Absolute WildernessTravel & Tours
Co-Founder

Jerome Gas

Lead Guide & Co-Founder

Co-Founder

Delphine Staubli

Senior Guide & Operations Director

Emmanuel Mwangi

Senior Guide — Northern Circuit

Amina Rashid

Guide & Zanzibar Specialist

Who we are

Born from the bush

Absolute Wilderness was built by guides, for travellers who want more than a game drive. Our founders spent years in the field before establishing the company, and that field-first philosophy shapes everything — from how we plan itineraries to how we train every member of our team.

We are a small, deliberately tight-knit operation. We do not scale by adding guides who have not earned their stripes in Tanzania's most demanding ecosystems. Every person listed here has guided in the Serengeti, navigated the Selous by boat, and tracked leopard on foot in Ruaha.

When you travel with us, you travel with the person who planned your route, knows the camp managers by name, and will be the first to call an audible when the migration shifts unexpectedly. That is the difference a guide-led company makes.

25+

years of combined guiding experience across Tanzania's national parks and reserves

· serengeti · ruaha · nyerere · tarangire · ngorongoro
8

ecosystems covered — from the Rift Valley floor to the Rufiji floodplain

· northern circuit · southern circuit · zanzibar archipelago
100%

of our guides hold TATO-recognised professional guiding qualifications

· tanzania association of tour operators member
4.9★

average guest rating across all guided safaris in the last three seasons

· based on post-safari feedback forms · 2022–2025
12

languages spoken across the team — so your safari feels like a conversation, not a lecture

· english · french · german · swahili · italian · spanish · more
Meet the team

The guides who will take you there

Jerome Gas, Lead Guide & Co-Founder at Absolute Wilderness
Co-Founder

Jerome Gas

Lead Guide & Co-Founder

Serengeti migration, big cat behaviour

Jerome grew up in East Africa and began guiding in the Serengeti at the age of twenty-two. He has tracked the Great Migration across every crossing point on the Mara River and spent more nights under canvas in the Serengeti than most guides spend in a career.

His particular expertise is big cat behaviour — he can read a lion pride's mood from a kilometre away and has an uncanny ability to position a vehicle for the perfect sighting without disturbing the animals. Guests consistently describe his guiding as transformative.

Jerome co-founded Absolute Wilderness with the conviction that the best safaris are led by guides who have spent years learning the land, not weeks completing a course. He still guides personally on select departures, particularly the migration season itineraries.

"The bush teaches you patience. Every morning in the Serengeti is a new lesson."

Experience18 years in the field
LanguagesEnglish, French, Swahili
Delphine Staubli, Senior Guide & Operations Director at Absolute Wilderness
Co-Founder

Delphine Staubli

Senior Guide & Operations Director

Southern circuit, birdwatching, Zanzibar extensions

Delphine came to Tanzania from Switzerland on a three-month volunteer placement and never left. She spent her first five years guiding in Nyerere National Park — then still known as the Selous — developing an intimate knowledge of the Rufiji River ecosystem and its extraordinary birdlife.

She is the architect of Absolute Wilderness's southern circuit itineraries, combining Ruaha, Nyerere, and Zanzibar into journeys that feel seamless rather than stitched together. Her birdwatching expertise is unmatched — she has recorded over 400 species in a single Nyerere season.

As Operations Director, Delphine oversees every itinerary before it goes to a guest, ensuring the logistics match the promise. She guides personally on all southern circuit departures and leads the company's specialist birdwatching weeks.

"The southern circuit is Tanzania's best-kept secret. Fewer vehicles, wilder land, and the Rufiji at dawn."

Experience14 years in the field
LanguagesEnglish, French, German, Swahili
Emmanuel Mwangi, Senior Guide — Northern Circuit at Absolute Wilderness

Emmanuel Mwangi

Senior Guide — Northern Circuit

Ngorongoro Crater, Tarangire elephants, night drives

Emmanuel was born in the shadow of Kilimanjaro and has spent his entire guiding career in Tanzania's northern circuit. He knows the Ngorongoro Crater in every season — the short rains that bring the flamingos, the dry months when the black rhino are most visible, the brief window when the crater floor turns green.

His speciality is Tarangire's elephant herds. He has been tracking the same family groups for over a decade and can identify individual animals by ear shape and tusk pattern. Guests who travel with Emmanuel often describe their elephant encounters as the highlight of their entire Africa experience.

"Elephants remember everything. If you watch them long enough, you start to understand why."

Experience11 years in the field
LanguagesEnglish, Swahili, Kikuyu
Amina Rashid, Guide & Zanzibar Specialist at Absolute Wilderness

Amina Rashid

Guide & Zanzibar Specialist

Zanzibar culture, marine ecosystems, Stone Town

Amina grew up in Stone Town and brings a depth of cultural knowledge to Zanzibar extensions that no mainland guide can match. She trained as a marine biologist before moving into guiding, and her understanding of the archipelago's reef ecosystems adds a dimension to beach extensions that goes far beyond sun and sand.

She leads all Zanzibar-specific programming for Absolute Wilderness — from spice farm visits and Stone Town walking tours to snorkelling excursions at Mnemba Atoll. Her Arabic allows her to connect guests with the island's Omani heritage in ways that a standard tour cannot.

"Zanzibar is not a beach holiday. It is a civilisation. Come curious."

Experience8 years in the field
LanguagesEnglish, Swahili, Arabic
How we guide

The principles behind every safari

01

Small groups, always

We cap every guided departure at eight guests. Not because we have to — because we believe that is the number at which a safari remains intimate and wildlife encounters stay undisturbed.

02

Continuous learning

Every guide on our team attends at least one specialist training programme per year — whether that is advanced tracking, bird identification, or wilderness first aid. The bush changes; our knowledge must keep pace.

03

Conservation first

We operate under a strict low-impact protocol. No off-road driving in sensitive areas, no approaching animals beyond their comfort threshold, no single-use plastics in the field. The land we guide in must outlast us.

04

Honest expertise

We will tell you when conditions are not right for a particular sighting rather than promise what we cannot deliver. Trust is built on honesty, and honesty is the foundation of every great safari.

Travel with us

Meet your guide in person

Every enquiry to Absolute Wilderness is answered personally by one of our guides. Tell us what you want to see, and we will tell you honestly whether we can deliver it — and who will take you there.