Although Joe grew up in Kenya and had travelled around the country a lot with his parents he did not initially consider being a guide. Even when he went to university to study biological science he was still not thinking about being a guide.
It was around the time that Joe was considering his next steps and possibly a PhD in marine biology that he decided to see a career advisor. Whilst in the career advisors office he saw a magazine that had an article about the Kalahari Desert and gave details of a guide who would be visiting to share his experiences. It was not long after meeting this guide that Joe found himself in the Kalahari in Botswana.
Joe’s experience of safaris as a child was out of the back of a car with a tent, this was the first time that he had seen the luxury side of a safari and he loved it!
On returning to Kenya he started working as a guide for other companies. Over time he began to build relationships and trips around his own guests. He then saw the need to find somewhere unique for his guests to stay leading to the development of Leleshwa Camp on the Mara Siana Conservancy (as story for another day). Leleshwa all started with a small fly camp about half a kilometre downstream from the current camp which was very remote. Once he had the camp he then recognised a need for a conservation minded tour operator to build custom safaris to meet each of his clients unique needs which is how East Africa Safari Ventures came into being.