Welcome

Early Beginnings

Born and bred in Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, I first set foot on African soil in 1995 in former Vendaland and immediately fell in love with this ancient continent. The colors, the sunsets, the people, energy and trees and bush, everything amazed me. I returned, managed to get a one-year traineeship at the Centre for Ecotourism at the University of Pretoria in South Africa and made friends for life.

I fell under Africa’s spell and kept coming back. I guided tours for a while for LITO travels which later became Djoser. I visited Zimbabwe in 2000 where I met my American friend Cathy and through her I met my husband Gerry. I convinced him to come to Africa with me and we traveled around Southern Africa extensively. Later on in life I accomplished another traineeship related to Africa, this time at the Sub-Saharan Africa Department and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in The Hague, The Netherlands.

I first traveled to Mozambique with Gerry in 2005, we embarked on a five-day overland journey from Malawi, using local transport all the way to Pemba in the far north. Here, we discovered a mysterious and relatively unknown country with the most beautiful beaches I had ever seen.

Sustainability and Local Partnership

I have always had an interest in sustainability. Growing up in the Dutch countryside, inspired by my mother who was always experimenting with different food (which we did not like as children!), I always try to buy and eat local naturally grown food, visit local places and support local businesses. I like gardening and trying to grow some of my own vegetables (not easy!). I studied sustainable tourism and love good food and good hospitality!

I like to connect people, to host people and I believe in cooperation. Sustainability for me is more than planting trees or donating to local projects, for me it’s about the whole African Ubuntu concept – that we are all connected and one cannot exist without the other. It is therefore also about establishing equal partnerships based on trust and learning from each other.

It is one of the reasons to start Unique Mozambique here locally. I noticed that many agents just book your accommodation in Mozambique, often in combination with another destination and often through agents in South Africa. I would like to support local businesses here in Mozambique and let them benefit from tourism as much as possible. I therefore work directly together with people here and also have chosen not to offer self-drives but to work with reliable local transfer companies. In this way your money goes directly to Mozambique and Mozambicans, who often have to support large families with their small businesses. Being on the ground here in Mozambique also helps in case of problems, emergencies or general questions.

Personal Approach

With Unique Mozambique, I want to share my love and passion for traveling, and Africa in particular, in a personal way based on the values described above. My motivation is to introduce you to Africa and this special country, with its  friendly and relaxed people where stress seems absent, the ocean is different every day, and the ancient trees continue to rise above the land like wise masters.

With 50 years of work and life experience in my travel bag, my mission is to facilitate your own unique experience; to help you plan your relaxed stress-free time here in Mozambique. I have always had a curiosity about other places, people and their stories, have worked in very different jobs and been very fortunate to visit a lot of places, from budget to luxurious. I have a critical eye and carefully design my itineraries and packages. I visit and pick all places personally. At the end of the day it is always about the people and the experience. All of these experiences enable me to facilitate your own unique experience. Whether you would like to arrive by local bus or private plane, want a family holiday, honeymoon or self-care retreat, I help you organize it.