We’ve been very busy over the past few weeks with people coming from near and far. But being busy has just meant that we get to witness every day the wonder of the bush and meet such a wonderful selection of people.
One of the most exciting things is to see our guests getting fully involved, to watch as they see their very first Impala, to listen to their excited stories from their game drive, hear our little group speak so many different languages – but how they laugh and bond over the memories that they will share for a life-time. There are times when even as rangers we look at the animals as if we have never seen them before because the build-up of anticipation, the sound of clicking cameras and excited questions from guests re-open our eyes every day to how lucky we are to work in an ever-changing ‘office’, with such wonderful people by our side.
Being a small and intimate lodge, it is interesting for us to also learn where our guests come from and how they see the bush. To understand that the view out of their bedroom window is a whole lot different to ours. Their stories from their city lives enable us to suddenly hear how the African night might sound so strange to them, the crickets chirping away, the lone whoop of a hyena somewhere in the distance and the little shuffling noises in the bushes of our resident civet. More often than not, we take for granted how special our little place is. It was the one day when a guest said ‘It smells so different here’ that we really smelt our air, how fresh and clean it was, a hint of upturned earth from recent elephants passing by, a slightly sweet tinge telling us that wild sage has been disturbed.
So from us in the bush, thank you to every single one of our guests, past and future for making our job such a pleasure, and encouraging us to appreciate every new day. We also have those fond memories with you, those times where you taught us something new, where we have laughed around the fire and enjoyed various stories from around the world. If we have already met you, we hope to see you again soon, and if we have not, we are looking forward to making a heap more special moments in our bush memories.
