Lowveld Trails Company

Our Trails Guides

The Lowveld Trails Co. Team of Wilderness Trail Guides have extensive experience and some of the highest qualifications in their field. They are all actively involved in Trails Guide training and leading Primitive Trails on a regular basis, and among the team are FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) endorsed Mentors.  

Their curiosity encourages them to continuously learn and develop their own skills by engaging in experientially-based education.

Their passion, knowledge and experience, combined with the ‘soft skills’ that come from years of leading Primitive Wilderness Trails, make our Trails Guides capable of facilitating valuable and meaningful personal and educational experiences.

Passion. Experience. Quality. 

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Wayne Te Brake

Co-Founder | Head Trails Guide and Mentor

Wayne is a Wilderness Trails Guide with twenty years of experience in the Nature Conservation and Field Guiding industry. Along with his degree (BTech: Nature Conservation), he has obtained the FGASA SKS Birding, and in August 2023 he became the twelfth person to achieve FGASA Scout status. ‘Scout’, being FGASA’s highest designation; a combination of two qualifications, namely FGASA Specialist Knowledge & Skills: Dangerous Game (SKS:DG) and Senior Tracker (Cybertracker). Wayne also acts as a FGASA Mentor.

For the past decade and a half, the majority of Wayne’s time has been spent leading Primitive Trails and Backpack Trails, or Training aspiring Trails Guides in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and surrounding private nature reserves (part of the Greater KNP). He has accumulated >14 000 walking (trails guiding) hours in his career to date.

Wayne has a calm and relaxed nature, which rubs off on clients and students, making him a popular guide and trainer. With his deep Wilderness connection, and a special interest in tracking and botany, time spent with him in the bush is always enriching and rewarding.

Brenden Pienaar

Co-Founder | Head Trails Guide and Mentor

Brenden has been conducting multi-day Trails in the Greater Kruger National Park for the past twenty years. In conjunction with a BTech Nature Conservation and MSc Ecology, Brenden became the tenth person to achieve FGASA Scout status in August 2021. It is the organization’s highest designation, which is a combination of two qualifications, FGASA Specialist Knowledge & Skills: Dangerous Game (SKS:DG) and Senior Tracker (Cybertracker).

Brenden now focuses on facilitating Wilderness ‘Primitive Trails’, Trails Guide Training and Tracking Courses for Lowveld Trails Co.. His relevant field experience (incl. >15 800 trails guiding hours) has acquainted him with the biological diversity and ecological processes of the Lowveld Savanna exceptionally well. It is based on this experience and knowledge that he acts as a FGASA Mentor.

Brenden’s calm nature and ability to interpret the inter-connectedness of the natural environment makes him a popular Trail leader. He deeply values the concept and philosophy of Wilderness and it’s associated attributes.

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Jared Dell’Oca

Trails Guide

Jared’s appreciation for Nature and adventure was instilled during happy childhood years in and around Hoedspruit. Jared is always calm and collected, and forms deep one on one connections with fellow trailists. He believes that Wilderness has a powerful presence and is a great environment within which to promote self-awareness.

Following completion of his BSc Zoology degree, Jared decided to pursue a career in guiding. He subsequently guided in the Lowveld for over 10 years, with a few of those years spent conducting Backpack Trails in the Kruger National Park. This experience had a deeply profound effect on him; ‘It was the sheer beauty and splendour of the Wilderness that impacted me most. I felt alive and didn’t want to leave.’

After spending a number of years in the UK for family reasons, Jared returned to South Africa in 2022 and joined the Lowveld Trails team, itching to get back into the wild. Like most of the Lowveld Trails Co. team, Jared’s passion while out in the field is Tracking. He has achieved the Specialist Track and Sign qualification through CyberTracker and is currently fine tuning his Trailing abilities. Along with a FGASA lead Trails Guide qualification and approx. 2500 trails guiding hours, Jared is well equipped to help foster the ‘connection with self’ that spending time in wild places facilitates.

Lori Cilliers

Junior Trails Guide and Guide Manager

After time spent travelling and exploring diverse places, cultures and landscapes around the world, Lori soon learnt that her heart and feet belonged back on African soils.  Enthralled by wilderness, she joined the Lowveld Trails Apprentice Trails Guide Course in 2021.  After her first Primitive Trail experience in Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, she was captured by the laws of the wild. She became determined to build a career in the Wilds and grasped the opportunity to join the Lowveld Trails Co. team in July 2022.

Having a foundation in teaching, Lori enjoys every opportunity to engage with guests and students. She is always curious and fascinated by finer details, and her excitement is amplified when sharing these moments of discovery with others!

With an adventurous heart, Lori finds fulfilment in the simplicity of Trails and enjoys embracing the ever-changing environment. Her compassionate nature radiates to those around her, creating a sense of comfort and warmth. 

Her growth as a Trails Guide is marked by her ongoing pursuit of knowledge and experience, reflected by her growing list of qualifications; NQF4 Trails Guide with Level 2 Trailing and Professional Track and Sign certification through CyberTracker. 

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Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes

Working efficiently behind the scenes is the indispensable Lowveld Trails Co. ‘Office Team’. They ensure that clients are well looked after from first contact, to having all the information they require to arrive well-prepared at the meeting point.

The planning and organization carried out quietly by this team in the background, ensures that the Trails Guides have everything they need to facilitate exceptional Primitive Trail, Training and Tracking experiences.

Passion. Experience. Quality. 

Tamsyn Pienaar

Tamsyn Pienaar

Co-Founder | Finance and Human Resources Manager

Tamsyn’s entrepreneurial spirit blossomed at a young age in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, where she worked alongside her parents in their family businesses. This instilled in her a strong foundation of business ethics, values, and skills that have become cornerstones of her career.

In 2006, a move to Kruger National Park with her husband, led to the creation of a successful tour operating company. Together, they spent over six years guiding adventures through the National Park and neighbouring Mozambique, before selling the company and starting a family in Hoedspruit.

Tamsyn’s entrepreneurial journey continued in 2015 with the co-founding of Lowveld Trails Company alongside Wayne & Brenden. She has worn many hats within the company over the years, and as the team has grown, her focus has shifted to ensuring the smooth running of the company’s finances and human resources.

Beyond her professional endeavours, Tamsyn is passionate about yoga, going on Primitive Trails, tracking, and the serenity of remote camping. Being part of Lowveld Trails Co. fulfils her desire to contribute to Wilderness preservation through education. It’s especially important to her that her children witness their parents’ dedication to creating experiences that inspire personal growth, social responsibility, and a renewed appreciation for wild spaces.

Nicole te Brake

Reservations and Operations Manager

Nicole has never looked back following her decision to relocate from Johannesburg to Hoedspruit almost 6 years ago. Her professional career began in the retail industry, ranging from management, to merchandise buying and planning for large industry brands, to running her own small business focused on proudly South African made product. After 12 years in retail, she knew she needed a change, and began working for Lowveld Trails Company 5 years ago. All of her previous experience prepared her for the diverse role she plays within the company, from managing the merchandise range and the brand’s website, to brochure creation, and over the last 3 years taking the reins in the Reservations and Operations departments.

Nicole’s positive manner, deft communication skills, ability to see the big picture and seamless planning for our activities, make her an invaluable member of the team. She is passionate and dedicated, with her super-organized side coming out when ensuring clients are well looked after and all the guides are properly prepared and ready to head out on Trail.

Sam Dold

Administration and Office Assistant

Having grown up in Hoedspruit, the Lowveld will always be the place that Sam calls “home”. 

Sam joined the Lowveld Trails Company team in June 2023 as an Office Assistant. With an Honours degree in Geology from Stellenbosch University, she brings a deep-seated passion for the natural world to her role. Sam offers vital support with accounts, handles administrative tasks,  oversees merchandise sales and does the menu planning for our student groups.

What Sam loves most about working for Lowveld Trails Company is the opportunity to promote sustainable tourism and showcase the natural beauty of the places where we operate. She is proud to be part of a team dedicated to the conservation of the Wilderness ethos and creating unforgettable experiences in wild spaces.

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