An open door

Thursday morning; 05h00: The sun's ray lurk over the hills bringing the morning twilight, the sky blaring white whilst the rocky overhangs hide in the shadows. I breathe in the fresh air seeping through the open window and exhale a final release of tainted air before I prepare for my new journey.

Essential luggage loaded into a Hyundai Elantra as old as I am, fuel and oil checks done and final
farewells said we hit the road and head for what will hopefully be my final destination and home for a long time to come.

We climb slowly over rolling hills surrounded by bushveld and brush in which I had spent many hours as a young girl exploring the jungles within my imagination, we pass through tidy shantytowns which have become a crowning feature of this landscape tourists have come to adore. As we charge on at a steady 80 kilometres an hour we are passed by luxury tour agency minibuses; filled with international clients, and donkey cars packed with wood, the driver ontop his perch of lumber, a broad smile on his face and sweat on his brow, the beautiful contradiction that is this industry I have been launched into at break-neck speed.

A road sign indicates our turn to the right, slowing down to a comfortable 15 kilometers an hour I turn in and see before me for the very first, and certainly not the last time, Wonderboom gate. It's boom gate plain and simple,  decorated only by the villagers' curios arranged in an amphitheater around its tiny thatched hut.

We are greeted by parks rangers and sign in as requested, under persons in I write "two", persons out will be recorded as "one". I'm here to stay. We roll slowly over uneven dusty roads, the exhaust scraping the yellow earth time and again as we traverse between bush and boulders we pick up the scent of fresh buffalo dung and see piles of elephant scat strewn across the road, a clear indication that they still rule this land. The road bends left and right slithering across the landscape like the track of the snakes who live here. As we make our final climb in first gear with our 2x4 Hyundai "game viewer" we see the sign ahead. Marked by a Tribal female figure and the name, translated as "A gift from God"; which is exactly what this was, Impodimo.

We inch closer and closer and my heart both sinks to my toes and jumps to my throat as we are passed by a Game viewer Land Rover, filled with guests and my brand new colleagues! My manager awaits my arrival and greets me with a smile that confirms I have found my tribe. Tomorrow will be my first day as the Guest liaison and Kiddies program Manager of Impodimo Game Lodge.

Impodimo is a 5 star Lodge in the Malaria free Madikwe Game reserve, a reserve I have always dreamed of seeing each time we pass through Swartruggens heading to our family farm. It is a conservation success story as old farmlands were combined and restored to their previous natural state through a number of years of trial and error until the winning recipe was found! Madikwe now hosts the Big 5, the magnificent seven along with a huge variety of general plains game, birds and reptile species. The reserve is also making huge strides in the areas of raising wild dog numbers in the country and are working hard on battling the increase of Rhino poaching in South Africa.

After years and years of struggle, many dark nights and tears shed, finally my time has come and the door has opened wide! Not only has the door opened taking me through to a new and higher path in life, on the other side of this I have been handed endless possibility, there are no more hindrances, no paths laid before me and I am Free. Free to wake up each morning with a smile on my face and know without a doubt that no matter what the day will bring that it will be a good day, free to make my own path in life from this moment on, free to wander into this wilderness I find myself encompassed by, living each moment, taking in each encounter, learning, growing without limitations!

It has been a long time coming, a far-off dream, a fantasy made a reality and gifted to me to cherish and make of it the most I possibly can! Today I stand and stare at the rolling hills and mountains, the plateaus and open grasslands.

Today I stand in an open door, nothing can stop me now.

Follow this blog for highlights from my new job and all the amazing animal encounters we have on a daily basis at Impodimo Game lodge.

Please follow me on twitter and Instagram via the links below to see the world from my perspective, with a foot in the door.

https://twitter.com/BiancaBothab211

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Read my scholarship articles for The WOMA at the links below:

The WOMA Scholarship : Conservationista by Bianca Botha



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US, UK and South Africa: 

Back-a-Buddy Conservation study fund