Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriele Brown.
Hi Gabriele, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In 2012 after the passing of my late Husband Kenton, I quit my job of 35 years and headed to Africa. In Africa, I learned to appreciate life again. I climbed Africa’s highest mountain ( Mount Kilimanjaro). Hung out with the Maasai, traveled on local transport, went on safaris, volunteered in local communities, saw Victoria Falls, rafted the River Nile, got up close to mountain gorillas, and met some of the most wonderfully inspiring people I could hope to meet. I fell in love with Africa.
After my initial trip, I returned home, but Africa was never far from my thoughts, and I returned whenever I could, even working as a Manager at an Adult Education School for Women.
I fell in love with the people of Tanzania, their culture, and landscapes and decided to launch my own Travel company.
I created Urth Expedition in 2014, hoping that I might inspire and help others travel to Africa and experience some of the things I’ve been fortunate enough to see and do.
I have since led groups to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro many times. The fact is I have climbed Kilimanjaro 15 times since 2012.
In 2017, I was part of the 7SummitExpedition to conquer 7 of Africa’s highest peaks in 7 weeks over five countries. By far, this was one of my most adventurous trips ever. I had the honor of climbing Mt. Kenya with the Minister of Tourism for Kenya. All in support of promoting tourism. Tourism has a direct impact on Conservation and communities. The benefits of visitors’ physical presence and their crucial revenue spending are critical to the protection of natural areas that are home to unique flora and fauna. One of these organizations is called” Conservation through Tourism. They aim to encourage travelers to visit vulnerable areas that need conservation help, habitat and biodiversity protection, and community support.
We are small and have very little overhead.
I am usually your contact person and trip planner at Urth Expedition. My mission is to ensure that clients experience a memorable and successful Kilimanjaro climb or safari.
You can find me in Austin, Texas, when I am not in Africa!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The most challenging aspect has been the language barrier and business culture. The first year was quite hard, and I lost a lot of money during this transition period. Generally speaking, business culture in Tanzania is traditional and male-dominated. Networking is essential to business success. Establishing a relationship and getting to know associates personally is important to doing business successfully in Tanzania. It’s not common to get straight down to business when first meeting with business associates. It’s customary to begin a business meeting with small talk, with topics such as family and sport being a good starting point. Being a foreign woman in a male-dominated world is quite challenging. But by the good grace, I have earned my status of a “Mama Africa,” which I proudly like to hear.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Urth Expedition?
At Urth Expedition, we offer exciting expeditions to Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru, and some of the 7 Summits of East Africa, tailor-made safaris to some of Tanzania’s best wildlife parks, beach holidays to the spice islands of Zanzibar, and Gorilla Trekking in Rwanda/Uganda. We are a relatively small company owned and primarily operated by a small team of passionate international travelers. We are committed to creating a unique experience that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations and dreams. Our safari itineraries are uniquely crafted and tailored to the specific month of travel to facilitate the most optimal game viewing conditions. Still, you will be able to completely customize your private safari based on your travel style, preferences, and interests. We offer all-inclusive safaris to take you deep into the isolated wilderness where packaged tour companies don’t go. There are no mixed groups, no competing for views with strangers, and no conflicting interests. With Urth Expedition, you will enjoy the exclusive use of a private, specially outfitted 4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser with a pop-up roof providing maximum flexibility, comfort, and wildlife viewing.
We believe that travel can be the catalyst to inspire us, touch our souls, and make us feel truly connected and alive. We’ve experienced first-hand the transformative power of travel and its ability to create lasting change in the world, especially when done more intentionally and more meaningful. We believe that. At its core, travel is an investment in new experiences, significant memories, shared connections, and personal growth as we meet new people, explore parts unknown, and gain a deeper appreciation of cultural diversity. It’s about learning and growing into our unique way of engaging with the world, being awed by its natural beauty, and reveling in that bond across physical borders. In the end, traveling lets us live with more meaning and purpose to make a lasting impact in the world – one trip at a time.
Unlike most safari companies, we are a local Tanzanian-based operator. You’ll be able to communicate with our team on the ground directly. No agents and no outsourcing of your safari. We thoroughly regulate the high quality and standards of our services so that we can deliver the safari experience of a lifetime. To ensure you can communicate with us promptly, we have a US and Tanzania number (and we also speak French and German)!
Our expeditions are led by local guides who are certified, trained and have years of experience in the routes and areas we trek and travel. We ensure they are provided with fair wages, sufficient food and resources, and aptly trained to ensure safety and quality of service.
Every trip we make, we donate to our partner social enterprise, “Give a Heart to Africa” https://urthsafari.com/sustainability.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Since the pandemic, we moved our Headquarters to Arusha, Tanzania. We added South Africa to our itineraries, as well as Namibia. We are currently working on a Wellness to the Wilderness Retreat in February 2023. (Yoga Retreat)
https://urthsafari.com/yoga-retreat and a few other specialty trips. More on that later!
A few years ago, while working with the NGO “Give a Heart to Africa.” I came to appreciate women’s entrepreneurship in Tanzania, so I decided to create an online store where I help sell their goods. I buy the items at their regular price and bring them back to the US to market online or through Pop-up events. Any profits made will go back to the individual artist. This helped immensely during Covid as tourism was slow, and they had little or no earnings.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@urthsafari.com
- Website: www.urthsafari.com
- Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/UrthSafari - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
UrthSafari
