Catrina - Travel Specialist at Tailored Journeys

Catrina Cochrane - Mills

catrina@tailoredjourneys.co.uk

About Catrina

Originally from Brighton, East Sussex, I took my first flight to Africa at the age of 10 and grew up in South Africa. It was a dream: its culture, wildlife, its amazing scenery. I then returned to the UK to continue my studies in hotel management. This career path took me all over the world. After spending 35 years planning corporate and private luxury events worldwide, I now focus on my former home and my biggest passion: Africa.

When you're not working or travelling, you're...

Reading African Non-Fiction Books

What is your favourite band and film?

Coldplay and Out of Africa – of course.

Which place exceeded your expectations on your travels and why?

The Great Rift Valley, overlooking the Maasai Mara. The breathtaking endless savannah is mesmerizing. It touches my soul.

What are your top 5 must-pack items?

Hat, blister plasters, universal plug convertor, walking boots, wrap or scarf. So versatile!

If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be and why?

Kenya, for its diverse and beautiful natural landscapes, abundance of animals and glorious climate. I’d work at a safari lodge in my spare time.

What is a travel experience you will always remember?

Taking a hot-air balloon flight over the Great Migration in the Maasai Mara, and landing in the midst of thousands of wildebeest.

What is your first great travel experience?

My first flight over the African plains in a single-engine Cessna aircraft.

What is your favourite hotel, why and where is it?

Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire. A tranquil English haven set within a fifteenth-century manor house and gardens, owned by my favourite chef, Raymond Blanc.

Which is your favourite beach, why and where is it?

Diani, Kenya. So remote, so white and so untouched.

Which passport stamp are you the most proud of?

My Zambian stamp. The Kazungula border crossing from Zambia into Botswana is the only place in the world where four countries meet. You used to take a rusty old ferry; the crossing point is now the Kazungula Bridge, which opened in 2018.

What destination is at the top of your bucket list?

Namibia.

Have you ever worked abroad?

I was a chef in Switzerland early in my career.

Have you experienced culture-shock, if so, where?

Yes: on my first visit to a South African township during my teenage years.

If you had just 24 hours in a big city, which one would it be?

Tokyo

What do you miss most from home while you're away?

My family and my dogs

What's the funniest thing that's happened to you abroad?

The worst hair day ever. Having failed to pack a hairbrush I spent a day shark diving off the coast at Gansbaai, South Africa. I sailed back to shore in the wind, took the cable car to the top of Table Mountain only to be met by strong winds at the top, and finally drove back to the 5-star Taj Hotel in Cape Town, only to be met by my client in the lift of the hotel. I looked as if I’d been dragged through a bush backward. You just had to laugh!

Pictures of Catrina on her travels