About
joas
as a small child already, joas was a little explorer. he spent the first years of his life on a small farm in the mountains of switzerland. in this surrounding, he has started to explore the woods and lived closely together with animals, especially with the family’s dog, who helped him to learn to walk.
joas visited the waldorf school, where he learned much more than just languages, mathematics etc. for example, he studied how to grow flex and to use the fibers to create a tissue. during this time, joas joined the boy scouts by which he experienced how to live and survive in nature.
after some study years in pharmaceutical sciences, he decided to expand his academical horizon and started to study economical engineer. during this time, he has built up new skills, especially acting as a problem solver. joas loves the challenge to solve problems, even small ones, for example «how to effectively hang up a neoprene suit in a hotel room».
as he has passed his graduation, he went on his first trip to africa together with katharina and felt in love with this continent. during this time, the dream of driving all the way down to cape town was born. after a second trip, it was undoubtedly clear that this dream should become reality.
flora
our travel buddy is a 110 td5 land rover defender called «flora». she was born in 2001 and we adopted her in december 2018. since then we have worked a lot on her. firstly, we have undertaken some adaptions on the car body: we removed the seating in the back and closed all the screw holes, replaced the key cylinders and the windows in the back - just to mention a few examples. this was followed by a second reconstruction part: the construction of the camping extension. ee have built many wooden boxes, incorporated a two batterie system incl. a pv panel, a water tank, a small kitchen, a heating system and much more.
when we have finished all the work, only the name for her was missing. as we lived at the florastrasse before and the defender will be our home during this year, we have named her «flora».
katharina
the feeling of wanderlust accompanies katharina already since the early days of her childhood. deeply attached to nature, animals and the care about humans she has decided to build on her passion and to study pharmaceutical sciences. this happened after she has spent her intermediate year in namibia, where she followed a deep inner wish of her heart. strongly impacted by the experiences made there, her character and mentality got even more formed and she could uncover her unlimited thirst for life, an unconditional trust in life and the heartfelt endeavor to leave a positive footprint on this earth (also in a spiritual sense).
after a successful state examination as a pharmacist and starting a phd in pharmaceutical sciences at eth, katharina additionally worked part-time as a pharmacist in the bahnhof apotheke zurich. being a researcher working meticulously in the lab and spending time as a healthcare professional for patients in the pharmacy was the perfect mix to start and develop her professional career. the feeling of satisfaction and contentment in her work approved her passion for healthcare. at the same time her love for africa has grown over time and several adventurous journeys to various African countries have peaked in fulfilling one of her life dreams of driving from zurich through africa to cape town.
after three years of working in the pharmaceutical industry, the right moment has arrived to start the project «Beyond Africa», which she will approach with her positive mindset, sociable character and great empathy. no challenge is too big for her, which is proven by the fact that even her autoimmune disease «morbus bechterew» cannot hold her back from conducting this project.