Banff Lodge

- Being humble—a camp manager needs to be humble so that everyone can respect him/ her - Teamwork—as a camp manager you are a leader, but you should be willing to do whatever instruction you are giving someone to do. Forinstance,IcannottellsomeonetocleanthefloorwhenmyselfI cannot do that...I should be willing to do so - Communication - Respecting your staff so that they respect you back - Smile and wave—if you see any guest coming towards you, all you need to do is smile. Sometimes that smile warms the guest and helps them feel at home - Make the guest feel at home -Friendlybutfirm - Have fun - Motivate the staff—make sure they too have fun - Willing to go an extra mile

What do you most enjoy about your work?

It’sthatIhavegottwooffices...thatisthebestpart.Icansitinfront of a computer but if I get tired I just walk up to the main area of the camp and chat with guests. Even when we don’t have guests, we’ve got animals to watch, and the birds...I think that’s what I enjoy watching the most.

How does it feel being a camp manager with your husband Robert?

It’sabitdifficultattimesbecauseyouhavetoseparatehome issues with work. But at the same time, it’s the best thing because we are Africans...we still have some people who do not understand gender equality. They can never take an instruction from a woman, so having him on my side helps me gain respect from such people. I think putting Verney’s Camp in order, since we opened. This was a new camp so getting staff from different places and trying to bond them into working as a team was a challenge. When we started it was a bit rough, but now everyone is gelling and understanding the reason why we are out here. I have tried ways to work with the team for them to realise why we are here and now we can say we are one team.

How often do you go home?

I do 56 days (eight weeks) and then two weeks off.

What’s the first thing you do when you get back home?

I try to sleep, since at work we have early mornings, spend more time with my daughter and travel if we can. We enjoy travelling... not really going very far but around Zimbabwe or just around Southern African countries.

Is your work ever dangerous?

Yes and no, because we live in the middle of the park. Our camp is an open camp and animals wander around as they please. Sometimes there is this mutual respect between us humans and the animals and the fact that we can live and walk when animals might beaboutfivemetresawayandyouarestillsafeisgreat.

What are your future ambitions?

Hopefully one day I will be able to own my camp. If not, maybe a tour operating company or travel agency company, so that I am able to sell the camps because I know how camps operate.