Touching down at Limpopo Valley Airfield in Mashatu Game Reserve was my first experience of feeling total freedom in a truly wild place. This marked the beginning of the photographic guiding career that would in time give me the privilege of accompanying guests to some of the world’s most sought-after photographic destinations. This was my first job in the wild. I had dreamt of it since I was a child, snapping away pictures of hornbills at rest camps in the Kruger National Park on family holidays. I was met by a colleague from the reserve, and after completing border control we headed to the camp where I would be based. To her surprise, I didn’t yet have my driving license, but she was brave enough to let me take the wheel and bump along the dusty track to camp, which I must say, I did with relative ease! Subsequently, driving through the reserve on my own is one of the most enchanting memories of that time. The Northern Tuli Game Reserve spans some 72 000 hectares of privately-owned land located to the east of Botswana. The reserve borders South Africa to the South and Zimbabwe to the East. The mighty Limpopo River carves the southern boundary and the Shashe River forms the reserves north-eastern boundary. In one corner of the greater Tuli rests the Mashatu Game Reserve, this 29000 hectare slice of wildlife paradise was to become home for the next few years.
The trees here are mainly Mopane, Knob Thorn, Purple Pod Terminalia and Leadwood. The reserve derives its name from a large evergreen tree which in maturity forms a full, mushroom-shaped canopy. More commonly known as the Nyala Berry, (Xanthocersis zambesiaca), Mashatu Trees are prolific along the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers where they have access to fertile soil and plenty of water. I soon discovered that these beautiful trees are the perfect place for leopard. In fact, scanning their hanging branches is the surest method of finding one of these secretive cats.
Much of my time at Mashatu was spent in sunken hides, strategically placed in areas of prime game activity such as waterholes. They are in fact modified shipping containers, inside which one sits in complete safety, looking over the ground at eye level. All manner of animals come to quench their thirst, from tiny mammals to mighty beasts. Needless to say, the photographic opportunities are immense, particularly close-ups which would be impossible to achieve any other way.
The experience in a hide is also very sensory — with no glass separation, one can truly see, smell, feel and hear the wonders of nature. It is not uncommon to feel the splashes of water from elephants bathing, or smell large predators up close, with mixed feelings of excitement, adrenalin and vulnerability! I must admit, the hide opening feels very big when a lion is lapping up water just metres away. I can hear those slurping sounds to this day!
Mashatu falls within the summer rainfall region of Southern Africa — a semi-arid tropical climate with warm days and cool African nights. The hides close in December as the first rains fall, predominantly in the form of late afternoon thundershowers between November and March. With rainwater pans filling up throughout the reserve, animals are no longer restricted to key water-points for drinking, and the hides become less productive. In March, a high-pressure cell over the central area of Southern Africa slowly begins to create fine dry weather and the hides open once again.
During the Covid-19 state of emergency in Botswana, most of Mashatu’s staff went back to their families and homes in various parts of the country. All of their employees remain employed on a reduced salary, which is subsidised further by the Botswana Government. This is an ideal temporary measure, but is quite unsustainable in the long term. No tourists = no jobs = no food. This is what many people are facing.
The global pandemic has forced Mashatu to direct its attention to another concerning issue; poaching. The threat of poaching from the reserve’s unfenced international boundaries has markedly increased, naturally due to equal problems of job loss and consequent food shortages in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Snaring and night poaching with spears and do-igs are a constant threat, and extremely difficult to counter.
David Evans, managing director of Mashatu, explains that the conservation of areas such as this is absolutely dependant on three elements, which must all be present for its effectiveness: firstly the private sector custodians of the concessions; secondly the communities that reside on the peripheries providing the work force; and thirdly the tourists, whose dollars support the whole system. What is evident is that long-serving, well-trained employees are an extremely valuable resource, and they need to be supported, even in hard lockdown times. They are the ones who will be there when tourism reopens.
A wonderful guest of mine once summed it up like this: “There is this moment about half an hour before sunset when a little wind comes up and the sky is ablaze. It is when the trees and flowers are pollinating, and the air is fragrant with wild basil. Your skin smells like wind and dust and sun and sweat, and your mind is full of memories of the day. Memories of the grand orchestra that is the natural world, coordinating life with mathematical precision. You know this is the truest form of beauty. The stars will soon come out and you will feel tiny, an insignificant part of it all. Yet you’re certain that this is the way that life is supposed be and you’ve never felt more alive”
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