I first came to Tanzania in 2021 as a tourist to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. I´ve always loved travelling and mountaineering, but I´d never imagined that this trip would change the direction of my life – especially through Ekeney Njau, my mountain guide. She became a close friend and I helped her to found the first and only female owned tour agency at Kilimanjaro. Tourism industry and society here are still male dominated and lack fair and safe jobs for women.
At that time, my own life was entering a new chapter. My daughters were grown up and I was looking for something new professionally, a meaningful challenge. So we turned her dream into Kilimanjaro Wanderwomen Tours. I discovered a side of Tanzania that you don’t find in a guidebook – and I realised how much can happen when women support and empower each other. What began with one woman’s vision has grown into a team that gives women opportunities to work as porters and guides, escaping the vicious circle of poverty and oppression – at the same time offering unique experiences for climbers to connect with those amazing women on Mount Kilimanjaro.
With FemTravel I want to create connections between travellers and local communities beyond Kilimanjaro. I am passionate about travel that goes beyond simply seeing a place – travel that allows us to genuinly meet people, share stories, step outside our comfort zone and see our own lives from a different perspective. I believe we often need much less than we think to be happy. Travelling sometimes is exactly what we need to rediscover what really matters in our own.