Wildwatch - Biography - Vicky Simbeye

Name: Vicky Simbeye

Country: Tanzania, United Republic Of

Profile: The fourth of five children, Vicky Duncan Simbeye was born near Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Her father was a staff sergeant and her mother was a business woman. Both parents are now retired and devoted to farming and caring for their cattle.
From an early age Vicky had a deep love for animals. By the time she was eight, she was adopting baby hedgehogs from the wild and raising them. Vicky also enjoyed taking care of the vast menagerie of dogs, cats, rabbits, chicken, ducks, doves, goats and cows kept at home.
Vicky completed primary school in 1992 and graduated high school in 1996. Although she was a good student, she was more interested in spending time outdoors and learning about animals. After school, Vicky joined a vocational training college, where he learned how to drive and maintain vehicles, as well as pipe fitting and boiler mechanics. Due to her quick mind, she was soon selected to work as a teacher’s assistant. She also participated in a project to replace water pipes in the town of Moshi, as well as carrying out other maintenance activities. In 2000 Vicky had the opportunity to work with the International Labour Organisation on the construction of the road between Sadala and Machame in the Kilimanjaro region.
By working hard during this time, Vicky managed to save enough money to go to school and study animal ecology. Her dream came true in 2002, when she attended the Tour Guide School in Arusha, where she learned lots about animals and being a tour guide. In the meantime, Vicky was working as a walking guide, leading city tours from a restaurant, conduction cultural tours in Maasai villages and teaching visitors Swahili.
Vicky completed her studies at the Guide School in 2003 and went to work as a chef at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge. Looking for more skills, after a few months she attended a guiding course run by Green Footprint Adventures and went to work with them as a tour guide for a year. Her duties included taking guests on night drives, nature walks, forest hiking expeditions and mountain biking tours.
In 2005 Vicky travelled to the northern Serengeti, where she encountered the &Beyond trainers. At the time, &Beyond was looking for people with potential to guide the guests in the company’s luxurious camps and lodges. She was lucky enough to be chosen and joined Mwewe Ranger Training School, located in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area in the northern Serengeti, close to the Kenyan border, where animals stroll from the Serengeti into Kenya’s Masai Mara Game Reserve. Vicky learned a great deal about the bush at Mwewe, where she also met Bill Braunch, writer of the book Reptiles of Eastern Africa.
After her training, Vicky was sent to &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge, where she has worked until today. Apart from his formal training, she brings to her work her love of animals, a strong sense of determination and a desire for adventure. Vicky’s immense patience is often rewarded by amazing discoveries about the behaviour of animals made in the company of the guests in her vehicle. She also enjoys sharing his work by posting sightings on WILDwatch and taking children from nearby community schools on conservation lessons.
Vicky has three young children, two girls and one boy.