About Us

     As a child I, Jeff Asher-Wood, loved to be outdoors all the time, this passion is still with me now, so what I'm saying is:  "I've never grown up."  It all started in the year 2000 when I moved to St Lucia after a business deal went wrong and my family and I lost everything we owned. Here I worked in a fishing shop for 8 months. Then came my lucky break and a old client of mine helped me to buy my first vehicle, a 1981 Land Rover and I started Water's Edge Fishing Safaris. One year later I started doing tours to Hluhluwe/Imfolozi Park. In 2003 Bheki Myeni, a Zulu man, and I started Euro Zulu, hence the name Euro (one European) and Zulu (one Zulu).   The logo having a head of a white rhino and the head of a black rhino. We bought a newer Toyota Hilux, and then two years later we bought an old Land Cruiser, which has since been sold and upgraded to another Toyota Hilux. In 2005 Bheki left us and Maria Toteise and Jethro Mlambo became my new partners. We opened a booking office in town and started as an Avis agent. Now we have two open game drive vehicles. In October 2007 Rick Pascoe joined the team as one of our other excellent guides. Our guides see themselves as entertainers as well as educators and truly love what they do. It is their true passion.

We strive to "exceed the expectations" of our guests from the first email or phone call to the end of our tours!!

The Guides.

Jeff Asher-Wood

     Qualified and registered tour guide Jeff Asher-Wood is unquestionably as mad as a box of frogs, but for passion for his work and downright enthusiasm, there’s no one quite like him.  Jeff has been called South Africa’s answer to the late Steve Irwin, and when you meet him it’s easy to see why.

     Those lucky enough to travel on safari with Jeff witness first-hand his tireless enthusiasm, his knowledge and sense of humour. 

     One traveller christened a trip with Jeff as the “Ferrari Safari” following a hair raising high speed chase through the bush in hot pursuit of a pride of hunting lions.

      Jeff is fast gaining a reputation as the “Big Cat Man” in his relentless pursuit of lion, leopard and cheetah whilst on safari and certainly he does seem to have an enviable knack of spotting big cats, where other guides fail.

     The local Zulus believe Jeff’s outstanding record of finding the elusive leopard and other big cats, not forgetting the rare black rhino, has nothing at all to do with luck.  Not for nothing is he known as the “Sangoma” amongst the Zulu people of Hluhluwe – a Sangoma is a gifted or spiritual person with special powers.

(COURTESY OF PARKER TOURS NEWS ITEM)

Rick Pascoe (The Retreaded Hippy)

     A child of the pre-sixties (and still with the long hair to prove it), he spent his formative years with a hunting rifle in one hand and a fishing rod in the other. This is where his love affair with everything to do with the environment and nature was born and nurtured. Many years later, and with a corporate career, a mortgage, a number of cars and two kids behind him, he is now doing what he loves best – providing our guests with an insight into the hidden jewels of nature.

     It takes some folk longer to “grow up” and this is true in Rick's case – finally happened instead of having a mid-life crisis! The rifle was swapped for a desire to conserve and protect, to play his small part in ensuring tthat the vibrancy and vitality of the natural world would remain for future generations to enjoy. Being too broke to make any financial investment into the wilderness (the mortgage, kids and cars left a long lasting scar on his bank manager!), he plays his part by sharing his passion and knowledge with our guests, kindling the fire of conservation, and the enjoyment of the natural world which lies within each and every one of us.

     He has been a member of many professional associations in his lifetime, but his pride and joy is his ongoing membership of the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA), together with the Guiding certification he received from this organization. As a result of that certification, he is a formally registered Nature Guide with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT).

Paul Kilham

     As a young lad growing up in the Cape Peninsula, school always seemed like a rude interruption of my outdoor activities. My Mom used to say that it was only hunger or injury that would bring me back into the house. Most of my leisure time was spent hiking / rock climbing on the mountains of the Cape.

 

     I was lucky enough to spend 22 years of my working career outdoors in the agricultural sector, first for Anglo American Farms, based on the Boschendal Wine Estate, and then for Freshmark, a sub tropical fresh produce procurement company, based at Hectorspruit in the Mpumalanga Lowveld, about 15 minutes away from the Kruger National Park Malelane entrance gate. Most weekends and holidays were spent in the KNP. Looking back, this time in my life was clearly the incubation period from which my passion for wildlife was hatched.

     In 2005 I resigned, packed up everything and relocated the family to St. Lucia to set up a deli / catering business. In November 2007 I sold my interest in the business and  spent the next 13 months doing “ a bit of this and a bit of that.”

     In January 2009 I was looking for a way to share my background, knowledge and passion for wildlife with others. Nature guiding seemed to be the logical solution and I commenced studies, qualifying as a FGASA field guide in April 2009.

     I consider myself very blessed to be able to live my dream. I get to share special times with people from all walks of life – some of whom are  “strangers “ when we meet at 4 a.m. but friends when we say goodbye a few hours later.