28 Feb 2017

Batswana are gradually making inroads into the somewhat affluent tourism sector predominantly run by foreign-owned companies.

For sometimes Batswana were spectators with their involvement limited to working for the companies.

However, Mr Gabatsholwe Disho known to his friends and guests as ‘Dish’, his long term aim was to work for the foreign-owned companies to gain experience with an ultimate goal of at one point running his own Safari company.

Disho is now a proud owner of Bush Lark Safaris Company, which he opened in 2013 after working for a myriad of Safari companies. The company specialises in birding and photographic safari. Disho has strings of qualification behind him in addition to his vast experience in safaris.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA, Disho says he has developed an exceptional practical and theoretical knowledge of the ecology of Northern Botswana’s wilderness.

He also has a comparative advantage because of his childhood. He was born and bred in a remote village of Ngarange on the banks of the Okavango Pan Handle, spending his youth hunting and trapping animals with his two uncles as is the tradition for young boys of Hambukushu tribe.

Disho completed his Form Five in Maun before going for his specialised training in safaris, which exposed him to more conservation-based approach to wildlife and wilderness at large.

He says his passion lies largely within the world of birds and photography, adding that with his passion for tourism and wildlife as well as his qualification, he soon became involved in the tourism industry as a guide and has followed his passion ever since.

Disho says the time he spent working in different Safaris companies helped him to acquire experience and good relationship with tourists, which made him to realise that he could manage his own business.

“In 2011 I joined Letaka Safaris working as a guide, moving in different Southern African countries and this opened my mind to think outside the box”, he said

He further notes that Letaka used him in guiding and marketing, and even sent him to the United Kingdom to market the company.

He used that opportunity to make friends and that as well encouraged him more to seriously consider opening his own business. For the five years he worked with Letaka, he had enough experience on the ground on how to run a successful safari business. He quit even though it was not easy for his superiorgiven  his quality and experience. ENDS