Africa is in Goway’s DNA

For as long as there has been a Goway Travel, Africa and the Middle East have occupied a very special part in my heart. My wife, Claire Hodge, Goway’s VP Administration, hails from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) and spent her teens years in Gqeberha/Port Elizabeth, South Africa. My childhood hero was Tarzan, the legendary apeman from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ adventure novels. And most importantly, Africa was at the top of every globetrotter’s bucket list.

These regions have also been front and centre in Goway’s product line since the early days. Back in the 1970s, Goway first began sending travellers to Africa and the Middle East. More than 55 years later, this makes Goway one of the oldest travel companies in North America offering trips to these destinations, if not the oldest.

In the early days, Goway did not have a lot to offer travellers on the continent, especially in Southern Africa. At the time, South Africa was a pariah nation with apartheid still in effect and the Zimbabwean War of Independence was raging across neighbouring states. The Angolan Crisis brought the Cold War conflict to a head, drawing in South Africa and the United States, as well as Cuba and the Soviet Union.

But Africa is an enormous continent, and at the time Goway offered globetrotters 80-day overland expeditions from London, England to Nairobi, Kenya across the Sahara Desert and the Congo. These trips were true adventure experiences. Although Goway couldn’t guarantee that they would unfold on time, they were the epitome of adventure travel across the region.

Illustration of the "Goway bird," based on the Grey Lourie, known for its distinct call.

A promotional piece from the early 1970s, with the early Goway logo.

In the Beginning 

The first African operator we represented was owned by Kenyan brothers Tim and Peter Bailey. They called their company SIAFU, after the driver or army ants” found in Central and East Africa. Scott Duncan, Goway’s VP Technology & Operations, took one of these journeys, which arrived two months late. One of the highlights of his trip was the night they were swarmed by siafu ants. I even checked with Scott to confirm the details of this trip:

“I believe it was meant to be a four-and-a-half-month trip from London to Arusha, and it took us an extra two months to complete it,” he recalls. “We ran into heavy sand conditions coming out of Timbuktu, which really slowed us down (days of sand matting using traction mats). Getting stuck in a river for four days added to the delay and the diabolical road conditions in what was then Zaire made moving anywhere almost impossible. I think we covered 22,000 kilometres in total, and I’ve never complained about the conditions of Canadian roads since!”

So Goway was at ground zero for the development of the world-class tourism industry we see on the continent today. We offer more than 290 ideas and many different travel styles for 25 countries across Africa and the Middle East on our website today.

My Own Tales of Africa and the Middle East

The top-tier INDABA travel conference showcases the wealth and variety of travel products on offer in most of Africa. It is held every year in Durban, South Africa, where companies like Goway (buyers) meet face to face with African travel operators (sellers). If you want to buy and sell African travel ideas, INDABA is the event to go to. I have been to at least 15 conferences after Nelson Mandela became president in 1994. Regrettably, I was disappointed with the very first event and didn’t return for two years. On the first occasion, it was extremely small compared to today, but I found too many sellers stuck in the past, constantly asking me, “Why should I do business with you?” and “Where were you during apartheid?” When I returned to INDABA two years later, the old boys’ network seemed to have disappeared. Today, some of Goway’s best business partners are from South Africa, and many have also become great friends of mine.

There’'s a famous Richard Mullin quote I appreciate: “The only man I envy is the man who has not yet been to Africa—for he has so much to look forward to.” I have been to Africa over 20 times, visiting Claire’s family and friends, meeting with business associates, and travelling for leisure. I’ve been to Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. I have enjoyed many of my most amazing travel experiences in Africa, including some particularly memorable experiences I will tell you about below.

Botswana

We took a family trip through Botswana, where us Hodges (Bruce, Claire, and teenagers Adam and Bronwyn) did a safari with friends Rod and Janet Hurd and their teenage boys Andrew and Jonathan. We travelled by day in an open safari vehicle from Victoria Falls to Maun, while a large safari truck travelled ahead to prepare our overnight campsites (tents, bush showers, bush toilets, amazing meals) in the bush (no fences). We then spent a couple of nights at a lodge in the Okavango Delta, which I rate as one of God’s most precious places on earth.

The highlights of this trip include me being hit and woken one night, lying against my tent wall, by a running hyena; seeing a wild dog make a kill from only 10 feet away; visiting a wild dog den; discovering elephant footprints around our tent one morning that no one had heard; and cruising the waters of the desert delta. En route, Johanthan had a birthday he will never forget. In the early evening darkness, I presented him with a cake made from dried elephant dung, topped with shaving cream, sliced lemons, and a candle.

Cape to Cairo

I came out of my retirement as a “tour leader” to take this incredible 28-day luxury journey with Claire. We travelled with 12 other people who paid over $100,000 USD per couple (plus airfare) for the ultimate luxury accommodations (except at Lalibela in Ethiopia). We travelled overland from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam by Rovos Rail, which I believe operates the most luxurious trains in the world. We then flew to the Ngorongoro Crater (another one of God’s most precious places) to Rwanda to meet face to face with magnificent mountain gorillas. Then it was on to Lalibela in Ethiopia and eventually to Cairo, where we did a private tour of the King Tut room in the then-unopened Grand Egyptian Museum, plus cruised the Nile for four nights. This amazing journey included at least 14 globetrotters’ popular African “bucket list” items.  One of my personal highlights of this trip was flying in an ultralight over Victoria Falls while the group took the train over the bridge.

Israel and Jordan

These are two of the most incredible destinations in the world for globetrotters, particularly history buffs who know the stories from the Bible. Included on this trip were Wadi Rum, Masada, the Dead Sea, and more. In Petra, I got slightly hurt falling off a sitting camel. This caused me not to go to the candlelit show at the iconic site that night. Our most pleasant experience was Claire and I being allocated the Presidential Suite (the whole top floor) at the famous King David Hotel in Jerusalem for five nights.

Namibia

We took this trip along the Skeleton Coast with our friends, Gary and Bev Barton, with whom we enjoyed another Rovos Rail journey between Pretoria and Swakopmund and then flew in a small plane up the Skeleton Coast to Shipwreck Lodge. We returned to Windhoek flying across the most unforgiving desert in the world. Combined with luxury accommodations, we got to see the world’s highest sand dunes, the world’s second deepest gorge, and world- famous Etosha National Park. The highlight was learning and appreciating that if you survived a shipwreck or plane crash, you’d be unlucky because you’d be certain die a slow death. Our pilot emphasized what buttons to push if we went down and he couldn’t react to the emergency.

Back in South Africa, Claire and I also visited Lion Sands Game Lodge in Sabi Sands, bordering the unfenced Kruger National Park,  to enjoy another unique experience: staying overnight in the bush in a tree house by ourselves. We were provided with a hot meal, cold champagne, and a special phone. It was surreal and obviously we didn't get attacked by wild animals.

Rwanda

Claire and I have been to Rwanda twice, which involved three treks to encounter, up close, the country’s famous families of magnificent mountain gorillas. My very first gorilla was spotted when I got briefly separated from our trekking party. Crawling under the bamboo canopy, I heard a ruffled noise and looked around to see a young gorilla sitting beside me, looking at me with cheeky eyes...and then he farted. On our Cape to Cairo trip, I was able to arrange the shortest, easiest trek for Goway’s guests, but Claire and I were then given the longest and hardest.  Spending time again with a mountain gorilla family was totally worth it, however.

Tanzania

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro

Along with running a marathon years later, climbing the 5,895 metres (19,341 feet) of Mt Kilimanjaro was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. It was both a physical and mental challenge. I had to be fit, and I overdid it. Mentally, I knew I had to resist the temptation to walk fast on the trek itself, which I did. For months before the trek, I walked the steel steps of our office building (five floors plus to the basement) and a metal stair ladder to the building's elevator room. After a while, the steps became slippery from my sweat, which made this exercise dangerous. 

On the Kilimanjaro ascent morning, I had to hold back Robin, my climbing mate. Each day prior he would race ahead to socialize with a group of girls from the U.K.’s Channel Islands. On the morning of the ascent, he wanted us to beat them to the top. On the way up, we had to stop several times, which I didn’t object to. Robin actually complained: “I think I’m going to die.” But we both got to the volcano's rim. I then continued on with one of our two guides for another 30 minutes to the actual highest point. At one stage I slipped in the ice and snow. I did not feel I was going to fall into the crater but was impressed that my guide grabbed me by the backpack to steady me. The majority of people who don’t make it to the rim are usually young and think the trip is too easy. It is all about getting your body to adjust to the altitude. 

Great Migration Safari

My second trip to Africa was during Operation Desert Storm (the Gulf War) in August 1990. We travelled for over two weeks in the Serengeti in Tanzania, where we had no news of world events. World War III could have started for all we knew. Claire and I travelled in the back of a large safari truck with a young couple from Amsterdam plus two driver escorts. Highlights include the time when Claire was not willing to use the camp toilet because there was a baboon sitting on top of the roof.

That night we watched a lion from our tent walk over to our simmering fireplace and make the famous MGM roar. But the biggest highlight was still to come: our drivers tricked us into believing we had to get up and into the back of the truck at 3:00 a.m. We passengers instantly went back to sleep until we realized we had stopped. The sun was slowly rising and literally all around us were hundreds and hundreds of wildebeests, impalas, zebras, and more, giving space to a lion that they probably knew had already had breakfast. We had driven through the Great Migration two days earlier, when the animals were further back from the road. Now we were the first vehicle to cross through them in the morning, and we could nearly touch them. I sat on top of the truck cabin to photograph the 360-degree experience. Unfortunately, the photographs didn’t turn out very well.

Africa and the Middle East Continue to be in Goway’s Blood

Goway’s first Africa brochure was published in 1999 as a two-colour print.

The Chalkley Treehouse at Lion Sands Game Reserve, South Africa, graces the cover of this Goway Africa brochure.

Goway’s last Africa & Middle East brochure was printed in 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Goway’s very first brochure for Africa was in two colours: orange and black. These were perfect for our cover’s featured animal: the giraffe. It was a 12-page brochure that included 20 travel ideas. Our last Africa brochure in 2020 was 76 pages and featured 250 independent and escorted travel ideas.

For a long time, GowayAir sold special fares with South African Airways until the airline nearly went broke. It doesn’t even fly to North America as I write. However, Goway does have special air arrangements with Qatar Airways, Etihad, Turkish Airlines, Delta, KLM, and Ethiopian Airlines.

For a long time until 2025, Moira Smith was Goway’s VP Africa. She was the first person who turned me onto the Richard Mullin quote I mentioned above. I give Moira credit for putting Goway on the map as a seller of Africa and the Middle East in North America.  In fact, it was Moira who introduced and perfected our comprehensive luxury touring and private guided programs in Africa. It was Goway’s lucky day when she came knocking on our door just after she moved to North America from Durban. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to downsize and combine the Africa and Asia teams under Moira. In time, we again split the leadership of the two destinations. Moira is now responsible for Asia and my daughter Bronwyn is now VP for Africa and Middle East. Moira, Bronwyn, and Goway’s Management Board are happy with this arrangement. From a personal point of view, I can say that Bronwyn has caught the Africa Bug. In May 2026 she ran the famous African Two Oceans Ultra Marathon in Cape Town. With thousands of runners she found the Cape Peninsula breathtaking and the atmosphere fun and festive. She raised $3,725 for Project Rhino (a wildlife cause we support). Africa is definitely in Bronwyn’s DNA, too.

More Goway Origin Stories

"Return to Oz: Goway's Iconic Australian Connection" is the first in our new series of origin stories about Bruce Hodge and Goway's over 55 years of globetrotting adventures. Visit Tales from the Road to see all the latest stories as they're published once a month this year.