My First Safari

is a network of African safari tourism associates headed by Marianne Birrell. The company was created in 2001 to provide useful safari advice, varied recommendations and efficient reservations to global travellers wanting to experience an African safari in South Africa. Our speciality area is the Kruger National Park, in particular the private safari lodges in the Park.

Marianne's

background lies in corporate communications and journalism, which she practised in South Africa and Switzerland. She and her husband quit corporate life and settled in the Cape winelands where they built and managed their Cape country hotel, Willowbrook Lodge, in Somerset West.

The call of the wild

is not one that's easily ignored, and so, in 2000 they moved to a nature reserve in the Kruger Park region. This proved the perfect base from which to research the many private safari lodges in the region. This was a return to eden for Marianne, who worked in the Sabi Sand Reserve when the South African safari industry was still in its pioneer days.

For a comprehensive list of safari regions, camps and lodges, visit The Safari Book.