Who are we?
We are two friends who are passionate about Africa and travel.
After numerous years in the travel industry, Sophie and Dimitri decided to combine their knowledge and share their passion with you.
We will accompany you from the creation of your trip until its very end. We will furnish you with complete travel documents and remain at your disposal 7 days a week during your trip!
The itineraries on our site are just a few examples. Together - and with your own preferences in mind - we will construct an exclusive and unforgettable adventure. Whether it’s a family vacation, honeymoon, equestrian trails, golf tour, motorcycle itinerary, a culinary tour or safari….
​Anything is possible!
The name MANCALA comes from the name of one of the oldest games. It is found throughout the African continent. Contrary to the rules of other games of strategy, the rules of Mancala were never standardised, and never universally agreed upon. There are as many variations as there are ethnic groups or even villages.
The same goes for our trips, they are never standardised and there can be as many variations as you like.
Having lived in Belgium, Australia, and Mauritius, in 2008 Sophie decided to move to Cape Town after falling under the spell of South Africa.
Today she lives there with her husband, OIivier, and her two children, Lauren and Max, and her faithful canine companion, Chuck.
Having worked more than 10 years for local tour operators, Sophie has had the chance to travel extensively throughout South African and the the neighbouring countries: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique.
Each trip was a unique and different experience. From arid deserts to tropical forests, from the bush to the Garden Route, from game reserves to the wine region, from a Cessna safari to a canoe safari, from meeting a lion face to face to a whale cruise….
Sophie has been able to experience the different aspects of all that Southern Africa offers.
And now she wants to share this passion with you!
For Dimitri, Belgian as well, it all started with a telephone call. Some childhood friends who lived in Kruger Park proposed that he join them on a road trip in a Defender across Kruger and Mozambique. That was 10 years ago, and he never left.
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He lived a little over a year in Hoedspruit, “capital” of the private game reserves attached to Kruger, before settling with his family in Cape Town between the ocean, the wineries, and the mountains.
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He worked for 10 years as a local tour operator. he started in sales, and then moved into itinerary development which would combine his love of nature with his passion for sport and roads less travelled.
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Whether you’re a fan of safaris, hiking, mountain biking, kite-surfing, golf, motorbiking…. He’ll put together the ideal itinerary in order for you to combine your own passions with a discovery of this magnificent part of the world.
