Close Encounters Travel
Travel Advisors
Kez Tagg, Close Encounters' owner, worked and travelled in Africa for over 20 years and has built a small team of holiday advisors who have travelled extensively in Africa and share her passion for the continent.
Meet the TEam
Debby Coulles
Having travelled throughout Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, Debby’s passions are people and food! She has been involved with Close Encounters for the past five years, and loves designing holidays for people as passionate about travel as she is. One of her most interesting experiences in Africa was on the Tazara train, Tanzania: "It broke down for 24 hours in the middle of the mountains. Everybody disembarked at the track-side and made fires to cook chickens, casava and beans, and watched as the repair team muddled through. We arrived only 36 hours late!" Her ambitions are to climb Kilimanjaro and buy a camera with a big zoom lens!
Lyneve Cook
Lyneve, whose passions include photography and birds, has recently joined Close Encounters Travel in their South African office. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge of Southern Africa, its creatures, great and small and its wonderful skies at night. She has lived in the stunning wildlife festival that is the Okavango Delta in Botswana, backpacked around Malawi, knows Namibia like the back of her hand and has travelled to Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Mauritius amongst others. Lyneve is looking forward to sharing her enthusiasm for Africa with its diverse terrains, people, local culture and cuisine by assisting travellers to also experience Africa’s wonders and moods.
Jill Masterton
Driving from Nairobi to Cape Town and back with her Dad at age two, Jill started her adventures early in life. She was born in London but grew up in Kenya and Zambia. She has travelled extensively, especially in the wildest parts of Africa. “I’ve had too many special experiences to pick one out, but I can tell you that North Luangwa in Zambia is one of the most magical places I have ever visited.” Jill has worked in the hospitality industry for many years in safari lodges in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa and she is also a trained game ranger. Her passion is making Africa everybody’s passion, but she also loves entertaining and sport, particularly horse riding, rugby, cricket and soccer.
Marie McCrae
Marie lives in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa on a nature reserve and is an accredited tour guide who also takes very special people on very special safaris in Southern Africa. She grew up in a family of dedicated conservationists and artists that spent a great deal of time in the wild and is passionate about educating others about the beauty and fascinating facts of nature. Marie, who is also an avid birder and photographer, has an extensive knowledge of Southern Africa having travelled all over the region. She has been in the travel industry for some years and loves to help you discover new adventures and close encounters, to expect the unexpected, and to share all walks of her wonderful world.
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