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OUR TEAM

We are a small team of dedicated individuals with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the aviation and tourism sectors. Our team is customer focused and we pay attention to the details that matter, ensuring that when you fly with us you are met with a warm welcome, you feel safe, and that the experience of flying over Africa is one that you will not forget.

Founder and Chairman

WILLIAM CRAIG

Managing Director and Commercial Pilot

DARRYL VAN DYK

Reservations Manager

FLORENCE ONANO

Commercial Pilot

LEONE TSUMA

Commercial Pilot and Head of Operations

KIM DAVEY

Accountant

ALEX MWITI

Operations Manager

Sandy Kooistra

Operations Assistant

Tim Baranabas

Ground Operations

Simon Kimiri

Founder and Chairman

WILLIAM CRAIG

Will was born on Lewa and has spent his life involved in tourism and conservation in the north of Kenya. Will started flying at a young age and was a Crop Duster pilot for many years. He held a commercial pilots license until recently, within the region of 10,000 hours of flying experience he now only fly’s privately but you will still find Will buzzing around Lewa in the beautiful Waco Bi-Plane or at the airstrip sharing his wealth of knowledge with the younger pilots in the team. His mission in starting Air Wilderness has been to facilitate the arrival of guests into the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy for the benefit of conservation and the improved comfort of guests.

Managing Director and Commercial Pilot

DARRYL VAN DYK

Darryl was born and raised in Swaziland and did his studies in South Africa. He came to Kenya in 2011 and found that this part of Africa is the part he wants to call home. Darryl joined the Lewa Wilderness team in 2020 to manage Air Wilderness. He has a Kenya commercial pilots license with close to 2000 hours of bush flying experience. Growing up and living in various parts of Africa, and for the last 10 years in Kenya, Darryl is very knowledgeable about the flying conditions as well as the landscape, cultures, wildlife and the many facets that make Africa a fascinating continent to visit. He provides not only a safe and reliable service as a pilot but can also be your guide in the air so that you get a better perspective of the land you fly over.

Reservations Manager

FLORENCE ONANO

Florence’s passion for travel and wildlife pushed her to a career in the travel industry. After working for numerous travel agencies in Kenya Florence joined Air Wilderness to bring her experience in flight reservations and operations. She is responsible for flight enquires, quotations, bookings and flight planning.

Commercial Pilot

LEONE TSUMA

Leone Tsuma was born and grew up in Kenya. He recently joined Air Wilderness as a commercial pilot flying both the Cessna 210 and Cessna 206. Leone is also a flight instructor with more than 2000 flight hours of flying experience on various aircraft and is well versed in numerous bush flying approaches that promote safety and ensure the comfort of all on board. Having trained in Kenya and flown across Eastern Africa, he has gathered immense knowledge of the landscape and general topography of the region.

Leone is charismatic and can interact professionally to provide a welcoming flight experience. He is an avid environmentalist with a keen interest in the unique wildlife that Africa has to offer. As a native Kenyan, he is fluent in the various Kenyan dialects, offering a diverse and multicultural view of East Africa’s wilderness.

Commercial Pilot and Head of Operations

KIM DAVEY

Kim was born in Nairobi, and after spending his early years living in a tent in the bush of Northern Zambia, moved back to Kenya with his family in 1996. After attending boarding school in the Great Rift Valley and secondary school in Nairobi Kim started working in the hospitality industry with the dream of saving enough to become a pilot.

After completing his commercial pilots license Kim went to fly Super Cubs for a conservation organization in Kenya’s vast Tsavo East National Park. From there Kim moved to Canada to further his flying experience gaining his Multi Pilot Instrument rating and a float plane endorsement.

Kim moved back to Kenya in May of 2021, drawn back to the wilds of the African bush, and the amazing flying to be had here.

Accountant

ALEX MWITI

Alex is our Accountant at our head office based at Lewa Wilderness. Alex joined Air Wilderness in June 2021. He studied Business Administration at Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) and graduated with second class honours and has been working as anAccountant in the Aviation Industry for the past 3 years. Alex ensures all our bookkeeping is kept up to date and that we are compliant with all industry and governmental policies and regulations.

Operations Manager

Sandy Kooistra

Sandy joined Air Wilderness in 2022 to assist with the daily operations for the company at the Lewa base. She spends her days working with the team on the ground to ensure our planes and Pilots are ready for all flights, our systems are running smoothly, and we are providing the highest service to our clients.

Operations Assistant

Tim Baranabas

Tim is our Operations Assistant and he works at the airstrip and main office on Lewa. Immediately after completing his high school studies, Tim began studying Automotive Engineering but quickly realised his real passion was for flying so he changed his plans and started flight school. He has been studying while working through the last few years to achieve his goal and is hoping to receive this Private Pilot’s License this year.

Tim works closely with our Pilots to ensure they have the information and paperwork needed for their flights. He also tracks our flights to ensure everything is running smoothly and our clients arrive to their destinations on time.

Ground Operations

Simon Kimiri

Born and raised in Laikipia County, Kenya Simon is our Airstrip Assistant who makes sure all our planes are cleaned, fueled, and ready for each flight. He works closely with our Pilots to assist with all tasks related to the airplanes, as well as maintaining the office and airstrip surroundings.