Bergplaas
"Our goal is to offer people a place where they can not only grow and develop, but also to recharge, reconnect with life and find clarity in themselves. We offer a springboard from which people can confidently enter the job market and conservation sector, equipped with a greater understanding of wildlife and the natural environment, and of who they are and what they offer."
Wayne Maspero

Wayne Maspero

Wayne Maspero

Wayne graduated from Pretoria Technikon with a National Diploma in Nature Conservation in 1994. He then began his guiding career at Londolozi Game Reserve in the Sabi Sands (now part of the Greater Kruger National Park).

After gaining valuable experience in guiding in a Big 5 area, he felt a strong urge to have a more down to earth approach to guiding. This led to becoming a wilderness trails officer with the Natal Parks Board on the eastern shores of Lake St. Lucia where he conducted five day long wilderness trails.

Wayne has also worked in the Masaai Mara in Kenya taking walking safaris, as well has guiding at Garonga Safari Camp in Limpopo, South Africa. Moved to Bergplaas in 2006.

“We are experiencing an inspiring growth phase on Bergplaas and with the Spirit of the Wild Programme, which has come into its own in this era of environmental sustainability and climate change.”- Wayne Maspero

Ian Read

Ian Read

Ian Read

Ian Read is a freelance Wilderness Guide with over 20 years guiding experience. He has been a Spirit of the Wild facilitator since 2008.

Eunice Madimabe

Eunice Madimabe

Eunice Madimabe

Our wonderful chef and graduate from the South African College of Tourism.

Julia Nyamate

Julia Nyamate

Julia Nyamate

Julia is our guesthouse supervisor and also a graduate from the South African College of Tourism.

Spirit of the Wild Trust Board

  • Irene Van Lippe-Biesterfeld
  • Guillaume Taylor

Bergplaas Foundation Board

  • Eflfrieke van Galen
  • Jan Willem Nieuwenhuys

  • Irene van Lippe-Biesterfeld Princess van Oranje Nassau - Founder & Advisor
Cindy Maspero

July 2nd, 2023

Dearest Cindy,

Your passing away has deeply touched us all.
The ashes of your body will be united with Bergplaas earth;
your spiritual and physical home for so many years.

I miss you.

What beautiful and meaningful days, months, years,
we shared here on Bergplaas and from overseas.

Moments of shared experiences in nature, in thoughts, in
laughter, in courses, in sisterhood.

What deep gratitude I feel and what joy it was to have met
you on Earth.

I miss you dear Cindy. I cry.

Your light has touched so many hearts, so many souls.
Your wisdom, your beingness, your truths, your clarity.
So many memories... how we were standing between the
rocks, our feet solid on the earth, asking rain beings to
bring the desperately needed water to Bergplaas, to the
region. We had fun.

The mountains and the animals and all Bergplaas will
remember your laugh your care your part of it all.
Your soul now has found its other home, surrounded by
beautiful light, by truth.

Be well.
Irene