Bush Babies - Living and loving in the African Bush

Staring up at the sky, sun flickering through the leaves of the tree, grass between her toes a little girl lies and dreams of meeting her prince charming and having him sweep her off her feet. They will go on adventures and conquer the world together, one booking at a time.

Romantic relationships in the workplace are for the most part a taboo in many industries, some companies go so far as including clauses against relationships in their employment contracts. In the safari, hospitality and tourism industry, however, is seems to be somewhat of a benefit and in cases a requirement.

The tourism industry, working in lodges and hospitality or being a guide or tracker is not an easy lifestyle. Working odd hours and in cycles of 6 weeks on 2 weeks off or whatever may suite the lodge needs best, working in rural areas constantly surrounded by the same people or in some cases no people and far from the reach of “civilization”, it takes a very specific type of person to be able to survive in these circumstances, and even more so to begin a relationship with someone you work with, potentially marrying and even starting a family!

Julie Brand was one of these girls. After deciding to make a change and follow a dream she packed up to leave the UK and moved to Africa where she would eventually meet her future husband, at the local pub and not long after marry him! Living in a handmade cabin for a while they would eventually decide to start trying for kids. They now have two boys and are taking it day by day as they push on at their Quatermains 1920 Safari Camp, a tented camp in Amakhala Game reserve.

Making a decision like this is not easy when you live and work in the bush, yet for those of us who do, it’s actually really simple. Bush life is an easy life if you are programmed that way, so adapting to life with kids comes naturally.

Some couples choose not to have kids. This may be because it allows them more freedom of movement in order to travel or move from one lodge to the next, others because they are simply content with the way things are or maybe because it’s just a personal preference. However, for the moms who do choose to go on that great adventure with their little and loved ones it’s a long road ahead.

Living and loving in the bush is a great adventure and for a child the adventure is never ending. You

are taught life skills by watching animals interact with each other and have experiences many other children never would.

Tippi and Abu - Copyright Tippi Degre

Tippi Degré was one of these children whose adventure became world famous and her story has been published in a novel, Tippi My book of Africa. As a small girl she travelled Africa with her photographer/filmmaker parents who worked in the bush and allowed her the freedom to interact with the animals and local people of all cultures. This broadened her mind and gave her a great understanding of and empathy towards the minds of animals. In her story she tells of how she could talk to the animals with her mind and about her brother Abu, the elephant.

Growing up in the bush allows children a freedom to grow and expand their minds far beyond what a “normal” school system would allow. It allows them to connect with their inner selves and learn from nature what the human impact is.

Falling in love and starting a family in the bush is by no means easy and you are faced with many challenges, both physically and emotionally. Being able to ensure the health of your child while you are hundreds of kilometers from a hospital, or deciding if you are to send your kids to school, which will ultimately be a boarding school limiting your contact with them or to keep them with you in the bush and possibly follow some sort of home-schooling. At the end of the day each mother has to decide for herself what will be the best for her family and how she will climb the mountain ahead of her. 

I personally believe that I will one day raise my kids in the bush with me. Teaching them from Nature and ensuring they carry the principles they learn here with them wherever they may go in life. Growing up in the bush I believe they will be filled with compassion and empathy, even having seen the destruction and savagery that is a part of everyday life in Africa.

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

https://www.instagram.com/aconservationistsjourney/

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

The WOMA Scholarship: Conservationista by Bianca Botha



To visit or donate to my crowdfunding page please follow the link below! Thank you for your support!

US, UK and South Africa: 

Back-a-Buddy Conservation study fund

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

https://www.instagram.com/aconservationistsjourney/

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

The WOMA Scholarship : Conservationista by Bianca Botha



To visit or donate to my crowdfunding page please follow the link below! Thank you for your support!

US, UK and South Africa: 

Back-a-Buddy Conservation study fund