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Fell in love on a Sunday.

The Miss.

Hi, I’m Maika, a German native, who fell in love with the equally vivid and tranquilizing African wilderness in a warm Sunday night. It was December 31st in 2000 and my very first night in the bush. The magical calls around us mixed with gentle rustling of Mopane shrubs, mysterious light and a bottle of champagne, that didn’t survive the potholes, will always be part of the story of how I got to be who and where I am now.

The following 20 years I have been rattling across endless gravel roads with heavy four-wheel drive vehicles, digging my way through deep desert sand and learning to pass unpredictable rivers. I genuinely enjoy the perpetual interplay of nature’s challenges and the deep relaxation this stunning environment provides. It’s the epitome of freedom – a physical, mental and spiritual state, which is deeply satisfying and contentful. The moment I understood that my heart is happiest here, I felt at ease and peaceful – as with the great love of life, when everything just falls into place.

Nevertheless you can’t plow a field by simply turning it over in your mind’. You must take action.

Taking action, that was about time. I tell you.

I exchanged my career in corporate intercultural training and business coaching for a classroom in the bush and embarked on a safari guide training course to Botswana. I studied the bird’s language, learned about invertebrates, amphibians, big and small mammals, all kinds of plants and the endless starry skies. Have you ever poled a dug out canoe? Me neither. I learned to pole a traditional mokoro and even to shoot … all kinds of things I’ve never done before. I’m still impressed by the knowledge I gained and even more by the one I’m lacking.

Becoming a professional safari guide, transferring my life to this enchanted, magical continent and to live in harmony with nature set me free.

The course of my life changed forever.

I spoke with many adventurous and courageous women and learned that they want to be challenged, want to be responsible for their actions and certainly want to be independent and free. I take pure joy in sharing my passion, fascination and love for this unique, untamed gem and eventually founded Miss Guided Safaris, where everything is all about just that – taking action*.

*and a sweet dose of relaxation