A Roaring Success: Recap of Leopard’s 5th Birthday Celebration

Earlier this month, clients, friends and business partners joined us at my home in Johannesburg to celebrate our 5th birthday. It was a gorgeous spring day and it was such a pleasure and an honour to mark this significant milestone surrounded by our favourite people. Not everyone could be there, since most of our clients live far from Africa. But we remembered all of our valued clients as we celebrated our resilience and success in this 5 year journey. 

I told Leopard’s origin story at the party, and would like to retell it here. In August 2019, I left my well-paid corporate job to start a travel company. Everyone will remember that in April 2020 the world shut down at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Tourism came to a grinding halt as people could’nt travel into or out of South Africa (and most other countries) for months on end. We survived by the skin of our teeth, and am thankful we did. I am grateful to the locals, my friends and especially the French expats living in Johannesburg, who booked their regional travel through Leopard during this tough time. 

Now in 2024, I am very proud to say Leopard is a thriving business. The entire Leopard team was present so we could celebrate our joint success (except for Marlene who is permanently based in France). Jess, Daphnée, Helen, Elise, Hailey-Rose, Marlene, Caitlin, Pilar and JJ, thank you so much for the incredible work you do every day to ensure that our clients have the holiday of their lifetime. You make every day a lot of fun, and my job so much easier.

Leopard offered holidays to South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique when it started in 2019. We have now expanded to 15 countries in southern and eastern Africa, offering a wide variety of holidays. These range from trekking to see gorillas or chimps, photographing the Great Migration, searching for lemurs in Madagascar, doing a walking safari in Zambia, or relaxing on some of the world’s most beautiful beaches in the Seychelles, Zanzibar, Mauritius or the Bazaruto Archipelago. It’s really quite something to take some time to look back at where we started and see how far we have come, with over 1,100 clients having travelled with us to date. Cheers to the next 5 years (and many more after that) of planning exquisite African holidays for our valued clients! 

True to our company values, we used the services of many small businesses to help make the party a success. A special thank you to all of them for their amazing energy and contributions:

Maskandi Band – Qadasi & Maqhinga, 072 566 4159  
Lamb spit braai – Sloane’s Butchery
Salads and desserts – Christine Serre 063 032 3010
Photography – Ant McDonald
Bread – Linden Loaves
Cheese – Fabienne 084 911 2398
Hand crafted sugar spoons – Kayz Woodwork 067 464 0402
Gifts – Honest Chocolate

Happy travelling,
Diana

For more photos, visit our Facebook albums here and here.