Get to know me in 7 – Fana

Question Time

  1. Name and job title: Fana Motsumi – Vumbura Plains Wine Steward, Botswana.
  2. Describe yourself in 3 words: Dedicated, loving and humble.
  3. Favourite hobbies: I love learning new things, travelling and swimming.
  4. What talent/super power would you love to have: I would love to one day become a Sommelier and travel around the Wilderness camps training staff on our wine journeys.
  5. Favourite local place to visit or food to eat: I love travelling – from the Central Kalahari to the Moremi Game Reserve and up to Chobe National Park, but the Okavango Delta is at the top of my list. Especially the Kwedi Concession as it has aquatic activities, which are my favourite thing to do. My favourite local dish is sorghum, beans and seswaa (pounded beef).
  6. What have you accomplished in the last year that you are proud of: I finally became the first Wilderness Botswana Wine Steward, after working for almost three years as a Barman at Mombo.
  7. Tell us one story/memory that you have while working at Wilderness: I joined Wilderness in 2019 as a barman. This gave me exposure to a lot of things I didn’t know. Within seven months at the company, I was given a life-changing opportunity to go on a trip to Cape Town to explore the winelands and learn the vinification process so I could improve my service. What blew my mind was meeting winemakers who assisted in harvesting and performed manual punching downs during the winemaking process, to get those beautiful fermentation aromas. This was the best experience that ever happened to me. Actually up to this date I keep referring to the information I got on that trip. I remember the last day, before we flew back to Botswana, the company organised a Cape Town tour which was such a treat. I came back a changed person. I am now confident to hold conversations about wines and recommend wines to my guests. Curious to learn more, I enrolled in the Under the Influence’s (UTI) Wine 101 online course wine, which I passed with flying colours. I am now busy with the UTI masterclasses and my contract as a Wine Steward has been renewed.

Thank you for sharing your story with us Fana!