thereafter continuing as a freelance sustainable tourism consultant, during which she spearheaded the #HandsOffOurWildlifeCampaign in response to the many unethical and often cruel captive wildlife encounters on offer in South Africa . She was instrumental in the establishment of the Lion Coalition “to stop the captive breeding and keeping of lions and other big cats for commercial purposes in South Africa” and sits on its Steering Committee. In her current role as Blood Lions’ Campaign Manager, she is involved in the digital campaign, research and lobbying with government and other stakeholders .

Louzel Lombard Steyn is a freelance travel, food and conservation journalist currently based in Cape Town. Originally from a farm in the Karoo Midlands of the Eastern Cape, she is passionate about South Africa and the issues involving local communities and their impact on the environment. After graduating in journalism at Stellenbosch University, Louzel worked as a content producer for News24 Traveller24, travelling the country and Southern Africa extensively.  

Freelance photojournalist and author Marion Whitehead’s addiction to wonderment keeps her on the road, her camera at the ready, looking to see who or what is around the next bend, especially when it involves mountains and wildlife. The former assistant editor of Getaway is a Rhodes University journalism graduate. The idea for her first travel guide, Passes & Poorts: Getaway’s Top 30 Scenic Mountain Routes in the Western Cape, was born out of her experience as a tour guide in the Garden Route and Little Karoo, which in turn led to her second book, Passes & Poorts South Africa.

Martina Polley is a freelance journalist living in Cape Town. Her work can be found in local publications where she writes about social issues, wildlife, conservation and the joys of travel. She spent two years living on a game reserve, a year surviving on baguettes through Europe and a month exploring India solo. Her favourite pastime is donning her Vellies for a trip to the bush.

After 10 years as a camera technician in the South African film industry, Melissa Reitz returned to her home territory in the Garden Route, from where she has been freelance writing since 2005 – focusing largely on environmental and travel topics. She lives on a farm with her husband, twin daughters and son.

Oscar is a Zimbabwean journalist with 17 years in print, broadcast and on-line media. He is a specialised conservation journalist working in wildlife crimes investigations across Southern Africa. Oscar is Bureau Chief for the African News Agency in Gaborone, Botswana, and is the Africa Correspondent for international media organisations from SA, USA and UK which offer specialised coverage of mining, engineering, defence and aerospace/aviation news.

Ross grew up across southern Africa and developed a dual interest in mining and wildlife governance. He studied a B.Com in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he also completed an M.Phil in Public Policy. At the end of 2018, he submitted his PhD in Economics, also at UCT. He started his wildlife research career at the South African Institute of International Affairs, where he worked as a senior researcher from 2013 to 2019. His initial work oversaw a project that examined every element of the ivory trade, from park to port to end consumer. He has published in one of the world’s top journals, Ecological Economics, and a wide array of other outlets. Ross is currently a freelance independent economist who works with The Conservation Action Trust. 

Sharon is an award-winning conservation writer and wildlife documentary maker. Sharon was born in the UK and has been involved in mainstream journalism and media for 30 years, starting out as writer/production editor in music magazines in the 1980s and progressing to daily newspapers in the 1990s. She is a freelance travel writer and has her own media consultancy.

Shaun Swingler is a freelance multimedia journalist based in Cape Town. Predominantly reporting on crime and social issues, Shaun has contributed features to publications such as the Guardian, Daily Maverick and Rolling Stone SA. He has also co-authored a non-fiction book about Johan Kotzé, the man dubbed the “Modimolle Monster”.

Swati Thiyagarajan is an award winning conservation journalist and author of Born Wild, Journeys into the wild hearts of India and Africa.  

Tony Carnie is a freelance environment writer from Durban. He grew up in Kenya and Zimbabwe before plonking his roots down on the KwaZulu-Natal coast. After nearly three decades at The Mercury and Independent Media, writing about toxic air, polluted rivers or wilderness conservation, he packed up a trailer-load of archived paper and set up a new office at home. Mentors include Peter Montague, founder of Rachel’s Environment and Health News.

Tracey Hawthorne has 30 years experience working across a wide range of editorial disciplines, including books, magazines and newspapers, business publications, marketing and publicity writing, and online work, covering a large array of subjects for an extensive audience. Her writing career, both fiction and non-fiction, includes more than 300 magazine and newspaper articles, over 10 books, several art catalogues, hundreds of smaller pieces such as press releases and book reviews, and a plethora of business articles, many of them online.