Bonolo says her journey as an entrepreneur already started when she was a little girl, helping my mother, who knitted and sold jerseys to keep our family going.She was one of the small businesses hosted by SA Tourism at the giant ITB trade fair in Berlin, Germany recently.
Young people in the surrounding Ha-Ramantsha Village thought a tourism property was being constructed and started dropping off their CVs. This gave the couple the idea of developing something similar to that, instead of just a home for themselves. Bonolo shared her journey with News24 on the sidelines of the recent giant ITB tourism trade fair in Berlin, where she was one of the small businesses hosted at the SA Tourism stand.
In 2006 she left the banking industry when opportunities opened up for women in the construction sector. She attended construction workshops and started to specialise in refurbishments. The lodge boasts a swimming pool nestled among palm trees, a restaurant serving traditional cuisine, a spa, a banqueting hall, and conference room.Supplied Kone Village Lodge
"You must be resilient and believe in what you are doing and where you want to go. It was from our hearts that we converted a property that was supposed to be our home and opened it to tourists. The whole village now looks at the hospitality sector differently," she explains.Supplied Kone Village Boutique Lodge