As rangers, our lives are woven with threads of adventure, passion, and a yearning for discovery. Whilst our days are often filled with exhilarating game drives, tracking elusive animals, and sharing the wonders of the natural world with our guests, there comes a time when we seek solace in the embrace of the bush beyond our professional duties.

In one of my previous blogs, I explored the captivating experience of walking in the bush and how being a part of an incredibly inspiring and supportive team of guides, enhances some of the best aspects of being a guide at Londolozi. In today’s blog, I will delve deeper into the realm of ranger’s off time, recounting a memorable bush immersion that will be forever etched in my memory.

The sun begins to rise as the golden morning light touches the Northern reaches of Londolozi.

Our Mission: Bush Immersion

As guides at Londolozi, we are constantly seeking new ways to deepen our connection to this timeless land that we have the privilege of being able to explore. Recently, we set off on a mission to conduct our bush immersion – a special experience that would see us spending the night sleeping out under the African sky. We aimed to accumulate more hours being on foot in the bush, spend precious moments together through team bonding, and leverage each other’s knowledge whilst we focused on the smaller aspects of the bush that often do not get the attention they deserve from a vehicle.

The decision to sleep in the bush is never taken lightly. It requires careful planning, considerable preparation, and a willingness to embrace the elements. But for our team of rangers, the opportunity to spend some time in the bush together to completely immerse ourselves was too enticing to resist. The team included the following rangers: Robyn, Nick, Kelsey, Kyle, Megan, Matt, Tayla and myself. A special mention must go to Ranger Kyle for spearheading this mission and for getting the ball rolling on the ‘admin’ side of things.

The team (from left to right): Ranger’s Robyn, Nick, Kelsey, Meg & Reece. (Matt and Tayla absent from this photo)

Before heading out into the bush, we loaded our vehicle which was to be left at our designated campsite (for safety reasons) with a few essentials; an extra stock of water, a braai grid, firewood, boerewors which we would braai for dinner, a pot to boil water for our morning coffee and arguably the most important, a box of rusks to have with our morning coffee. After having dropped the vehicle at the camp site we returned to camp to collect the rest of our things.

An elevated view of the picturesque Manyelethi riverbed. Translated into English from XiTsonga, the word “Manyelethi” means, “river of stars”.

Setting out from camp later that afternoon, we walked down towards Finfoot crossing, where Tracker Terrence, kindly gave us a lift across the Sand River. We continued our walk and ventured toward the heart of the Northern part of Londolozi; the Manyelethi Riverbed.

The Manyelethi River – “The River of Stars”

A very similar scene to that of our encounter with the elephant bull that we observed feeding in the open crest ahead of us.

Along the way, we walked through some of the vast clearings that can be seen across from the camp deck, where we had a magnificent encounter with a very relaxed elephant bull who had spent the afternoon feeding off the fruits of the marula trees scattered across the crest. We took the opportunity to explore the Manyeleti’s dry riverbed.

Here our team can be seen exploring the river bed of the Manyelethi as we meandered our way towards our campsite for the evening.

Anyone who has had the privilege of being able to experience the sheer beauty of this timeless landscape will have an idea of what I am speaking about. However, the experience of walking through the riverbed itself is one that no words could ever do justice to – it’s an ancient and primal feeling.

The Nkuhuma Pride rests in the riverbed of the stunning Manyelethi

We took our time, stopping to discuss and learn from one another about each and every detail that managed to catch our eyes. It is still one of the most valuable forms of vicarious learning – being able to refresh our knowledge or learn something completely new. It amazes me that you can never stop learning in such a kaleidoscopic environment. Having access to the knowledge and passion of my team is a precious resource that continues to inspire me every day. Despite all the wonderful fauna and flora that we observed, butterflies consumed our collaborative learning effort – attempting to identify every butterfly we crossed paths with.

A White Cloaked Skipper butterfly rests on a Londolozi Rangers cap

As we arrived at our campsite for the evening at Southern Cross Koppies, where we were greeted by the resident pair of klipspringers. They watched on as we set up camp just in time to share a quiet moment to watch one of the most impressive sunsets. It was a perfect evening, or so we thought…. Throughout the night, we were tasked with keeping a small fire going and making sure the water was hot for the next ranger as we took turns keeping watch. The solitude of keeping watch whilst sleeping out provides you with a very rare and precious opportunity for introspection, where the distractions of modern life are replaced by the profound simplicity of the natural world around us. It is something that I feel that we as humans do not get enough of. Surrounded by the whispers of the wild night, it allows you to reconnect as you disconnect and renew a sense of wonder and gratitude for the delicate balance of life.

The magical sunset we witnessed just as we had finished setting up our campsite

The picturesque scene of the stars above our heads slowly began to fade as the clouds rolled in. The rain started to descend however, we were all too enticed by the thrill of sleeping out in the bush that we decided to embrace the much-needed rains after a very hot and dry week. After enduring the night, filled with scattered showers, we woke up with damp sleeping bags but not even that could take away from our rejuvenated mood. We enjoyed our morning rusks and coffee, packed up our campsite and left it as if no one had ever been there, and set off back to camp. Our cups were filled both figuratively and literally!

The team all together (Left to Right): Kyle, Kelsey, Nick, Robyn, Reece, Megan, Matt and Tayla

This experience with these incredible people has been one of my highlights of 2024 and it is one that I will cherish forever. I look forward to many more experiences that I will be able to share with our inspiring team of guides as we continue to seek new ways of deepening our connection to the place, we have the privilege of calling home.