The A-team that makes it all happen, working day in day out to first design and then accompany you on your custom-made adventure.

Preparing for your safari you’ll have met, or at least emailed with, our safari consultants Chris and Ingrid. Owners of the company, it is their knowledge of Tanzania’s untamed bush and white sand beaches that make our adventures so special.

From the moment you decide upon your adventure, the operations team kicks in. There’s our Arusha office, our driver/guides, mountain and camp crews, cooks and ever important logistics crews, all combining forces to make your adventure the adventure of a life-time.

Let us introduce ourselves a little…

Chris Pilley – Company Director

Born in Jersey, Channel Islands. Surrounded by merging oceans, grew up with nature and adventure in his blood, a member of the Young Ornithologist club at the age of 10years old, and with that continued into his teens exploring and experience what the great outdoors had to offer.

World traveler, involved in many areas of tourism for the last 15 years. Experienced bush walker, guided several disabled groups up Mt. Kilimanjaro one being a world record taking an epic 21 day climb through arrow glacier. Dive master, having the pleasure to guide fellow divers through the crystal blue waters of Thailand and Honduras also involved in the removal of alien star fish and sea urchins to re-establishment of macro systus seaweed forests in Tasmania, Australia. Several back to back snow boarding season working as a snow board instructor opening up the powder slopes for those who wanted to free ride!!, loves wide open spaces, extreme mountainous areas and wild windswept coastlines where he feels most at home…

Arrived in Tanzania back in 2000, he now takes a great pleasure in showing everyone what he has discovered with the custom made adventure safaris that Bush 2 Beach Safaris design and arrange.

Ingrid Vaes – Company Director

Ingrid first came to East Africa as a volunteer back in 2000 when she was involved in a community development program setting up a drip irrigation program for the local community. It was there she fell in love with the people and the land and moved to Tanzania where she set down her roots and joined the B2B team in 2006.

From there on Ingrid has streamlined all aspects of operations to be the well tuned professional company that has risen through the ranks as one of the leading adventure specialist in Tanzania to date.

Like her partner Chris, if she’s not in the office creating utimate adventures she’ll be in the bush living them…

Niels Emmer – Marketing

Niels was warned about Africa but didn’t listen and was hooked a full two minutes into his first visit to Tanzania. Chris arranged his first safari, and his second, … and holidays turned into a full-blown addiction.

In 2004 he left the Netherlands for good and moved to Moshi, on the foot-hills of Africa’s highest mountain – mt. Kilimanjaro, where he established an East-African branch of a Dutch NGO, assisting secondary schools building and running computer-labs.

Fast forward a number of years to 2011, when opportunity knocked. Marketing the treasures of Tanzania and the ever-amazing adventures created at Bush2Beach allows him to combine his IT skills with his love for the untamed bush, making him a very happy man.

Simon Kimaro – Driver guide

Original from Mtu wa Mbu – were is family still lives today farming on the fertile soils that surround the “Great Rift Valley” – spent his younger days growing up on the foothills of Kilimanjaro’s Machame area coming from Wa-Chaga tribe. Passionate about wildlife and the Tanzania bush, he has been a professional driver guide for the last 8 years and has grown into the position as head driver guide for Bush 2 Beach.

Simon is cool, calm and collected in everyway and his reputation as a great guide is unstated title but seems fitting with the amount of repeat clients that ask for him time and time again. Whilst Simon is not in the field he continues to play an important roll in training younger drivers sharing his knowledge, experience and ensuring that the vehicle fleet is kept in tip top order to handle the rough conditions that the Tanzanian bush holds.

Simon finally tied the knot in 2009 and recently became the proud father of a healthy boy;  he enjoys keeping his finger on the pulse of Tanzania politics, strives to attend law school in the coming years and study criminal law, the later we hope he changes his mind and continues to reveal the wanders of Tanzania to all that visit.

Just want to let you know we returned home safely, and to thank you again for a great trip.  Not sure if we conveyed this adequately but Simon was really fantastic throughout, a perfect guide for us; quiet and relaxed but confident, capable, and engaged.  He was also awesome with the kids and will make a great dad:)

John Longino – Driver Guide

A senior guide Bush 2 Beach is fortunate to now have working in the B2B Team. I have known John for around 8 years but try nailing the guy down!! Now that is not an easy task. After a big gap in not meeting or learning of John’s whereabouts we met in passing around 2 years ago, I learnt then that the 4 years absence was due to him driving and guiding clients in and out of Tanzania with large amounts of time spent in the Kenyan National Parks.

John is the most senior driver we have and he is still a young man in his early 40’s – Johns 25 years of driving and guiding clients throughout East Africa has brought him to an elite class of professional driver guides that’s shines out without effort when heading out into the national parks. Another great asset that John has behind him is that before he became a driver guide he was a mechanic for 5 years, he has the ability to fix a car with what the bush has to offer in order for him to make it back to the nearest town to complete the repair.

Johns humor is great and his personality light with a uncanny understanding of English, he may be quiet at times but he is following every word that is being said and will come back in on the conversation on the punch line. John is married with x 2 children, his daughter is 17 years and his son is 10 years old, he lives on the outskirts of Arusha originally coming from Shinyanga region and the Gold mining town of Kahama.

Edwin Lyanga – Driver Guide

With us for many seasons already, Edwin Ernest Lyanga is an experienced driver/guide, born in Morogoro. He grew up in the Singida region before coming to Arusha, where he not only obtained a number of diplomas in tourism but also, in 2009, became the proud father of Brian.

Edwin knows the Serengeti inside and out thanks to his 4+ years of work there for Serengeti Baloon Safaris and also spent some very enjoyable time working in the Selous Game Reserve, before ending up at Bush2Beach back in 2008.  He can spot wild-life as easilly as he can chat with you in English, Swahili, Nyaturu and Nyiramba and can just about handle himself in Spanish as well.

Outside of work he enjoys European soccer, Bongo Flava (Tanzanian Hip Hop) and the great outdoors, and one of his ambitions is to one day summit the great Mount Kilimanjaro.

Athuman Ramadhan Makula – Driver Guide

Born in ’71 in the Singida region, Athuman moved to Arusha for his secondary education, after which he studied in the coastal city of Tanga and completed his military service in the Iringa region, before starting his working career in Dar es Salaam. There’s not many places in Tanzania he has not been…

It was in ‘96 that Athuman found a job as a purchasing-clark at a tourism company, where he not just met his wife-to-be but also got introduced to the wonders of the bush, enticing him to start a training at the Wildlife College to learn the ins- and outs of being a driver/guide. Having successfully completed that training, he then studied French and even found the time to start a family, which now consist of Athuman, his wife, one girl and two boys.

We write the start of the new millennium, 2000, when he started his first adventure as an official driver/guide, which he has been enjoying for over 11 years now. It is his personality, combined with over a decade of experience showcasing the wonders of Tanzania, that makes him such a wonderful host for any safari experience with Bush2Beach.

Besides being in the bush, Athuman enjoys watching wildlife movies and documentaries, reading books and exchanging ideas with his friends.

James Mollel – Mobile Fly-Camp manager and Driver guide

James has a great experience and knowledge of the different tribes and cultures in Tanzania and before joining Bush 2 Beach had been working in a permanent tented camp in the heart of Serengeti as camp manager and driver guide. Although James loved his lifestyle in the bush and learnt so much from it – he decided it was time for a change of scenery and moved back to Arusha seeking employment as a driver guide.

After several safaris and as James grew into the company we soon discovered his natural ability in organization. It was there upon that he grew into the position as Operations and Camp manager for Bush2 Beach’s own permanent Tented Camps and mobile Fly-camps.

Throughout the season he spends a lot of time in the heart of Serengeti and the Ngorongoro conservation area running our mobile fly-camps at the special camp locations, where he oversees that the camps are set correctly and that all who come to experience Bush2Beach’s camps, are guaranteed the best service and personal attention that you would expect from a lodge or a permanent tented camp.

James is a very confident young man and warms at the opportunity to give a speech skillfully in either English or Swahili at any B2B function, it has become a bit of a standing joke that James will always open such events – this ability is very special and his relaxed personality and understanding of the African bush ensue that even a short time spent in his company will be rewarding and educational and what better way to receive this knowledge from a born Masai.

Paul Silwamba – Kilimanjaro mountain guide

Originally from Sumbawanga, which is tucked away at the bottom of Lake Tanganyika the longest lake in the world. His family still work the land with the cattle farm, and once a year Paul makes the 3 day journey to catch up with friends and family.

Paul moved to Moshi 11 yrs ago where he first completed his professional level of mountain guiding, he then set foot on Kili as a porter for 2 years of mountain experience and has now been guiding for 8 years, with a healthy record of 100!! + successful summit attempts. On the mountain he is a gentle giant, with a huge a personality and grin to go with it, his ability to bring around negative thinking into positive action is a special gift that Paul certainly has and his B2B kili crew are always there to back him up..what better combination can there be to make up a winning Kili Team…

If he is not climbing the mountain he loves either watching football or playing it. He now lives in Arusha with his wife and young son.

Gody Silwamba – Operations Manager

Like his brother Paul – Originally from Sumbawanga, Beatus (Gody) left his home land and traveled up to Arusha in a quest for work. He joined “Pauls kili crew” and gained over 3 years of experience climbing Kilimanjaro varying routes rising through the ranks to assistant guide, he has summited Kili more times than I can remember, assisted with two film shoots up the mountain one being the IMAX movie and the other a French reality TV show “Destination Afrika” the B2B guides x 6 lead by Paul and 160 strong porter crew assisted 9 disabled contestants and a 32 film crew to the summit of Kilimanjaro.

Gody’s leadership and organization skills made him a perfect candidate for our operations, he was somewhat happy to say good bye to the mountain as time was wearing on knee joints and as and attended wildlife college to gain a further understanding of the African bush and it’s inhabitants, a bubbly personality and a pleasure to have as team player. If you can tie him down for more than 10 minutes he has wealth of stories, but chances of this happening are few and far between!! most people operate on x 4 cylinders Gody is primed with a V 12 set up and running on octane fuel.

Matthew & Cha Cha – Camp Crew

One of the ingredients of the success of our Mobile Fly-Camps and Permanent Tented Camps, is our dedicated camp crew, who’s only wish is to make your bush experience unforgettable.

Whilst you are out on a game drive or walking safari, they’ll be setting up tents, prepare your kerosene lamps for the twilight  and put together a luxury dinner. You return after several hours to a full set camp and delicious refreshments – hot water is being prepared for you to enjoy a bush shower and your sleeping tents awaits, cool and large enough for you to relax with reflections of your days game activities.

It is perhaps easy to overlook the organisation and dedication that goes into such an experience, but it would not have been possible without the work of Cha Cha in Arusha, and Matthew on camp.