Alan McSmith If someone would have asked Alan as an young boy what he would want to do with his life, he would have answered: I want to put on a backpack, camp in the bush and track elephant.
Well, if you fast forward almost 25 years as a professional guide, that’s exactly what he’s done, and a host of satisfied clients in the process all agree that the dream has developed into a burning passion. The true pulse of Africa existsoff the beaten track, a hospitable campfire and stars overhead, Alan enthuses. After almost half a lifetime driving, poling, paddling and walking through the wild-lands of six African countries, the experience on an Alan McSmith safari or wilderness trail is exciting, enriching and certainly unconventional.
Flexibility is assured, no matter your taste for wildlife. Alan is well known in the industry for his mellow character and dry sense of humour, but it’s his steady confidence in handling big game, often in challenging situations, which safari clients remember most fondly. As for elephant encounters...It’s when talking, tracking and watching these majestic animals that his eyes sparkle the most.
This is the backdrop set for his safaris and trails and Alan is equally at home in the lowveld of SA where he has exclusive concession rights at numerous private lodges, or further a field in the sub-continent. He helped pioneer dugout canoe and walking expeditions in the Okavango Delta following the blazing trails of old mates Peter Comley and Steve Bolnick. After over 3000 kilometers spent in a dugout canoe (where there is a canoe there is a way!) he is considered an authority on the area. He has led numerous specialist mammal and birding safaris through Namibia, Botswana and the Lower Zambezi River and is an invited member of greatguides.org.
Alan is also well known for breaking new ground in wilderness trails in Okavango and the Kruger National Park where he leads primitive back-packed camping treks sleeping in the open and traveling light. Due to the powerful conservation-based impact of these encounters, and while his back and knees last, Alan hopes to run these trails as often as possible.
Alan has a poetic soul, and is deeply involved in conservation and guide training. He travels regularly to Europe to address leadership congresses on the wilderness philosophy and was invited to speak at the prestigious TedX event in Amsterdam in 2011, which was watched online by 30 000 viewers. In 2007, along with his wife Sarah, he founded the non-profit organisation Wilderness Vision which develops sustainable leadership and conservation awareness programs.
When not at work Alan currently lives in White River in SA with Sarah and children Jake, Meg and Lucky … and a menagerie of dogs, cats, snakes, chickens and other creatures. Nature is more than just a place, it’s a way of life, he muses.
