Otto Gumaelius is a world away from where he grew up.
In the foyer of the Barbican Centre, headphones squishing his afro hair, Otto Gumaelius is settled at his laptop reconnecting with home: completing the final stages of organising his first group tours to Botswana.
This budding tour operator has a huge job on his hands. He needs to book hotels, guides, buses, drivers, restaurants and safaris. But he seems relaxed. “People from my country are,” he explains with a smile. Otto, who is also a professional marimba player, runs a company called Taste of Southern Africa (tasteofsouthernafrica.com), which celebrates the people and cultures of the region through live music performances and workshops. Having spent four years working for a travel company operating tours to destinations around the world, he’s taken the plunge to expand his business to include specialised travel to Africa.
Otto in front of mokoros in the Okavango Delta
Today, he is on the phone to a tiny museum in Serowe, a town in the northeast of Botswana, to ask about their opening hours. He speaks with a smooth southern African accent that hasn’t changed much from living in London for 14 years. “It can take a while to get through, but when you do, people are so friendly and helpful, which is typical to the culture in Botswana”, he says.
Otto sits in a quieter part of the foyer each day with a peppermint tea. Today, on his left is a man on a zoom call, and to his right, a student is reading in silence. A piano recital can be heard coming from the main lobby. People are coming and going. Otto sits concentrated. Outside, it’s pouring with rain, a stark contrast to hot, sunny Botswana.
“London is a huge city,” he says. “It’s difficult to compare the two. London has I-don’t-know-how-many-million people. Botswana’s capital city, Gaborone, has 200-thousand people. So yeah, it’s very different.”
“Having said that, funnily enough, the sense of community in the Barbican reminds me very much of Botswana”, he says. “I think this place really thinks of its residents and has so many services that enable a cohesive, inclusive environment to live in and work in”, he says.
So what would his friends in Botswana think about him living in London’s famous urban jungle?
“People in Botswana are very used to having space, with big yards and skies that are expansive and blue, year-round. I think they’d be amazed to see that we live in a tiny studio, high up among thousands of other apartments. At the same time, while space is plentiful in Botswana, our actual homes tend to be shared across generations, with households consisting of parents and their kids, grandparents, grandchildren and cousins all living under the same roof”.
This sense of connectedness reminds him of earlier this year when Botswana made international headlines for winning its first ever gold medal at the summer Olympics. Sprinter Letsile Tebogo became a national hero overnight and the President gave the entire country the afternoon off to celebrate, followed by a full day off to welcome him on his arrival back home. Botswana also made headlines this year for discovering the biggest diamond in a century. It was also rated Africa’s best safari destination.
“But Botswana is more than just safari,” Otto proclaims, sipping his peppermint tea, and that’s one of the reasons he decided to expand his business into travel. “I want to give people a fuller, more meaningful picture of my country. Going on safari is obviously unmissable”, he says, “but I feel like it’s also important to experience the culture and learn about the history. I want people to meet and interact with locals, see sights of historical importance, taste local food and produce, and get a feel for what life is like in the country.”
Earlier in the year, Otto did a recce of his tour, and reminisced about some of the highlights. Without hesitation, being in Makgadikgadi, the largest salt pans in the world, is what sprung to mind. “Standing in the vast salt pans, which stretch as far as the eye can see, watching the sun set with the flamingos in the distance – that was a beautiful moment”.
“Another thing that comes to mind was floating along the Chobe river on a water safari. The guide pointed to the north bank, and then to the south bank, and explained how all the wildlife stays on the south bank, the Botswana side, because the animals know that’s where they’re safe and protected. The Botswana government has made it a priority to really take care of the country’s wildlife and this is something that makes me proud”.
Otto looks out and sees the rain has now finally stopped. It’s just after 6 o’clock and it’s time to pack up and head home. Most people using the Barbican foyer have started to filter out and bustling concert and theatre goers start to fill the space. Tomorrow, he plans to speak with a local guide in the goldrush city of Francistown and a lodge in Victoria Falls. Before we part ways he adds “I really look forward to showing people around my country, Botswana. It’s a really special place, and I hope they’ll think so too!”.
