South Africa Backpackers - Adventure Escapades

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And just who are the crazy folk behind this website?

AdventureEscapades.co.za , based in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is a joint effort between Gary Amstutz and Dianne Perrett. And if you’re sure you saw these two in HELLO! magazine last week, well… you’d be wrong. They’re not celebrities (yet), but they are two of the sharper tools in the shed, with a pile of good solid business savvy and a healthy sense of adventure.

Dianne is an internationally acclaimed strategic business and marketing consultant, with a client base that extends across three continents. She has recently focused on Internet Marketing and has two other websites of her own, lajamarketing.co.za and themarketingmanual.com.

Gary has developed his own Internet start-up, RubberstampSA.co.za, now the leading online supplier of rubber stamps in South Africa. He has a background in retail and courier services, and also owns a PostNet business service centre.

From two of the most adventurous places in the world…

Gary was born in the adventurers’ paradise of Cape Town, home to kite-surfing, mountaineering, kayaking and sandboarding; his broad-ranging education took place in Switzerland, Italy, Qatar and South Africa. Dianne was born and educated in New Zealand, birthplace of bungy-jumping, zorbing, black-water rafting and jet-boating.

Getting down to business

After completing a law degree in 1993, Gary spent two years working and travelling in Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. In 1996 he opened a PostNet Business Service Centre in Richards Bay, South Africa, which he subsequently built it into the leading business service centre in the area, earning the award for the Regional Franchise of the Year in 2001.

Needing a new challenge, he launched RubberstampSA.co.za in 2005, after completing a course in Internet Marketing.  The company has grown exponentially and is today the online leader in the provision of rubber stamps in South Africa, consistently ranked in the top 3 on all the relevant search engines. Gary is still closely involved with both PostNet and RubberstampSA.co.za.

Dianne worked in a broad range of service industries before departing antipodean shores to travel extensively. She found her niche in the Marketing Agency sector and spent 4½ years in London working on a number of blue-chip accounts. After her arrival in South Africa at the end of 1989, she founded what is believed to be the first full-service marketing agency in KwaZulu-Natal. Her consulting work has taken her beyond South African borders and she has successfully completed work for companies in Australia, the UK, Holland, Kenya and Zambia. Dianne held the Institute of Marketing Management chairmanship for two terms of office in the KZN Inland Region and is an active Rotarian; in fact, she was the first female member of the Rotary Club of Pietermaritzburg and is currently a Board Director.

Dianne has also authored a book titled Simple Solutions to Effective Marketing! – launched in June 2005, it attempts to demystify marketing for managers and entrepreneurs, helping them to build marketing strategies that will have a profound impact on their businesses.

Adventurous tendencies

Gary is a qualified glider and motor glider instructor, and gets a tremendous kick out of introducing people to the wonder of silent flight. Dianne rates the Bloukrans Bungy and a static line parachute jump as two of her major adventure accomplishments. She has also been an active scuba diver and snow skier.

And who are they when they’re at home?

Gary and Dianne are both married with two children (though not to each other, and not the same children). Gary loves listening to classical music and spending time with his family; and Dianne enjoys getting away into the bush for a spot of bird-watching, and making her way through the pile of books that accompany her wherever she goes.

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