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Maria Hindson

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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
Mauritius,Namibia,Zambia

Where in Africa have you travelled?

Namibia
South Africa
Zambia
Botswana
Mozambique
Tanzania
Rwanda
Uganda
Zimbabwe
Swaziland
Kenya

What is your favourite African hidden gem?

Sausage Tree Camp in the Lower Zambezi National Park. Waking up with the river in front of me with the sun rising over it made it a perfect wake up call and canoeing was a great way to see Africa in a new light!

Bio

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. In 2010 Maria journeyed to 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”. In 2016 Maria travelled to South Africa on a personal holiday, it was there, at Kwandwe, that she met a safari guide who she then married in 2022.

My Top 5 Experience Recommendations

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Classic Namibia Safari Tour
Classic Namibia Safari
Namibia
12 DAYS
FROM  $6920
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Machaba Camp
Botswana
3 DAYS
FROM  $4040
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price tag Honeymoon Special - 15% off*
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Shanti Maurice Luxury Hotel - Mauritius
Shanti Maurice Resort & Spa
Mauritius
7 DAYS
FROM  $3040
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Palais du Desert Morocco
Ultimate Morocco
Morocco
14 DAYS
FROM  $10140
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Self Drive Activities Namibia
Namibia Self-Drive Safari (Classic)
Namibia
13 DAYS
FROM  $6680
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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
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