The Travel Diaries

'Make money in Namibia, spend it in Angola'
The company's founders are travel aficionados who have always wanted to highlight the beauty of Angola at an accessible price.
Rita Kakelo
Travel Diaries is the market's newest travel facilitator, founded by Selmah Benyamin and her brother Anderson Viassi - both travel aficionados who have always desired to highlight the beauty of Angola at an accessible price.

Benyamin, the business' administrator and tour guide, holds a degree in industrial psychology from the University of Namibia and works as a human resources consultant.

She appreciates the outdoors, adding "the natural world is really lovely if you give yourself the opportunity to explore it".

She also enjoys travelling with her friends. "In the group, I am usually in charge of making arrangements and finding us lodging,” she said.

The Travel Diaries will launch its first road trip at the end of August, with more tours planned for October and December. It is mostly for those who are interested in learning about Angolan culture, varied foods, the country's famous scenery, and interacting with locals.

Benyamin's business goal is debunk prevalent misconceptions about Angola that discourage many people from visiting the country and meeting the great people who make it what it truly is.

"There are numerous misconceptions, the most common of which is that Angola is dangerous and expensive."

The excursions offer basic packages for each town, with Lubango being the first on board, as well as tailor-made programmes for all towns. “ We also offer custom-made packages to groups of travellers who want to go outside of the scheduled dates for honeymoons, baecations, travel, business travel, and all other types of travel.

"We offer a wide range of possibilities, and it also serves people with costly tastes who want to try something new at a low cost."

She said she likes to urge people to generate money in Namibia and spend it in Angola because items are much cheaper there. "When you have N$5 000, you have a lot more in kwanza."

According to Benyamin, tourism distinguishes itself from other businesses since it allows you to meet people from various backgrounds and is one of those jobs that you thoroughly enjoy doing, as it is flexible.

She ends by emphasising the government's need to strike a balance between improving domestic tourism and luring international tourists. Namibia's in-house tourism is at a standstill because many Namibians believe that these trips cost an arm and a leg, but she encourages the government to strike a balance that is convenient for locals to tour their own country while also convenient for international tourists in order to generate revenue for the country.

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Namibian Sun 2024-05-18

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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 414.72/OZ UP +1.55% | Copper US$ 5.04/lb UP +4.12% | Zinc US$ 3 059.30/T UP 0.11% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 84.28/BBP UP +0.60% | Platinum US$ 1 084.88/OZ UP +2.19%