Angel Vendeline Namshali manages Asilia’s Dunia Camp in Tanzania.
Situated in Central Serengeti, the camp allows visitors to witness the wildebeest migration up close, and an abundance of lions, elephants, cheetahs, and the black rhino.
The best thing about this award-winning camp is that it is completely run by women.
In an interview with Skift, Namshali said that managing the camp is deeper than running a smooth operation and making sure that guests have a great experience.
“I have come to see that if Tanzanians do not look after the Serengeti and its wildlife then we will have nothing to pass on to the next generation,” she said.
That passion is why she and her team at Asilia launched a new program that aims to get the next generation of Tanzanians excited about hospitality.
“At Asilia we have a fantastic program called Twende Porini, which brings the young children from the nearby communities into the camps to experience the national park, see wildlife, and give them the chance to experience hospitality,” she told Skift. “We also talk about conservation and the future, and we hope that when they leave they have a big picture of what we do and fire to become the next generation of hospitality people.”
When she’s not managing staff or mentoring the youth, she advocates for women in the industry by pushing more camps to hire women.
“When I started at Dunia in 2014, I was the only female Tanzanian camp manager in the Serengeti. Lots of other hospitality companies have visited Dunia and been inspired to hire more women,” she said adding, “whether you are man or woman and whatever color your skin, we all deserve the same opportunity.”
