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| The coastal dune forest at Sodwana at dusk. |
Sometimes in life things are too good to be true. I
experienced a version of this particular platitude earlier this year. During
April I applied for what was the perfect job. The job was a field guide based
in a reserve close to Mkuze and they were not too worried about my experience.
I first traveled to Mkuze in northern Zululand in 2005 and fell in love with
the area. I spent some time camping in Mkuze Game Reserve and had my first
encounter with the incredible biodiversity of the region. I remember many
finding many frogs I had never seen before and insects that I had no idea what
they were. Back then my repertoire of species and biodiversity was narrower
than it is now, but even then the naturalist in me was patrolling the dark camp
for hours at night looking for crawlers. Visiting the region changed something
in me and when I was there all those years ago I knew that I was going to be
steering my life towards the natural world in some way. I have always thought
that if I could get back to the area to work I would be happy. This happened
and I got the job at a lodge in Zululand Rhino Reserve, which is very close to
Mkuze.
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| Thelotornis capensis, aptly named the Twig Snake or Vine Snake. |
I went on a very steep learning curve and had to learn the
ropes of guiding and the road network as fast as possible. I managed this and
with a few bumps along the way I eventually was doing good game drives and
getting good feed back. The job was intense and high energy. I would get up
4:15 am everyday and start getting ready. Before my drive I had to be looking
sharp, have the vehicle ready (all checks done) and have the coffee station
ready for my guests arrival. After a quick coffee we would depart on game drive
at about six. After a three hour or so game drive I would have breakfast with
my guests and then either wash my car or do another activity. Then at 14:30 I
would be back at the lodge to eat quick and begin the preparations for the
afternoon/night game drive. The game drive would get back at about seven and
then I would still have to host the guests for a while before going back to my
room to sleep, usually around ten. I would work like that for three weeks
straight.
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| The Eastern Tiger Snake, Telescopus semiannulatus, a beautiful, nocturnal hunter. |
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| The Leopard Tortoise, Stigmochelys pardalis. |
The job I was doing out there was vehicle based nature
guiding. It was a very different job to what I am used to and a nature
experience from a vehicle is very different to one on foot. One covers a lot
ground, about 25km per drive and the focus is on the bigger animals, such as
mammals and birds. The area I was working in was part of the Black Rhino
Expansion Project, led by Ezemvelo Wildlife, World Wildlife Fund and other role
players. To regularly see these animals, which are suffering so much from human
pressure, was a privilege. The Black Rhinoceros is going extinct at a rate, which
indicates that it will soon be completely obliterated from our world.
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| A beautiful sight, a Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) out in the open. The Zululand Rhino Reserve is playing a role in the preservation of this species. |
Doing this job I learned a lot about people and myself and
of course my self in relation to other people. I also learned a lot
about the
lodge industry, private game reserves, conservation and the role of
money in
all of it. It is an interesting system and I will definitely be writing
about
it in detail in the future. I was able to see the workings of the
private game
reserve as a game farm from the inside. It is a closed system and in
many ways it
is artificial. That aside, I did have some incredible experiences, I saw
some very interesting animals encounters and witnessed magical
interactions, I also met some
amazing people.
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| A powerful predator. This female lioness was often seen down in the river bed. This is what tourists want to see. |
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| Impalas are one of the most graceful antelope. Due to the excellent grazing on the reserve these animals were in very good condition. |
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| Another animal under immense human pressure, the White Rhinocerous (Ceratotherium simum). |
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| Birding in the reserve is excellent. The Burchell's Coucal (Centropus burchellii) is abundant in the area. |
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| The Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus). These ancient reptiles are not very common in the reserve, but a few of the water bodies have one or two. |
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| The Giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) a truly bizarre looking animal. |
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| The Reed Buck (Redunca arundinum). A beautiful and shy antelope. |
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| Marsh Owl (Asio capensis capensis). |
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| A morning scene with White-backed Vultures (Gyps africanus). |
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The beautiful Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).
|
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| The Moon and Venus before sunrise. |
One of the most significantexperiences I had while working
in Zululand was going scuba diving for the first time. I was fortunate enough
to get sponsored to go Sodwana Bay and consider life from the bottom of the
ocean. There are such strange organisms under there and it was a life changing
experience to see them and swim in that environment. After my first dives in
the ocean I took a long walk and sitting on the beach I got thinking about my
life and the way it had led me to that singular moment sitting there
considering my experiences, I was moved and could see where I am going and I
could see that everything that was happening to me in the last two months, a
job, doing nature guiding, the money I got, the way I felt in relation to all
of it:
The moon has risen. Bright. Reflecting. A dead lump of rock
ejected from our world in a distant time. Coldly shining. The shadow of the
earth slowly creeps, soon darkness will reign. Vision changes: blue, blackgrey.
A calmness pervades everything. The solar system slowly begins to reveal
itself.
Mars, our brother. Dying, dead or at rest? Jupiter, strange
gas world. Embryonic. Titanic. Alpha Centauri, the closest star system to our
sun. Sirius, the bright one. Indifferent. Incomprehensible.
"In some remote
corner of the sprawling universe, twinkling among the countless solar systems
there was once a star on which some clever animals invented knowledge. It was
the most arrogant, most mendacious minute in "world history," but it
was only a minute. After nature caught its breath a little the star froze and
the clever animals had to die."*
Sitting alone in the darkness, nameless and for a moment
detached. Desolation emanates from deep inside my brain. For a moment I feel
that I have connected on some level with the rest of the universe. I quickly
realise the mistake. The sensation is an illusion. I am alone. I am part of a
great nothingness.
I have never been born. I have never lived. I have never died. I am born.
I live. I will die and I will become nothing as I am now. Nothing changing,
nothing staying the same. Eternity becomes physical, the universe – time
itself.
The vast emptiness fills my head and makes me drunk. I am
alone and I have no problem.
Looking up at the stars, my brain shivered and I could see
it was all just a dream.
Soon after that I resigned my job. My future is different
now.
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| Tandy's Sandfrog (Tomopterna tandyi). |
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| Mozambique Rain Frog (Breviceps mossambicus). |
* Nietzche, F. ‘On truth and lie in a nonmoral sense’.
In, On Truth and Untruth. Edited by
T. Carman. 2007. Harper Perennial: New York. (pg 17–18)
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