Conny

Hi, my name is Conny  - so I am represented by the “CO” in MANTOCO …

 

I feel the time is just right in my life to start something completely different. I would like to discover many things from a completely new perspective and take the time for everything that I believe is essential. I know there are a lot of exciting things waiting for me and new tasks and challenges to be faced.

I always am a cheerful and happy person (so beware if I am not smiling something must be really wrong!). Also I am adventurous and always ready to discover the world... by foot or with my camera (I am a total photography enthusiast!).

 

As a child I grew up in East Germany (also called GDR – German Democratic Republic) where people were not allowed to travel freely. So as a teenager I already dreamt about the big wide world and collected all postcards I received from around the globe and pinned them on my wall. My yearning for freedom and the right to travel to far away destinations was already huge! After the wall came down (when I turned 17) suddenly my dream became true and I could go wherever I wanted to. So step by step I began to conquer Europe. After having explored Italy, I longed to go to farer places. It started with the Maldives, Thailand and South Africa. And soon travelling became my favorite craving.

 

In the year 2000 when I went to Namibia for the first time I was really being infected with what I call the „travel virus“. During this trip – together with my boy friend at the time – I carefully approached the big adventure called „Africa“. We had booked our tour with „Hauser Excursions“ and were very lucky to meet our fantastic tour guide Ernst Ritter. It was a wonderful experience as he taught us a lot about his deep love to his country. It was so touching that since then I have a very special connection to the Southern part of Africa – and over many trips that followed until today it just wouldn’t let go of me.

 

 

With „Hauser Excursions“ in Namibia

 

In total I took another six trips to Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. In 2004 I made one of my biggest dreams come true by spending three full months on a farm in Namibia. I helped the farmers with their daily work in order to truly experience this beautiful country and to get to know it beyond the perspective of a tourist. After this deep experience I struggled very much with the return to my “normal” everyday life in Germany – something I should have expected. I even thought about leaving my country completely to live abroad… if it wouldn’t have been for Tommy who suddenly entered my life.

 

 

 

Life as a farmer – beautiful views included.

 

So first, Tommy and I began to discover each other and then we started to explore the world together. We shared the passion for mountains and living in Munich we benefitted from having the beautiful Alps close by. So we went there for many amazing hiking and climbing tours together or depending on the season we took our mountain bikes or our skis plus climbing skins. And by being the two of us together everything was just much more fun! We owned a Volkswagen van (camper) that enabled us to enjoy the most romantic and hidden places for our overnight stays.

 

Our journeys took us to Catalonia (in the North of Spain), the island of Corse, high up North to Norway, across the Southwest of the USA and finally in 2009 again to Africa – to Namibia. These four weeks were stunning – and they were giving us a clear vision of how we wanted our life to be. We already had a certain sense of this idea before the trip, but then suddenly everything was clearly laid out before us. “ We got to get out of here. We have to leave Germany. We need to get away from it all: the hassle of our daily lives and the people who seem to create their own problems. We want to simply enjoy the freedom of life, having unlimited time available at each place we choose to discover. We do not want to rush through a country in a few days or weeks but really dedicate enough time to deeply explore the landscapes, people and cultures … and to keep track of our impressions by taking pictures!

Now our dream will become true!

 

 

View to Cap Town
Conny and Ernst Ritter in Namibia