To kick off series 4 of Talking Bush, Safaris & Luxury Travel we have Bruce Simpson - Bruce has probably spent more time on safari in his life than anyone else and has unrivalled experience of running luxury safari camps and companies within Africa. Bruce Simpson started his ecotourism career in 1990 working as a guide at Londolozi in the well-known Sabi-Sand Game Reserve of South Africa and ended up in various management roles with companies including Londolozi, & Beyond and Singita.

Bruce was part of the early team of Singita Private Game Reserve where he was employed in the role of General Manager during the development stages of this luxury photographic Safari brand, managing Singita Ebony, Singita Boulders and Castleton Camp..

In the early 2000s Bruce moved to Botswana to join Wilderness Safaris as the Chief Operating Officer, and later to become the Deputy MD, for Okavango Wilderness Safaris who at the time were operating 16 lodges in and around the Okavango Delta.

Bruce and his wife Cate then moved to Seychelles and spent four years as General Manager on the new North Island followed after which Bruce moved to Namibia to take on the role of CEO of Wilderness Safaris’ in Namibia. Bruce focused on restructuring and reorganising the business of 14 lodges, a travel shop and air charter business, pioneering ground breaking joint venture partnerships with rural communities.

During this time in Namibia, and for the next 10 years Bruce continued to manage the North Island business in the role of Managing Director as part of his role in Wilderness Safaris.

Bruce then moved within Wilderness Safaris to the head office where he became Chief Operating Officer of Wilderness Collection, a premium brand of dynamic products within the Wilderness Safaris group, and was responsible for developing the brand of products with operations in diverse countries of Africa including Botswana, Kenya, Seychelles and Congo Brazzaville.

Later, as Chief Business Development Officer for Wilderness Safaris, he operated with a mandate to investigate, negotiate and develop new opportunities for the company in Africa including Kenya, Ethiopia & Tanzania and was the lead executive responsible for the establishment and development of the Wilderness Safaris Rwanda business

Bruce left Wilderness Safaris after 16 years in 2016 to take on the marketing & management contract for North Island under the umbrella of his own company, Reflecting Africa, to run and oversee all aspects of the business.

At the same time Bruce and his wife, Cate, having started Reflecting Africa together, offering consulting on business development and strategic growth in the photographic tourism sector as well as Interior and Lodge design.

In  September 2019, Bruce took on the exciting challenge as CEO of Time and Tide, a family owned business which operates 8 safari camps in Zambia and a luxury private Island in Madagascar called Mavana. His mandate is to professionalise the existing business, increase occupancy and grow and develop the company into new regions in Africa.

Bruce currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa with Cate and their two daughters, Emma and Michaela aged 11 and 9 respectively. With both Bruce and Cate working from home and being involved in the same industry, Cate has grown her Interior Design business and focussed on photographic Safari Lodges and private homes, there is often opportunity for the family to travel into some of the wonderful and diverse wilderness areas that they both operate in.