🌍 Heather Perkins
Founder & Adventure Travel Designer,
Wanderlust Escapes Africa
Wanderlust Escapes Africa is more than a travel company. It’s my love letter to Southern Africa. An invitation to experience travel the way I do.
Some stories begin with a spark…
a quiet pull to reconnect with something real, something soulful, something alive.
I’ve always been in motion. As a lifelong elite athlete, movement and adventure shaped who I am. My career began in Durban, South Africa working in sports PR and events within the rugby world, and evolved into a global career in professional tennis: spanning PR, marketing, VIP event management, and luxury travel experiences.
It was fast-paced, international, and deeply connected to people and places.
And I loved it.
Then life shifted.
Severe health challenges forced everything to slow down. The high-functioning version of me I had always relied on…quieted. And in that space, something deeper took hold.
Travel became my reset. My grounding to wellness. My way back to myself.
Not surface-level travel but immersive, off-the-beaten-path experiences that reconnected me to what actually matters. That’s where the vision for Wanderlust Escapes Africa began.
But this story started long before that.
In the early 1990s, I lived in South Africa, traveling throughout the region and later raising my children between Colorado and South Africa for over two decades. Those years left a lasting imprint. This part of the world was never just a destination. It became home in a deeper sense. A place tied to family, lifelong friendships, and a raw, grounding soulful connection to Africa that stays with you.
Today, my life continues to reflect that same rhythm of movement and connection. I split my time between Perth, Australia and the United States, following the seasons. Summers by the ocean and time in the mountains of North Carolina, while returning to South Africa as often as I can to stay connected to family and friends.
Wanderlust Escapes Africa is a full-circle return to that connection.
I created this business to share that perspective. To guide others into a more personal, meaningful way of experiencing Africa. One that goes beyond the typical way to travel.
Whether it’s sunrise game drives, long-table dining and world-class wine in the Cape Winelands, tennis & PADEL and golf set against extraordinary landscapes, or quiet moments beneath an open African sky… these are the kinds of experiences that stay with you long after you leave.
This is travel that moves you.
That reconnects you.
That stays with you.
With over three decades of experience across sport, hospitality, luxury travel, and global events, I design bespoke journeys that feel seamless, personal, and entirely your own.
Because when Africa calls…
It stays with you.
Why Wanderlust Escapes Africa
This isn’t about ticking boxes or following set itineraries.
It’s about creating something personal.
Every journey is designed around you. Your pace, your interests, your version of what travel should feel like. Thoughtfully curated, deeply connected, and shaped by lived experience on the ground.
Because the way you experience a place…
matters just as much as where you go.
Journey. Experience. Reconnect.