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Nicky Fitzgerald

After more than 30 years in hospitality, starting with a small hotel at the foot of Africa and followed by a further couple of Cape hotels, most notably The Bay, and sixty plus safari lodges across Africa and India, Nicky has served more meals, puffed more cushions, filled more beds, trained more staff and opened more properties than she cares to remember. Nicky retired as Angama's CEO in July of 2022 and remains an advisor and delightfully opinionated member of the Board.

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Alison Mitchell

Annemarie Meintjes

Azei Lago

Duncan Butchart

Ian Dommisse

James Fitzgerald

Jeffrey Thige

Kate Fitzgerald Boyd

Lesley Fox

Michael Boyd

Mwikali Ndambo

Nicky Fitzgerald

Ryan Brown

Shannon Davis

Steve Fitzgerald

Steve Mitchell

Stratton Hatfield

Sue van Winsen

Tyler Davis

Above: Nicky surrounded by her extended Kenyan family

The Wind Beneath My Wings 1 July 2022 After an incredible 40-year career in hospitality, Nicky is hanging it up. In her final blog as CEO, she pens a special message to the Angama family By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Nicky's grandchildren get a lesson in the Mara Triangle from Leshan

A Map That Straddled Opposite Ends of the World 10 June 2022 When the pandemic threw every best-laid plan under the bus, a sculptor in New Zealand and a creator in Nairobi, co-produced a massive steel masterpiece that today graces Angama Mara’s handsome Map Room. This is a tale of African resourcefulness By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: The Shamba is one of the many places we love to feed our guests

Chakula Ni Uhai — Food Is Life 3 May 2022 The Maasai proverb ‘Happiness is as good as food’ perfectly sums up what the chefs at Angama wholeheartedly believe in. We are proudly Kenyan in our kitchen and the food lovingly prepared for our guests draws its inspiration form a magnificent tapestry of cultures By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Nicky welcoming our first guests on 23 June 2015

Please Don’t Ask Nicky What Comes Next 7 March 2022 40 years ago, on 10 July 1982, Nicky stood at the front door of the 11-roomed Arniston Hotel on the southernmost tip of Africa and welcomed her first guests. 60 plus hotels and lodges later — with a few restaurants thrown in for good measure — she bids farewell to an industry she loves deeply By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: A quiet moment in the Kibale Forest between Nicky and a chimp

So Nearly Finished Off by Bahoirie 1 March 2022 Deep in the Kibale Forest of western Uganda Nicky faced an enraged chimpanzee who aptly goes by the name of Bahoirie meaning, ‘they are finished’ By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: The Virunga mountains as seen from the Campus. Image curtesy of Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

Dian Fossey Would Be So Proud 22 February 2022 Nicky was lucky enough to visit the inspiring Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund just five days after it was officially opened on 1 February 2022 By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Nicky enjoying a hard-earned cold one

Treasures of the Albertine Rift 15 February 2022 A couple of weeks ago, Nicky was frogmarched from Kibale Forest in Uganda to Lake Kivu in Rwanda by two very demanding friends who wanted her to ‘see it all’ in just six days. She even tiptoed across the border into the DRC just because it was there By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Nicky visiting Karen Blixen's grave in Copenhagen

A Tale of Three Graves 25 January 2022 Inspired by a chance meeting with a remarkable traveller, Nicky Fitzgerald set out to find the tale of three graves which weaves together the Out of Africa story with Angama Mara By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Nicky looking stylish at 5h30 in the morning and 1 000m in the air

30 Years of Packing for Safari (into a 15kg Duffle) 5 January 2022 There are tons of lists out there about "what to pack for a safari?" and they're all just about as drab and dull as the next. One person who has quite clearly nailed it is Nicky Fitzgerald who spends a week a month in khaki, white, olive and black. It's as simple as that. By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: In wine-lovers heaven amongst litres and litres of the finest wine in South Africa

Shiraz, Dias and a whole lot of Pizzaz 30 November 2021 Azei, Collins and Nicky took the Cape by storm and explored, ate and drank their way through it all By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Looking down on the verdant carpet of the Mara

Keep Calm and Come When It’s Green (& Gorgeous) 22 November 2021 Nicky Fitzgerald shares her safari-savvy thoughts on the often-tremulous question, ‘Is it ok to travel to the Mara in the rainy season?’ By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: The elated Angama Mara team welcome some of the first guests back to the lodge

Dear Guests, 12 October 2021 Since Angama Mara welcomed back our first DC19* guests in August of last year, Nicky has been watching them with a mixture of deep admiration and thankful sympathy for what our guests have to endure to reach us By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Toasting to the end of another beautiful wintery day in the lowveld

No Thorns On This Bush 14 September 2021 Nicky recently returned to South Africa’s lowveld, a wilderness that Steve loved most. Far from the rolling grasslands of the Mara, she reconnected with those perfect wintry bush days at the jewel in its crown – Kubili House By Nicky Fitzgerald

Above: Leshan keeping track of the movements of the Mara

You Are Here 17 August 2021 One of the earliest forms of human communication, maps tell stories. And we have plenty to share with the addition of our handsome new Map Room By Nicky Fitzgerald

60 Lodges Later… 5 August 2021 In this first episode of our new series, Chai with Angama, Steve Mitchell, co-founder of Angama, chats to CEO, Nicky Fitzgerald to find out what four decades of experience in hospitality has taught her, what it was like working alongside her husband, and her people-first approach to business By Nicky Fitzgerald

Nicky Fitzgerald

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