Inspired by wildlife and wild places from childhood Matthew studied for qualifications in animal management and a degree in zoology at Reading University before flying off to Australia. Years of adventures and working with eagles, kangaroos, crocodiles and venomous snakes followed, in both the arid outback and the tropical Top End. Including being the English guy wrangling venomous snakes from people’s houses! Whilst at university and during his time in Australia Matthew was also fortunate enough to hop over into South-East Asia, seeing orangutan in Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo, spending time in Java and volunteering with elephants for a number of weeks in the rainforests of Cambodia.

But Africa was calling and after five years in Australia, it was time to experience another great wildlife wilderness. Matthew, with a specialist interest in birds and specifically, birds of prey, headed to South Africa and volunteered at a number of raptor and wildlife sanctuaries, spending time in Kwazulu-Natal, the Western Cape and Mpumalanga, before eventually returning to the UK and continuing to work in bird of prey conservation. What followed was a stint working in education as a lecturer in animal management, when Matthew headed to South Africa again, this time, to a game reserve in the Eastern Cape.

Matthew is  excited to join Aardvark Safaris to share his passion for wildlife and birdwatching with clients and to help them plan trips to see specific species.  He’s looking forward to learning about the incredible wildlife destinations throughout Africa and the possibility of travel to Uganda and Rwanda to see Chimps and Gorillas.

African countries visited

South Africa