Promise N. Hlongwangane & Truman B. Ndlovu, Thanda Safari

Passionate ambassadors for culture, wildlife, and nature.

On arrival at Thanda Safari Private Game Reserve, you are always given a warm welcome and friendly smile. Here, the focus is on ensuring that guests have the absolute best experience of their lives. The aim is to bring them as close to nature and the animals as possible. Guests also benefit from the expertise and knowledge that Promise N. Hlongwangane and Truman B. Ndlovu are so passionate about sharing.

Truman has been the general manager at Thanda Safari for many years, and his wife, Promise, is hospitality team leader and responsible for the staff who take care of the guests, ensuring them an exceptional experience during their stay at Thanda. They met at work 13 years ago and have three children. Their situation is unique, as they spend so much time working on-site at Thanda. They have their own house, which is a 1.5-hour drive away, but they have also made a home at Thanda. They live there with their children 80–90 percent of the time.

“We are somewhat unique in that we are the only ones living here with our children. And since the five of us spend so much time here, it has really become our home,” says Promise about how they have successfully built a home at their workplace.

They stay at their other home during school holidays and weekends. They want to keep it so that the children have a place to live in the future when they get older. Right now, the kids are still quite young and attend school. They enjoy school and happily take the 45-minute bus ride to get there.

“I was a math genius when I was young and dreamed of going to university and getting an academic education, but we had quite a modest upbringing, so I didn’t pursue higher education. That’s why we’re so happy that we can give our children the opportunity to get a proper education,” says Truman about the importance of the children attending school, despite the long bus ride each day.

Truman is one of the employees at who has been with Thanda Safari since the very beginning in the early 2000s. It was in September 2003, when the lodge was still being built, that he went for his first interview for the job as a guide and ranger. The interviews were thorough, and Truman did his best to convince them he was the right person for the job. He was hired on a short-term contract in December but, by April, he had already demonstrated unique qualities and was given a permanent position in the small team of five people who, at that time, made up Thanda Safari.

“I saw their vision with Thanda from day one and understood what they wanted to build. The family-oriented and warm approach of the owners made me both hopeful and happy, and I felt a great passion for the project. I think they saw my drive and my perspective on both wildlife conservation and hospitality,” Truman explains about how he got what he describes as his dream job.

He is incredibly proud of what they are doing at Thanda, and both he and Promise take their jobs very seriously. They see themselves as ambassadors, not just for Thanda Safari, but for South Africa.

“We do our absolute best to ensure that our guests remember their visit with us and South Africa as the best thing they’ve ever done,” say Promise and Truman almost in unison.

Truman has been involved in building up nearly every part of the operation and is now a part of most of the decisions made at Thanda Safari. Even though he is now the general manager with overall responsibility for the operation, his heart still beats a little faster when he has the chance to take guests out into the park, where he guides them to close encounters with the animals and nature. He loves sharing his extensive knowledge about the flora and fauna and what they mean to the local community.

“I still do a lot of guiding, and I think almost everyone who has visited Thanda has probably been in my Land Rover. But I’m increasingly involved in conservation work, which is necessary if we’re to protect our animals from poachers,” Truman continues, describing what a typical workweek for him looks like.

Monitoring the park’s vast areas against poachers is both costly and time-consuming. That’s why they have full-time rangers whose primary responsibility is to monitor and protect the rhinos, whose horns are worth millions on the black market. There’s a belief that rhino horn powder can cure anything from impotence to cancer.

“Patrolling and tracking down poachers in the park is effective, but it’s not enough. That’s why we also invest resources in informing and educating people in the local communities around the park about the damage and risks before they are tempted to break the law, kill one of our endangered rhinos, and destroy nature forever,” explains Truman about their two-pronged approach to protecting wildlife in the park.

 

To work on preserving the proud culture and the beautiful and majestic wildlife here is a true privilege.

– Promise N. Hlongwangane and Truman B. Ndlovu

Before joining Thanda in 2011, Promise already had a few years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. She was working in Kruger National Park at the time. She has always known that this was what she wanted to do, and getting a job at Thanda was a dream she had long held.

“Thanda Safari has an excellent reputation worldwide, and everyone in South Africa who works in tourism knows about us. This inspires me and my colleagues in our efforts to make our guests fall in love with us, the culture, and the country,” says Promise proudly about their reputation in the industry.

Thanda’s brand is strong, respected, well-known in the industry, and considered one of the best in the world. Their long-term and meticulous work to do everything for both the wildlife and their guests has paid off. Promise is passionate about her team and sees everyone who works at Thanda Safari as one big family. Staff turnover is minimal, and the owners have a personal and close relationship with the employees. The positive atmosphere among the staff creates a secure and inspiring environment and a sense that anything is possible and that any challenge can be solved. This is something that the guests notice and appreciate.

“We love our life here at Thanda, and we are so proud to be part of this operation that has such a great approach to the people who work here and the animals and nature around us. To work on preserving the proud culture and the beautiful and majestic wildlife here is a true privilege,” conclude Truman and Promise.

Their genuine and warm demeanour leaves a lasting smile on your face. And after a lovely chat, we thank these two passionate ambassadors for Thanda Safari, South African culture, the magnificent animals, and the stunning natural environment where they live.

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Thanda

Thanda Group operates in the hospitality industry, property development, and conservation. The crown jewel is Thanda Safari in…

Yearbook 2024 /Interview with Promise N. Hlongwangane & Truman B. Ndlovu

Yearbook 2024 /Interview with Promise N. Hlongwangane & Truman B. Ndlovu