Rebecca Dicks - Director

Rebecca originally trained as an Occupational Therapist but also craved something else. After leaving a good steady job for the plains of Africa as a volunteer she finally realised what that "something else" was! After getting her FGASA level 1 in South Africa, working and volunteering around the globe mainly in Africa; Rebecca finally came back to the UK. Here she gained a BSc (Honours) in Wildlife Conservation and decided to set up Blue Lizard Adventures to enable others to have the same opportunities as she had.

Now she works with a fantastic, knowledgeable and enthusiastic team who use their first hand expertise to provide the very best service and opportunities.

Sarah Kirk Griffiths - International Liaison Officer and Customer Service Representative

Sarah left education early but this did not stop her working her way up and making a name for herself in the world of business and customer service. With an eye for detail and a passion for excellent service standards Sarah headed up a team training and guiding business in customer service. Her other interests include good food, good wine, learning about other cultures and trying new things.

Sarah was then blessed with two beautiful daughters and now works with her sister at Blue Lizard Adventures ensuring the best customer service is delivered and all the team set the highest standards. 

Anita Olof Jonsdottir - Programme Leader

Anita has been involved with horse riding and horse tours since she was a little. Her parents, Jon and Nicole started a successful horse tour business in 1980 which she has been helping with her entire life. Anita graduated 2010 with a bachelor degree in Nature and Environmental Science and finished her Diploma in Education, in June 2011. In between her studies Anita has travelled the world and volunteered in Africa.

This is where Rebecca and Anita met and struck up a lasting friendship. Anita is now taking over the family business.

Mike Varndell - Programme Leader

Mike was born in Zimbabwe and grew up in Malawi, spending every second weekend at the lake. So naturally he swims like a fish, has been lucky enough to grow up in a water sports environment and have been driving a boat since his 5th birthday!! He went to boarding school at Cordwalles and Michaelhouse Schools inland from Durban, South Africa. Mike studied through Unisa in Pietermaritzburg while coaching sport at St Charles College. The result was eventually a Bachelor of Business Administration. After finishing university, Mike lived the London dream for 6 years. Having had a fantastic time, he just couldn’t let go of Africa.

In February 2009 Mike returned home. After travelling the world a little more he decided starting up his own tour guiding company was the way forward.

Mike favourite saying is “you have to beat the best to be the best” ask the Springboks they’ll tell you!!

Peter Huggins - Programme Leader

Peter was born in Brighton, England in the summer of 1952. His family is from Africa and at 3 months old he was taken back there. Peter was then raised in Malawi, then in Nyasaland and educated in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe. During this period Peter was exposed to the great outdoor life, which fostered a love for the environment. He moved back to South Africa in 1983 with his two daughters to settle in Johannesburg. During a dinner party he listened to a friend enthused over a one year part time coarse called ETG;-Environmental Training Group.

Despite having a hectic job, working ten hours a day and a five and a half day week, the following year was taken up with frantic night studies, projects and field excursions on the weekends. Passing the course at the end of 1999, he then continued with assisting the new students as part of the training team, as well as guiding tourist in a nearby game reserve on the weekends.  After a while his plan grew and he started a small local small tour business taking guests around parts of South Africa.

Peter is a very active person always on the move. I am a keen ‘birder’ heading a number of trips to find the elusive species. Peters other interests include are insects, classic motor cars and bikes and hiking.

Fredrik Huth Jensen - Programme Leader

Fredrik Huth Jensen was born in Stavanger, Norway in 1984. Since he was a child he longed for the open plains of Africa. Spending hours watching wildlife and nature documentaries, the day finally came and he flew to South Africa. Here, Fredrick met Greg (Mitch) Mitchell, a person who has greatly influenced him. It was at Mitch’s place in South Africa, a small private Wildlife Sanctuary, were he started his training. Doing several jobs at the wildlife sanctuary, one of the main influential tasks was the anti-poaching patrols. Born was the idea of starting up his own business to help stop the waste of wildlife.
He completed his Field guiding and Game ranger course in South Africa, attaining FGASA’s level 1 certificate.

Fredrick then travelled the world for a while, living in Malaysia for a year studying the wildlife of the Mangrove forests, and also worked back in Norway as an auxiliary nurse. He has also been on the Norwegian version of the TV – show SURVIVOR.

Finally making the move to Tanzania in 2010, where he started his own tour company.  Proceeds from which go into funding an anti-poaching project with the vision to educate and incentivize the poachers to become wildlife wardens.

Alexine Keuroghlian
- Programme Leader

Alexine has a Ph.D. from the Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology program at the University of Nevada, a Master’s in Wildlife Management from West Virginia University, and a BA in Zoology from Drew University. Coordinator since 2005 of the WCS Pantanal Project, “Improving Ranching Efficiency to Protect Biodiversity in the Brazilian Pantanal”.

Alexine coordinates a team of scientists to implement a project that involves cattle ranchers, and the conservation of large tracts of land.

Maria do Carmo Andrade Santos A.K.A Duca
- Programme Leader

Master’s degree student at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS). Her project: The influence of cattle on native “cordilheira” forest dynamics under different cattle management strategies in the Aquidauana and Rio Negro regions of the Pantanal is a WCS Brazil/Pantanal project investigating the influence of cattle on native “cordilheira” forest dynamics of the Pantanal. The main goal will be to apply the results to cattle management, optimizing the use and sustainability of native pastures and forests in terms of efficiency and profitability for ranches and protection of native flora and fauna.

Preliminary results show that forest understory communities have been altered by cattle use, and the project will evaluate the levels of disturbance and recovery observed with the implemented management plan by the WCS Brazil/Pantanal project.

Before entering the Master’s Degree program and working with WCS, Maria do Carmo was a science teacher for the past 18 years.

Cila - General Manager

Cila joined the sanctuary in 2006.  She describes her job as being “perfect and a dream.

She is the "jack of all trades, spending time in the office but also working closely with the research team and volunteers. 

Hardus - Farm/Operations Manager

Joining the farm in February 2008. He describes as starting his life when he joined the project. Hardus works closely with the bushmen and the management team. He is also a valuable man around the farm and if anything needs fixing, Hardus can fix it.

Hardus believes strongly in where the project is going and what it is achieving.

Flo - Head Researcher

Flo studied Biology for 3 years in Berlin, Germany and undertook 2 years of ranger training and studies in African Wildlife Management in Tanzania, including numerous expeditions.

He then completed an MSc in Animal Behaviour (specialising in African elephants) in Manchester, England. Flo joined the project in 2008.

I started 1st June 2008 and took this once in a lifetime opportunity to work with a very special group of people namely the Bushmen. What a privilege!

Rhona - Lodge Manager

Rhona was born in Paarl, South Africa, Rhona lived and worked there for 24 years before moving  up to Rosh Pinah, in the South of Namibia, to open up a Guesthouse for the Anglo American Base Metals Mine - Skorpion Zinc.

She worked for 4 years at Amica Guesthouse before moving to the project.

Rhona is a trained Chef and has cooked for the likes of Nelson Mandela, REM, The Corrs, and Tony Blair!!

Jo - Wildlife Coordinator

Jo originally volunteered at the project from June - Oct 2007.  She loved it so much and was so sad to leave. Thankfully, she was contacted to come back and work as the wildlife coordinator, and returned in January 2008.

Jo is passionate about the animals, the farm, the country and the people. Jo also describes her job as being the “best job in the world”.

Dara - Head of Finance

Dara originally from Ireland, volunteered at the project in 2007 and subsequently joined the team in 2008. Dara is a qualified accountant and spent eleven years in the USA working with various financial institutions. She returned to Ireland to complete her MBA and continued to work in finance.

Dara is also a foster mum with the project and has fostered; caracals, a piglet and a lamb not to mention dogs, cats and parrots.

Ian and Michelle Merrifield
- Programme Leaders

Ian was born in Zimbabwe and Michele in France. Ian is a ex game ranger and Michele worked in a Hotel group in France. Ian and Michele Merrifield met in 1999 while Michele was travelling in South Africa.

Ian was working as the head ranger in a private Game Lodge while Michele was visiting as a tourist.

They got married a year later and opened a restaurant in Hoespruit to get enough fund to create the Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage, their dream.

Georgie, Penny and Tanja
- Programme Leaders

Small horse loving family business started in 1998 by Georgie, Tanja and Penny Dickerson. Georgie [the Mum] originally from the UK worked with horses from a young age gained her BHSI and moved to Zambia in her early 20's. Her love of horses was passed on to her two daughters Tanja and Penny and they were always involved with horsy people. Tanja and Penny started a small beach horse trail venture and on doing this found they did not have the finances to buy 'prime stock' and tended to buy poorer stock which they built up for their trails. Georgie continued in her employment until things were off the ground managing to subsidies the venture.

Tanja and Penny became well known in the area for buying horses that were in need of attention and having a very good success rate. They were approached by one of the anti-cruelty departments and were directed to horses in need. In January 2002 we took the responsibility of 9 horses and ponies from the Tranksei area which were in the most horrendous condition.

Needless to say they then achieved all their goals and now run a successful rehabilitation project.

Dougal MacTavish - Warden

Chief warden of the Reserve.  He has worked in conservation for over 28 years.  19 years in South Africa and 9 years in Zimbabwe.

He is CIS qualified, Master Tracker, Level 1 Field Guide, First Aider and Professional Hunter with Advanced Driving License.

Gillian MacTavish - Finance

Wife of Dougal has been involved with the development of the Reserve from the beginning.  She is in charge of finance, administration and purchasing.  She is also a qualified First Aider.

Lynne MacTavish - Operations Manager

Operations manager of Reserve.  She holds a tourism diploma and has worked in the tourist industry for 19 years, 11 years on the reserve. 

She is Level 2 Field Guide, First Aider and is an Earth watch Principal Investigator.

Louis Phipps - Research Co-coordinator

Louis has a BSc (Hons) from Durham University and is currently conducting a Vulture Research Project for his Masters degree through the University of Pretoria, this project is based at the Reserve.

Roelof - Director

Roelof is the founder  volunteer research programme and has extensive experience in wildlife management and conservation.
For most of his adult life Roelof has been involved with wildlife and conservation: as a safari guide, a reserve manager, and an assistant warden of a 22,000-ha big game wildlife reserve.

Knowing the critical need for information about the wildlife, and predators in particular, Roelof established the programme in 2004 to provide research and vital information to game reserves in the Limpopo Province in the north-eastern region of South Africa.

Koos Niemann - Programme Manager

Koos has had many years of experience in the bush and has worked in the Lowveld for over ten years. His previous jobs include Reserve Manager for a neighbouring Big 5 reserve and he has experience with game capture and reserve maintenance. He knows the reserve extremely well and is an expert at tracking lions with or without telemetry.

Koos has a passion for conservation through the sustainable utilisation of African wildlife and also has a great interest in alien plant species and their removal.

Sophie Niemann - Research Advisor

Sophie is the volunteer research and monitoring advisor.

She has extensive experience in this field having carried out predator and management research since 1997 in South Africa and Botswana.

Katie Rooke - Programme Leader

Katie decided at the mere age of 11 that she wanted to work as a guide in the African bush.....and 18 years later, here she is! Katie graduated in 2005 with a BSc in Zoology and Marine biology and soon moved to South Africa to embark on her bush training. Leaving Bush academy as a qualified FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) Level 1 guide she took on her first guiding job at Entabeni Private reserve in the Waterberg.

Living out her dream was all she had hoped it would be and Katie really enjoyed the chance to take guests out and teach them about the bush. During her time at Entabeni, Katie gained her Level 2 award and a little while later, her Trails guide qualification.

Katie then moved to the lowveld where she got her first taste of working with volunteers on a predator research programme. Here, Katie was the science officer and responsible for volunteer training, data design and analysis as well as the production of annual reports. When she got the chance to move to the wilderness programme, she didn't hesitate for a second and has now been at the project for almost 3 years.

Along with Joe, Katie organises and leads the reserve activities and guides you around the reserve to see the amazing array of wildlife. She has a real soft spot for the lions and is hoping to take on a masters study in the not too distant future incorporating the research from project.

She is an avid traveller having been to more than 40 countries in 6 continents (just the Antarctic missing!). She loves sport, snowboarding being her favourite, although there is a severe lack of snow for that in her current country of residence!

Joe - Programme Leader

Joe moved to South Africa in 2006 leaving behind a career in Tropical fish husbandry! Joe also qualified from the Bush Academy in 2006 and took on his first role as a guide at Entabeni. Here he enjoyed the chance to create his own guided experiences and excelled in the organising of special events for the guests such as bush dinners and lunches at the mountain swim hole. He quickly obtained his Level 2 FGASA qualification before moving to the Lowveld area.

In the lowveld Joe was one of the founding members of Askari and was here from the very beginning when the house was a shell and still being converted! During his 1st year at Askari he gained his Trails guide qualification with one of the highest marks in the country. Joe is the longest standing staff member on the reserve having been here for almost 4 years now. He has a passion for reptiles and will happily take you out looking for snakes and turning rocks to find all the critters living underneath.

Joe is a huge sports fan, both playing and spectating and is always looking for some volunteers to kick a football around with in the Askari garden!