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Lyndal

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Lyndal first travelled to East Africa in 1997. Setting off on a basic camping safari, nervous and excited to be sleeping under canvas, she headed into the unknown. On Lyndal’s first day on safari, in the Masai Mara she spotted so much game that she said that she could have gone home happy! Nevertheless, she continued her trip, through Tanzania and on to Rwanda, where she had her most memorable travel experience, coming face to face with a silverback! She has now visited 26 of the 54 countries in Africa!
Lyndal
Madagascar,Morocco,South Africa

Where in Africa have you travelled?

South Africa
Lesotho
Swaziland
Mozambique
Namibia
Botswana
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Malawi
Tanzania
Kenya
Uganda
Ethiopia
Sudan
Cameroon
Nigeria
Benin
Togo
Burkina Faso
Mali
Mauritania
Senegal
Morocco
Egypt
Madagascar.

What is your favourite African hidden gem?

Hamilton’s Tented Camp, in Kruger – I love that you feel you’ve stepped back in time when you enter this property, but you still have all your mod-cons and 5-star service. Any ‘safari’ needs to be under canvas in my mind, there is NOTHING like lying in your comfy bed listening to the sounds of Africa.

Bio

Lyndal first travelled to East Africa in 1997. Setting off on a basic camping safari, nervous and excited to be sleeping under canvas, she headed into the unknown. On Lyndal’s first day on safari, in the Masai Mara she spotted so much game that she said that she could have gone home happy! Nevertheless, she continued her trip, through Tanzania and on to Rwanda, where she had her most memorable travel experience, coming face to face with a silverback! She has now visited 26 of the 54 countries in Africa!

"No matter how many times I go on safari my experiences are never the same!"

My Top 5 Experience Recommendations

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Es Saadi Gardens Marrakech
Imperial Cities
Morocco
8 DAYS
FROM  $6380
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Small Group Tour Madagascar
1000 Views of Madagascar Safari
Madagascar
12 DAYS
FROM  $3830
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Luxury Tent at Hamiltons Tented Camp
Hamilton's Tented Camp
South Africa
3 DAYS
FROM  $2350
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All Experiences

Meet the Team

Julie is one of our longest serving members, having worked for Bench for nearly 20 years. Julies love for Africa first began when she experienced her first safari to South Africa and Botswana.“Words cannot express what it felt like – it’s not only about the animals, that is a bonus. It is about the people, the landscape, the simplicity of life and how you realise the simple things in life are what ground us and how we forget that. Once you have gone there, you come back with a little piece of the magic that stays with you and makes you want to go back.

Julie De Palo

Operations and Groups Director / Africa Expert
Lara Behrens was born and raised in Kenya and spent several years living in Ireland and England before migrating to Australia. Lara has worked at Bench Africa for over six years and previously ran an events company bringing with her a fantastic new insight and a wealth of marketing skills to Bench. Lara's family owns and operates safari camps in Kenya so she grew up on safari and has travelled extensively around Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa.

Lara Behrens

Marketing & Communications Director
It had always been Maria’s dream to travel to Africa on a safari, and after her first trip she knew she would just have to keep going back. Maria’s first African experience was joining a 7 week tour through Africa. Visiting East Africa, Maria was lucky enough to experience her first ‘Big 5’ safari in Tanzania which included a visit to the Ngorongoro Crater. More recently Maria visited Namibia for the first time, self driving around this huge country with its amazing landscapes, game viewing in the mind blowing Etosha National Park, but the biggest achievement of the trip was summiting Namibia’s highest sand dune “Big Daddy” – as Maria says “it was a killer, but definitely worth it”.

Maria Hindson

Africa Expert
Stephanie Osorio

Stephanie Osorio

Africa Expert
Lyndal first travelled to East Africa in 1997. Setting off on a basic camping safari, nervous and excited to be sleeping under canvas, she headed into the unknown. On Lyndal’s first day on safari, in the Masai Mara she spotted so much game that she said that she could have gone home happy! Nevertheless, she continued her trip, through Tanzania and on to Rwanda, where she had her most memorable travel experience, coming face to face with a silverback! She has now visited 26 of the 54 countries in Africa!

Lyndal

Africa Expert
Eric grew up in Cape Town, in South Africa and moved to Australia in 2011. Since then he has been back to Africa over 15 times, mostly on safari. He has been with the Bench team for over 2 years and promoting Africa as a destination for 20 years. Nothing compares to being on a safari and once Coronavirus is over and it is safe to travel he just can’t wait to head out to Africa. Doesn’t matter where – just somewhere out in the African bush.

Eric Vos

Africa Expert
Brett has been working at Bench for 4 years and within the travel and tourism industry for over 30 years in various capacities of a support nature. He is our guy behind the scenes keeping our reservations system ticking over nicely and making our lives so much easier; ensuring our Africa experts have all the support they need.

Brett Palser

Graham Werner South Africa

Graham Werner

State Manager - QLD & VIC