Meet your Africa Specialists

Michelle Crabtree
Born in Harare, Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa, Michelle really is our “African Specialist”! She studied tourism at College and worked for one of South Africa’s largest inbound Tour Operators specialising in Africa before joining the Boutique Travel Team. Michelle moves back and forth between California and Cape Town, working from both locations. During her 14 years in the Travel Industry, Michelle has travelled extensively throughout Africa and has firsthand knowledge of every product she recommends. Active and adventurous, she is the first one to try out the world’s highest bungee jump located in South Africa. Her passion for travel and creating life-long memories for her clients comes through in the way she works with each traveler in depth to ensure they have their very own unforgettable African experience!

Ellen Clark
Ellen has been assisting travelers with their vacation planning for 27 years. Although born and raised in California, she started in the business while living in Durban, South Africa. Ellen's passion for travel was directly inherited from her adventurous parents and her international experiences started at the age of 10 when her family moved to Brazil for 2 years. As soon as she graduated from high school she headed for Europe and spent 2 ½ years there before an opportunity came up to go to the University of Natal in Durban, South Africa. She stayed on for 11 years and it's where she began her travel career and since her return to the Bay Area, she has maintained contact with her strong connections with her travel associates in Africa.  Ellen has traveled extensively throughout Africa and planned hundreds of vacations for her clients. She is a certified scuba diver and her vacation tastes range from adventure to urban.