School principal, volcanologist, gold miner and now tour guide. GERRY JENNEKER (pictured above) has had an incredibly colourful life, including more than 20 years in the tourism industry. Here he chats with Traveltalk’s Jon Underwood.
Q: Gerry, your CV runs to about 70 pages but can you give us a short rundown on your many career roles?
A: I started off as a teacher and became a school principal. I later went to Saudi Arabia and became Academic Director for ELS Language Centers.
While there I studied to become a flight operations officer, which saw me move to Abu Dhabi and a job at the Special Officer Command where we worked with snipers, helicopter pilots and technicians.
From there I got a job in Indonesia as a flight operations officer but I studied a bit further and became a volcanologist, which was useless for me when coming back to South Africa but I absolutely loved the experience.
So when I got back to South Africa I decided no office for me and I would really like to go back into tourism. I’ve been a tour guide now for about five years.
Q: What do you like about showing people around your country?
A: I am a proud South African. I love the country, the diversity of the country and I love to showcase it because of the negative press that we sometimes get.
I like to show the beauty of the place so that people can really enjoy it for what it is all about and I love seeing the tourists’ faces when I show them interesting stuff.
Gerry in his gold mining days
Q: I believe you particularly like interacting with Australian visitors?
A: I have had quite a few Australian visitors and they have been fantastic. I was happy to work with them because we are all from sort of Down Under. We share the same weather, the same ideas and we both love rugby, the outdoors and sunshine.
I am an outdoor person and I try to travel around South Africa as much as I can. For this reason, I can showcase South Africa for what it is about, remembering the good instead of the negative.
Q: We’re here on a massive trade famil called Mega Lekker with more than 100 travel agents from Australia. What do you hope comes out of this initiative?
A: I really hope that Mega Lekker can expand the market and bring more Australians to South Africa. I absolutely love the fact that you guys are so open, kind, friendly and approachable. People can talk to you and that makes my job so much easier and that is why I love what I do.
Q: Do you have any favourite parts of the country?
A: That is a very difficult question. Cape Town is named ‘the Mother City’ and the hub of tourism. However, South Africa is so diversified. We have nine provinces and each has its own unique tourist destinations and it is difficult to compare apples and pears.
However, the parks like Kruger and all the game reserves, they really show you the native animals and nature in its full glory. I love going there because I love animals.
But other than that, South Africa is like I always tell people – the whole country is my office!
Motorbikes are another of Gerry’s passions
Q: How has tourism recovered in South Africa post COVID?
A: According to what I see and the number of tours going on at the moment, it seems like we are very busy and there is a definite movement towards more tourists coming to South Africa.
However, it is still reasonably quiet compared to pre-COVID. Tourism was the third largest contributor to our economy but that’s not the case at the moment.
So, it is building up slowly and there are definitely a lot of tourists coming but not yet enough to regain where we were before the pandemic.
Q: Finally, how long do you think you’ll remain as a tour guide?
A: I was planning to retire a few years ago, but you know what? I realised that I cannot sit still and that I love people.
I really enjoy being in the company of people, especially different people from different countries. When I was abroad I worked with different nationalities so I understand many of them and I understand their cultures – as best as I can.
However, I would really like to stop in a year or two’s time, not because I don’t like it but because I want to spend more time by myself and with my family.
I’m also planning to have a tourist lifestyle where I can take a caravan and stay three months at a time in one place so I can live throughout South Africa for the later part of my life.
# Gerry also hosts motorcycle tours across South Africa through travel company Jenol Tours. Entitled ‘Rumbling Echoes’, the off-road BMW experiences cater for both solo riders and those travelling with friends and are for riders of all levels.
