From Tour guide to a Top Tanzania Safari Operator, meet Peter Robert

Meet Peter Robert, a workaholic Tanzanian who’s always locked in his laptop answering inquiries, responding to whatsapp group of his employees, and traveling the world to attend events and trade shows.
Most importantly, meet Peter Robert, the man behind Gosheni Safaris Africa, one of the top Tanzania safari operators consistently voted Excellent in Trip Advisor Reviews.

Humble Beginning
Peter finished a course in “Safari Guiding”, which is one of the most common courses in Tanzania given that safaris are still the prime tourism product of the country.
When did he graduate
Did you come from a poor family? can we mention this as this will gain sympathy from readers
Challenges because competition was stiff
One day he realized he wanted to be more than just a guide
Tell the story about how Gosheni started
How Gosheni earned its reputation
I just did my best in everything. I always put myself in the shoes of my clients and ask myself “What can I do to make their experience memorable”. We go the extra mile and we don’t charge for every single thing. At the end of the day, we get appreciated by the genuiness of our service and not because we expected to receive tips and all
Traveling really helped a lot. It was only thru Gosheni that I was able to see lots of places and this widened my perspective- seeing where my clients live, the culture, etc… it just made me understand them better. Of course, if you know your clients from this perspective, then you know what to deliver
I was lucky to have met people to trust and helped me. I now have a team, though small, is really dedicated and can be trusted.
When asked what biggest challenges he had to overcome
Ironically, the biggest challenge is also building trust. It’s a sad fact that your fellow locals would be the last to be happy as you gain success and that’s just a sad fact on our culture
Once had an employee that he trusted with his life and turned out going behind his back stealing his clients
Another incident are suppliers that you cannot just trust to deliver. Where after making payments, you won’t hear from them again for further revisions of tasks etc…
Recently, someone went too far and bough a domain close to Gosheni’s and went on linking to our review sites and using our guide’s names- You see that it’s not just enough to be honest, you have to be active and protect your hard-earned success from people who would rather cheat than to spend time bettering themselves and make a name for themselves.
Now
His guides will describe him as “tough and strict”- well a leader like that didn’t happen overnight
He serves as an inspiration to his staff. More than a boss, he is also a mentor. One day, he would be proud to see one of his staff rise through the ranks and become a safari operator like himself, but for now, he wants to impart his knowledge and make sure that one day if that happens, he would be proud to have influenced another safari operator who works ethically and cares not only about the profit but puts wildlife’s interest as a top priority
How he envisions Gosheni to be
We will continue to do what we do. Times and trends change but good customer service is something that will not change. We want to grow as a company but not too commercialized that we lose the personal touch we deliver for all our clients. It gives me joy to be able to personally meet my clients, welcome and shake their hands, I feel like a family is visiting. And seeing their smiles and positive reviews, Im happy to have touched their lives because you know, several years from now, they will still remember that safari experience, and tell that story to their loved ones and Gosheni will always be a part of that story.