Meet the Team

Sam Wallace - Professional Safari Guide and wildlife photographer

For me,It all started when I was 5 years old…

Despite being born and raised in the UK, Africa and the wildlife on the continent always called to Sam. He painted his bedroom as a Serengeti sunset scene at 5 years old. Fast forward a few years and he jumped at the chance to study for his degree in Zoology & Ichthyology in South Africa. While studying at university, he also completed his safari guiding qualification finishing in the top 2% throughout South Africa.

After obtaining his degree, Sam started out guiding in Zululand, South Africa. This is an incredibly ecologically diverse area of the country, rich in bird and mammal species. What a great area to start honing his guiding skills.

The opportunity to head to Tanzania and the famous Serengeti soon arose and he couldn’t pass up the chance to head to the Africa he had dreamed of since he was 5 years old. This proved to be a fantastic opportunity being based in a private concession right on the edge of the Serengeti National Park, meaning a perfect combination of huge wildlife numbers with none of the crowds. Sam led safaris all across northern Tanzania including the Ngorongoro Crater and the main Serengeti park as well as Lake Manyara and Tarangire. As part of his role as Head Guide, Sam spent a lot of time training Tanzanian guides as well as honing his own tracking and guiding skills. He is a qualified walking guide, able to take guests on walking safaris, to experience Big Five country on foot. Some of the very best guest feedback received is from these experiences, where guests agree, the feeling of walking in the bush makes for some seriously special memories and unforgettable encounters.

After his incredible time in northern Tanzania, Sam moved down to the jewel in the crown of southern Africa, Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Widely renowned as one of the best places on the planet for wildlife viewing, this greatly added to Sam’s, already substantial, knowledge about wildlife and the wild areas of Africa. Living in the Okavango afforded Sam the opportunity to undertake boating safaris and zipping through the papyrus fringed channels of the delta while dodging hippos and spotting lions on the floodplains will always remain an unforgettable experience.

Sam has also spent a lot of time in the Jungles of Africa in both Rwanda and Uganda trekking areas such as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and Volcanoes National Park on the trail of the mountain gorillas that live there. He maintains that coming eye to eye with a huge silverback gorilla in the jungles of central Africa is one of the most awe-inspiring wildlife experiences on the planet! Completing the ‘set’ of East Africa, he has also extensively explored Kenya from the Maasai Mara right up into the lesser known Matthews Range in northern Kenya, and everywhere in between.

The ability to spot and find animals has a direct impact on the quality of a safari and the wildlife experience you can have. Sam’s eyesight has recently been confirmed as 20/10 which is twice as good as 20/20 vision. Combining this sharp eyesight with years of experience in tracking animals and its clear having Sam on hand on a safari is a huge benefit to increase your chances of finding a concealed leopard in a tree or a wild dog off in the distance.

Since his time living in Tanzania & Botswana, Sam has planned and designed 100’s of unforgettable safaris all over Africa specifically suited to each individual’s needs and wants. Sam has taken some incredible photos throughout his career so far and has been shortlisted for Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Africa Geographic Photographer of the Year. He was recently named the Bradt Guides Photographer of the Year and had two of his works exhibitioned at the COP26 climate change meeting of the worlds most important delegates. To see more of his photos and adventures take a look on instagram at his page @Sam_w_guide

Jemima Unterhalter - Business Development

The wildlife, people, sights, sounds and silences of Africa are the happy tapestry of my earliest memories and current life. Growing up here, Africa has been a continent I have always loved deeply, and I feel passionate about preserving its wild spaces and unique cultural heritage.

Camping and bush adventures have always been a part of life. I first drove independently age 15 in an adrenaline-fuelled moment when, in the dense bush of Botswana, a bull elephant surprised us from the undergrowth whilst our group were watching a neighbouring herd from the roof of our Land Rover. With shouts of encouragement from above, I stuttered the vehicle into action and we lived to tell the tale!

After a career in Commercial Investment, I relocated with my husband and 2 young children to NYC. There I had the opportunity to work with Kenyan based “Save the Elephants” on their New York fundraising and key donor relations, collaborating also with WWF. This gave me a working link to African Conservation and, after a break to focus on our young family, I am now delighted to be working with Jungle and Savannah in offering guests outstanding travel experiences across this magnificent continent.

Having lived for some time in the USA and UK, I have returned to live in my native KwaZulu Natal on the East Coast of South Africa. As a daughter of a wildlife photographer, I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by Africa’s natural wonders. Opportunities for immersion in nature were everywhere – from the extensive snake, chameleon and gecko collections that we children regularly sought out and curated (alongside unusual “pets” that graced the family home); to the beautiful landscapes in which we live and visited. To now be sharing these same experiences with my own family is especially heart-warming. I feel incredibly fortunate to have spectacular beach, *berg and bush on my doorstep and I make the most of these natural wonders daily. I am excited to connect you with our team to create a dream trip that will give you a unique perspective on the wild spaces (and wonderful winelands!) in Africa.

*berg = Afrikaans for mountain