TALES FROM A MEMORABLE SOUTH AFRICAN ODYSSEY

I would recommend travelling for everyone, irrespective of their role. All the travel clichés are true – travel widens your horizons and exposes you to new ideas and cultures. From a professional standpoint, I always give bonus points to people who are keen to travel. Willingness to travel is a good measure of character, in my opinion. For someone in a sales or marketing role, travel is essential to understand customers and the market dynamics better, so I always encourage people to do that as much as possible. We have a program in Kohler called ‘Talent Across Borders’ which encourages people to travel to various geographies to learn new skills, understand best practices from other markets and become truly global managers. This brings in an extraordinary richness and diversity to the way we work.

TRAVELLING THROUGH AFRICA
My personal travel experiences are always fun, but work travel can be equally enjoyable! One of my most memorable travel experiences was back in 2014, when I travelled through five African countries with our CEO, David Kohler over a 10day period. The five countries we covered were South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Congo and Kenya. That was a special travel memory for me, both personally and professionally. Not only did the trip provide me with the opportunity to work with the company’s top brass, but it also allowed me to explore and understand the continent better. We got a chance to see different cultures up close and studied various markets. Each country is so different from the other, from the point of view of culture, customer behavior and food. Africa cannot be painted with one brush only – there is so much variety across the continent.

SERENDIPITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
Of all the African countries I have been to, South Africa is perhaps the most special because it has so much to offer. Prior to my trip in 2014, my family and I visited South Africa in 2010 too. That holiday was special for many reasons. At the beautiful Kruger National Park in South Africa, we were fortunate to spot four out of the Big Five animals – elephants, lions, leopards and buffalo. The live sightings visible at Kruger are things you would only otherwise see on the Discovery channel! Moreover, for an art and culture enthusiast like me, the country was a special treat. Their history, the struggle with apartheid and the story of Nelson Mandela is incredibly fascinating. We visited numerous museums and historical monuments on that holiday. Perhaps the biggest highlight of this trip though, was that we watched two games of the 2010 World Cup that was happening at the time. I cannot even begin to describe the feeling of being in a football stadium during the World Cup. The energy and warmth from the crowd was infectious, and who can forget those vuvuzelas! In fact, we even stayed at the same hotel that hosted the Uruguay national team, and I had the opportunity to meet their star striker Diego Forlan. One misconception about South Africa that was totally busted was the lack of safety. We never had a single unpleasant experience, and the people were warm and hospitable. It was a fantastic holiday. Some of our memorable experiences were planned, and some were just serendipitous.

A FOODIE’S PARADISE
The food in South Africa is incredible, and seriously underrated. I don’t think you can match the food in South Africa with any other cuisine in the world. It’s a paradise for foodies, especially if you are a carnivore. Their game meat is outstanding, and by far the most delicious thing I tried was a preparation called ‘kudu’, made with South African antelope meat.

(As told to CHRISTINA MONIZ)