Holger Asche is a true North German and has worked as a travel agent for many years in leading positions for travel agents, special and major tour operators, shipping companies and airlines — interrupted only by studying tourism business administration and attending WITS Business School in Johannesburg. It was there that Holger's deep love for Africa sprouted for the first time and grew stronger with every subsequent business and private trip. Sometimes just a long weekend, but preferably three weeks with the whole family — the main thing is that Holger is in Africa! What could be more obvious than showing other people the beauty and diversity of this fantastic continent together with his long-time friends Jan and Frank.
Jan Seidel was born in South Africa and heads our branch in Johannesburg. Growing up there, he wanted to emigrate to Germany — his father's home country — as a Twen, but returned to his beloved African homeland after just three months. Here he became a customer service manager at Lufthansa, later moved to British Airways and managed the international contact center there for many years. In more than 22 years of tourism, Jan has traveled around the world. But nowhere has the cultural and natural diversity of a continent affected him more than in South Africa. He still travels here often today; looking for photo opportunities for a beautiful African sunset or buffaloes swirling through the open grasslands, swirling up dust.
As a long-standing sales specialist, Frank Wardenberg has a keen sense of wishes and aspirations. For twelve years, he managed a subsidiary of British Airways as a diploma in Business Administration (BA), Sales and Marketing. That's when his over 20 years of experience in tourism, a strong team spirit and his friends Jan and Holger combine to form Ajimba African Tours. Because, Frank thinks, what could be better than sharing a passion for people and cultures with a love of travel — that's why he brings his extensive network to the Ajimba. Getting closer to local people using the example of many educational projects that Frank has also been supporting in Africa for years through computer donations is a worthwhile incentive that he can also implement with Ajimba.
Ajimba leaves the beaten path — for a journey with the awareness that he also wants to give something back to people and nature. To do this, we work exclusively with partners, hotel and lodge operators who are socially involved in their local communities, have founded or support foundations to help the local population or schools, and primarily employ employees from the surrounding area and pay them fair wages. In return, we enable you to provide local projects with advice and assistance. Through our commitment to a travel offer that is based on human rights, working conditions, environmental protection and sustainability, we give you the opportunity to consciously experience southern Africa with its touching flora and fauna and its open people. In doing so, we invite all those to join the high standard of creating a holistic experience of people and nature with a trip. A trip that you set off with a good feeling and from which you will return with an even better one.
If you travel to southern Africa and want to get to know foreign cultures there, unfortunately, you won't get to your destination without an airplane.
In this way, every Ajimba guest necessarily and unfortunately also consciously contributes to global warming! Since our trips do not (yet) offer more climate-friendly and reasonable alternatives to conventional flying, we at Ajimba take responsibility for the consequences of our actions. Together with our partner atmosfair, we want to reduce the impact on the climate.
“Compensation cannot solve the climate problem, but it is necessary as the second-best solution as long as the best solution does not yet exist!” (Atmosfair)
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council, GSTC, creates and manages global sustainable standards as a non-profit organization.
Also known as GSTC criteria, for two groups: political decision makers and destination managers as well as hotels and tour operators.
These standards are guiding principles and minimum requirements that a tourism company or destination should meet. Protect and preserve the world's natural and cultural resources.
At the same time, they ensure that tourism is a tool for preserving nature and fighting poverty.
Fair Trade Tourism is a non-profit organization that promotes best practice methods for responsible tourism in Africa. The organization raises awareness and supports tourism companies through membership and certification programs to act more sustainably.
Fair Trade Tourism certifies tourism companies in South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and has formal recognition agreements with equivalent certification programs in Namibia, Seychelles, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania.
Fair Trade Tourism supports tourism companies with proven methods, toolkits, and advice to help them on the journey to promote sustainability.
We are also a member of Forum travel differently. More than 130 tour operators who are committed to sustainable tourism have joined forces here. The name stands for special travel experiences that are oriented towards people and the environment. Together, we use local resources carefully and selectively and treat foreign cultures with respect.
If you want
Journeys where you grow! The movie.
In addition, through our entrepreneurial activities, we aim to promote the sustainable development goals formulated by the United Nations in 2015 to the greatest possible extent. By 2030, extreme poverty, inequality, injustice and climate change should be stopped.