When Dusty Boots Travel founders Riaan & Caroline first met, they had experienced very different types of adventure travel. Caroline was a keen angler and hiker while Riaan's passion for Africa burned brighter than a Kalahari sunset. But they agreed on one thing: the choice of ethical, outdoor travel experiences available online was confusing, frustrating and inefficient. How were travellers supposed to navigate the vast range of options? And in the growing online market, how could they get a trusted recommendation from 'real' people?
That's when Dusty Boots Travel was born: the vision of two soulmates who share a love of the outdoors and the internet and have a deep understanding of the importance of both in today's society.
Riaan was born and bred in South Africa. His love for nature started at a young age while spending school holidays on his uncles farm. In the early 1990’s the African travel bug bit him and many-many Botswana overland adventures followed. His deep love of the African continent and its fauna and flora inspired him to start a small overland safari company in Botswana, an adventure travel company in South Africa, and later, together with Caroline, an ethical wildlife volunteer program in South Africa. His wanderlust navigated many safaris and travels in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Lesotho. Riaan is true to his life motto: One Life, Live It…Now!
Caroline was born in a small town in Ireland, where life, and the climate, couldn't be more contrasting to that in South Africa. That said, her love of the outdoors was never influenced by the weather and she spent every available minute fishing and exploring. Her father, a WW2 veteran, taught her about wildlife and plant identification and she learned many survival tips from him. In 2004 she left Ireland and worked for a world-renowned, premium airline. She was finally able to explore the world and all it had to offer. In 2010 she met Riaan on a safari in South Africa and fell in love with someone as special as the continent he is from.
Dusty Boots Travel - Extraordinary Adventures, Ethical Values
Dusty Boots Travel is more than a travel agent. We have stood in your shoes and were equally overwhelmed by the offerings, each promising to be better than the other. Having tried and tested different types of safari experiences, we have chosen to represent those in line with our own ethos which is to experience pristine wilderness, in a home-away-from-home atmosphere, while revelling in affordable luxury. By choosing only to support camps/lodges/experiences that help to conserve Africa’s spectacular biodiversity and share ecotourism’s benefits with rural people, you can rest assured that you too will be supporting sustainable and ethical tourism.
