Richard Knocker

The Map’s Edge Director and Guide

Naturalist, wildlife enthusiast, ecologist, conservationist, genial host – and more recently, co-host of the acclaimed “Serengeti Safari One Day At A Time” series on YouTube – who better than Richard to accompany you on your African adventure?

Richard was born on a farm in Kenya in 1963 and was whisked away on safari almost as soon as he could toddle. Fast forward to 1985, the start of six wonderful years in Turkey, where he taught English at Marmara University in Istanbul followed by his first foray into guiding, leading trips across Turkey for a top US Adventure Travel Company. The first Gulf War had a devastating effect on tourism in Turkey, so Richard and his wife Jules moved back to Kenya to run a camp on the edge of the Masai Mara.

The pull of some of Africa’s greatest wilderness areas soon brought them to Tanzania, where they set up and managed camps in Tarangire and the Serengeti for Ker & Downey and later Mashado.

It was during this time that Richard gained much of his knowledge and experience of the Serengeti and introduced his trademark walks. In late 1998, Richard decided to pull away from camp management and concentrate on full-time guiding. He joined Nomad Safari Guides and was a driving force behind their efforts to develop new safari ideas in exciting destinations, as well as helping mould a new generation of motivated guides through his involvement in the company’s guide training programme.

His passion for the bush life remains undimmed and he revels in the opportunity to introduce like-minded enthusiasts to the joys of the African wilderness. He is endlessly fascinated by the whole spectrum of the wonderful show that Nature lays on for us.

 

Richard is a Director of The Map’s Edge and guides safaris all over Africa.