As a shareholder of Limpopo-Lipadi you have the perks of ‘sitting’ front row with our special activities like bush and rhino walks. Or as in this instance: a four-day guiding course. Ian, one of the lucky shareholders, shares his account of this amazing experience.
Our mornings started at 5.30 am every day, early enough to catch the dawn and to be a part of the awakening of the bush surrounding us. After a delicious cup of coffee, we’d be out and about until lunchtime, gathering at camp for theory and questions before returning to the bush at about 3:00 pm – making sure we miss the main heat of the day, only returning after dark. The entire course was facilitated by Byron, a vastly experienced and highly qualified guide who leads private game tours all over Southern Africa. He instructed us in an entertaining and authoritative way, not only about game and tracking – we followed a lion – but also about bird life and song, insects and reptiles, vegetation and tree identification. He also showed us how to drive a game vehicle safely around large and potentially dangerous animals like elephant (very informative, even though it was scary). As a variation we also spent one morning on foot along the banks of the Limpopo learning about the riverine and water life – the hippos were in fine voice! Despite the full moon, we also spent some time star gazing. Pure magic!
Of course, four days didn’t turn us into experts, but many useful tips were given about how to enhance our appreciation of our wilderness, for instance how to encourage a Red Crested Korhaan to perform his kamikaze display! I’m sure all the participants would jump at the chance to do another course.
