I grew up in Chichester on the sunny South Coast of England. My first visit to the African continent was at 13, when sick of endless rainy holidays camping in France, my parents took my sister and I on safari in Kenya. The holiday dipped our toes into a rugged world of adventure; giving us a glimpse of the wild world that lay beyond…

After I finished school I became passionate about cooking (although foremost eating!) and trained as a chef, using my holidays to spend time in Southern Africa.

Upon returning from Malawi and Zambia I realised that I wanted to be anywhere but drizzly England. I unceremoniously ditched my job, and took a chance that the beginning of the year 2015 would have some delightful surprises.  Whether you believe in luck or not, the timing of a my next 2 emails could not have been more perfect. A vacancy for a Executive Chef for a safari camp in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park; www.kaingo.com and the opportunity to intern at a small wildlife reserve in Malawi: www.kuti-malawi.org.!! To put the cherry on the top,  the safari season began in May which gave me 3 months to spend in Malawi, before hopping across the border into neighbouring Zambia.

I spent the next 2 seasons with Shenton Safaris at the helm of the kitchens for the main camp Kaingo and the bushcamp Mwamba, an idyllic life surrounded by nature’s magic. However after too long a time spent living in different countries and also continents, my boyfriend  – acquired in Malawi (as you do!) and I decided that it would be nice to be in the same place for once! Neither of us wanted to return to a conventional lifestyle in Europe, so our job search led us to another remote location – the Okavango Delta, Botswana.

So follow my blog for the latest news, stories and sunshine from the heart of the bush!

Ruth