Sylvanus Mbise

Sylvanus is an Arusha lad, born and raised here in northern Tanzania. His father was a teacher and his mother tended their family farm while they put Sylvanus and his siblings through school. Encouraged by his highly practical father, he initially trained at a technical college where he learned all sorts of artisanal crafts such as masonry, mechanics and plumbing. That’s how he first joined Nomad, as a “fundi” working at Sand Rivers Selous, and this is where the natural world first attracted his interest.

He returned to Arusha and decided to change direction and pursue a career in guiding, which he did initially with Mt Meru Tour Guides, and then shortly after with Nomad. His first step was as a transfer driver but it quickly became evident that he had the makings of a natural guide. He moved to Chada Katavi where he cut his teeth in one of the wildest parks in Tanzania, and spent the wet season helping the guiding teams in the Serengeti and Selous. In 2010 he became a permanent Northern guide, although he’s still fond of those areas of Tanzania where he started out.