Melanie van Zyl Born, bred, and based in Johannesburg, South Africa, Melanie van Zyl cut her teeth working for Getaway, South Africa's oldest travel magazine. Her work there sent her on many a wild journey, from tripping over elephants across the Zambezi Region to exploring Mauritius' foodie backstreets, but all it did was teach her that there's still no place like home. A conservation-curious freelance journalist, Melanie has photographed and written about incredible African destinations, so far covering Namibia, Mauritius, Botswana, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and, more extensively, her home country South Africa for almost a decade. A qualified field guide, diver, and growing twitcher, she's a sucker for the natural environment and is in the pursuit of living sustainably with the wild world.• 8+ years of experience working as a writer and photographer covering Africa• 2+ years of experience photographing Africa's hottest safari properties• FGASA-qualified field guide• Received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Rhodes University About Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is a top travel media brand with a mission to inform and inspire passionate travelers. Our expert team includes a network of hundreds of writers and photographers across the globe, all providing a local eye on the best places to stay, eat, and explore. We reach an audience that takes 76 million round trips annually, offering valuable travel tips, ideas and inspiration, and products you need to get you to your destination — whether it’s a small town or big city, beach or lake, national park or theme park, road trip, cruise, or long-haul flight, and everything in between. Learn more about us and our editorial process