Background
Franco was born in 1983 on a remote farm on the outskirts of Gobabis in eastern Namibia. At the age of two he was taken into the SOS Children’s Village in Windhoek where he stayed until he completed secondary school in 2002.
By a stroke of great fortune, and with impeccable timing, the SOS Children's Home was approached by a charitable institution called “Children in the Wilderness” who offered to take some of the kids out into the wilderness to experience natural wonders of their country. The group selected included a young, ambitious and eager Franco whose enthusiasm and passion for the natural fauna and flora was apparent from the moment the bus full of joyful kids arrived in Sossusvlei. After being trained in basic mentorship skills, he was enlisted as a tent leader and he took inspiration from watching the camp guides carry out their duties. After seeing how this was done, he knew what he wanted to do in future and became determined to be part of the tourism industry.
He enrolled for a four-year bachelor’s degree course in 2003 but soon realized that his passion lay with nature and being outdoors so he quit after just six months and went to join Wilderness Safaris. We worked at a variety of lodges as a local field guide and then graduated to join their overland explorations department in 2014. Franco lives in Windhoek with his fiancée and their young son.

Guiding Experience
Franco started as a trainee guide in 2004, and undertook a number of internal training courses and worked at a variety of camps before being appointed as a full-time guide in 2006. Having passed the intermediate level, he went on to work as an advanced level guide on the Ongava Private Game Reserve. In order to get there, he first had to learn weapons proficiency and how to conduct guided walks in a ‘big game area’ and he did this on very valuable guide training courses in both Zambia and Botswana. Afterwards continued with his Namibian national guiding courses before graduating with a National Guiding Certificate in 2012.
He has worked at lodges near most of the iconic hotspots in Namibia including Sossusvlei, Damaraland, the Skeleton Coast, Hartmann’s valley and Etosha National Park. While there he gained intimate knowledge of the surrounding areas and has put that to good use since joining the overland explorations department in 2014. He then guided exclusive fly-in safari expeditions for Natural Habitat and WWF until mid-2017 when he chose to join the Ultimate Safaris Naturalist guiding team.

Personal Interests
Franco is passionate about his work and he loves socializing and meeting new people. He enjoys exercising and outdoor activities, and he has become a keen birder and an accomplished photographer. The combination of skills acquired over the years and an engaging personality which allows great empathy with his guests make Franco a highly-sought after private guide.

Why I enjoy guiding
Through my choice of career, I can have my office almost anywhere I like, and I also get to meet a lot of different people who are all fascinating to talk to. I always like being surprised by mother nature in all aspects and I really enjoy being able to share those moments with my guests - as well as being able to see their reactions. This is what keeps me motivated and enthusiastic all day and every day.

On Trail
While on a drive in one of the ephemeral rivers up in northwest Namibia, we came across a herd of desert adapted elephants. We followed them for about twenty minutes, observing their behavior and the way they were able to move so silently through the bush and then, as they went through one of the salvadora bushes, they flushed out two cheetahs, a mother and her sub adult cub. We were so surprised that we just watched them run across and disappear and none of us thought about taking pictures. We all got out from the vehicle shortly afterwards and we saw them walking off at a distance with all the springbok and oryx looking at them. I decided this would be the perfect time to have a coffee break so I laid the table with all the goodies and all had their cups of coffee close to their mouths when, within 50 yards of us, a honey badger mom trotted with her baby in her mouth. She was trying to relocate it and, again, we were all frozen in that moment of awe. We all just stood there silently, watching her disappear and looking at each other, trying to come to terms of what just happened. It was a truly memorable day which none of us are ever likely to be able to repeat.