My time on the Game Reserve - A Diary

Before it all happened

Before I get started, I need to give context of how I ended up working at the game reserve.

I finished my studies in 2009 at a private college called Open Window - School of Visual Communication. They were still in Lynnwood, Pretoria back then. My best subjects were illustration and video, both leaning towards storytelling. Needless to say, I'm an artist and I've been wanting to tell stories since my teacher in high school read my story in front of the class because of how good it was. Drawing on the other hand was part of me since I was a child and I was really good at it. My dream was to become a storyteller. I was fascinated with animation, and wanted to tell stories through animation. My parents found the college, Open Window, to grant me that opportunity to start my dream. I told them I wanted to work at Pixar and Dreamworks. During the last year of my studies, I discovered comics illustration, and that increased my deep desire for storytelling.

Getting a job in the illustration- or movie industry was a challenge on its own. Not only was that difficult - especially in South Africa where the need for illustrators and comic artists, or even storyboard artists were uncommon (unlike in the USA) - I also needed to move out from my parent's house, which meant that I needed to find work. I found a job in 2010 at a small startup graphic design studio where I learned a lot, but was retrenched after a year. Since 2011, the only jobs I could find was in the printing industry. And let me tell you, for an artist, dreaming to make stories - whether in movies, children's books, comics or whatever - printing is not the ideal place to work in. I only worked there to get money, but I gained experience in the industry and eventually made me a better graphic designer. By 2015 I was burnt out from working with printers and doing quick, lack-of-creative design work that doesn't involve branding, concept development or decent layout. I was a washed-out graphic designer in a printing shop.

I began to dream of escaping to the distant farmlands or bushveld, away from the city. I wanted to travel South Africa. Drive long distances and have money without work. Unrealistic, I know. I began to develop a deeper love for nature from hiking and going to farmers markets. Anything outside, away from printing and computers. I searched online for farm work, and found a website where a you can apply to work on farms across South Africa. For your labour you get to stay and eat on the farm for a few weeks, and then you can move to the next farm. That sounded like the ideal life.

I told my friend, James about it and he was in to do this with me. However, God had other plans. James told a friend of his about my plan, and that friend said he knows someone on a private game reserve that might be able to help us out. So we visited that farm and had a small interview with the manager. We told him we were interested in volunteering for the month of December 2015. He was keen and I'm sure the friend put in a good word for us too. And that's how I ended up there.

My knowledge of the bushveld was minimal - I didn't even know the difference between a Springbok and an Impala. Thank goodness I know it now. But that was a new experience to me. I became knowledgeable about the bushveld and experienced nature in the most intimate way, and it's something I would do over again for the rest of my life. Yes, there were good and bad times, but I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. I think it's an experience that anyone should have at least once in their life.