The tourism industry is best flavoured by personalities that have unique life experiences that build their knowledge of the areas and products they so passionately sell.
My experience and passion was founded by growing up on a farm amongst cattle, horses and wildlife. As we grew older an old school bus would collect the farm kids in the area and shuttle them off to school in town, and then deliver us back after school in the afternoons. The mischief, fun and fights that happened on that school bus is a whole new story on its own, but I digress……… back to the formation of experience and passion behind our safari tourism career.
During the last three years of high school I had befriended someone whom had an Uncle whom was a Game Ranger in the Kruger National Park. School holidays would then be spent at the Game Rangers house in the bush within the Kruger National Park. It was these visits that sparked the addiction to the remote wilderness and ignited the passion for nature.
The sprint towards the swimming pool had my leg muscles burning and my lungs heaving for oxygen when the impact on my back smashed me to the ground, knocking the wind out of me as a sharp pain pierced my back and shoulder. It took a moment for me to realise that Shumba the adolescent lion cub had waited behind a bush for me to pass, so he could tackle me before getting to the pool.
The two female adolescent lions were chasing me and the piece of buck skin I had been teasing them with. When the chase started I had failed to see that Shumba did not form part of the chase as he had so many times before, but instead broke away and hid behind the bush, knowing full well that I would be passing that way towards the safety of the pool. The two lioness, Lady and Jane had formed part of the attack and one now had my ankle in her mouth, holding firmly but not with any force, and the other now perched on my chest.
The edge of the pool was right next to me and my only escape was to use what force I had left to roll over the edge and into the water, taking two of the adolescent lions with me. From under the water, I could see one of them had pulled themselves out of the pool and one had gotten to the side but was still in the water, I went under and shoved the cub up and out of the pool. I realised then that the pink haze in the water and sharp burning pain on my back was from where Shumba’s claws had lacerated my skin. I too got out of the pool and went inside to get first aid and a stern warning from Oom Johan the Game Ranger. The game I had played with the lion cubs stopped.
Yes, there is a reason why adolescent Lions were in the garden………… The Parks Board patrollers stood in front of a furious Oom Johan as they explained how they had shot a lioness that charged at them whilst out on patrol. Oom Johan felt that standing ones ground would have been adequate, because unless threatened a lion would not go through with the attack. Oom Johan insisted the patrollers take him to the scene of the shooting. The dead lioness lay in the place shown near a rocky outcrop and thicket of bushes, her eyes still open but glazed over and her nipples swollen and showing signs of suckling. It was clear that there were young cubs in the area. He found them nestled under the bushes less than two meters from where she lay, the three young cubs were less than a week old. SANPARKS policy was one of zero interference with nature and as such it was not allowed to save or raise young animals or birds nor domesticate them in any way. BUT, Johan felt the emotion and tears well up inside him. This was a situation created by his staff, these young lion cubs were not meant to be left to starve and die. They deserved a chance at life. He picked them up and put them on the front seat of his vehicle and took them home.