My love for nature started at a young age, from hiking in the Austrian Alps to camping in the Belgium Ardennes or even stargazing in a deserted Middle-Eastern desert. My family was always adventure oriented and I believe that’s where my passion for nature and its wonders originated.
My profession as a field guide, however, only started a year after moving to South Africa, with golf being what initially brought me to this beautiful country. After graduating with a BSc Sports Science degree, my intentions were to follow the steps of playing on the professional golf circuit known as the Sunshine Tour in Southern Africa.
My parents at the time were living in Maputo, Mozambique and established a stable base for me to travel back and forth from Mozambique to SA, and shortly after I moved across the border.
Regular visits to Maputo whilst I was still finishing my studies in the UK obviously involved plenty of Kruger trips along the way. It was amazing, this for me was the ultimate nature experience.
Since my first ever “Safari” in the Kruger, I was hooked, and it was safe to say that the “bush bug” kicked in. All I wanted was a small hut somewhere in the wilderness, no matter where it was, as long as it was in Africa. I wanted to know more and wanted to be involved, but I wasn’t sure how, where and what to do.
I was grateful to have met the CEO of the Focus Africa Foundation, which ran an anti-poaching campaign. I was interested, and again, I wanted to be involved. How could I help and how could I spread awareness to the western world? This resulted in myself becoming a so called ‘rhino ambassador’ for the foundation; I was honoured to be part of the team with the main objective to spread awareness through my golfing career.
After having moved to Johannesburg and still playing golf, my holiday destinations were the bush, any bush, as long as I was in nature. My landlord whilst residing in Johannesburg also mentioned to me that every weekend he “goes to the farm”. As a European boy, when someone talks to me about a farm I immediately think of cattle, sheep and chickens or a crop here and there. Only after a half year of being neighbours with my landlord did I realise he was talking about a game farm, when one night he proudly walked over and told me “look what happened on the FARM this weekend” – which resulted in him showing me a video of a white rhino playing and nudging a tree stump next to his game viewer.
My eyes opened and my first reaction was, “Chris, how can I get involved?”.
After that night he invited me numerous times to join him on one of his “farm” trips situated in the Dinokeng Game Reserve. Which resulted in directing me to join and start my guiding course with Limpopo Field Guiding Academy (LFGA) in 2018.
Game drives and bush walks every day for a month, what a holiday! However it was far from just a holiday. The in-depth knowledge of the course instructors at LFGA blew my mind, to me they were walking encyclopaedias, I wanted to be just like them one day.
Once I got familiar with the FGASA curriculum at LFGA I realised that once you get qualified you are not just a safari guide, you are in fact a geologist, biologist, botanist and sometimes a mechanic. Truth of the matter is, you have to be a jack of all trades and that screamed out to me.
After attaining my FGASA Level 1 qualification I realised that it doesn’t just stop here – as a guide you can keep improving yourself by reaching further qualifications, and knowing myself, if I start something, I want to finish it or reach the highest possible qualification I can achieve.
Chris grabbed me under his wing and my guiding career kick-started in Dinokeng. I started conducting game drives on a freelance basis for his lodge and other lodges within the area for roughly a year.
Shortly after that, Thorn Tree Bush Camp offered me a full time job as guide and assistant manager of the camp and I was also appointed secretary of the DGR Field Guides of the reserve. I was privileged to be officially recognised as a field guide on the reserve which also resulted in assisting the DGR rangers with conservation work such as rhino, lion and cheetah collaring and relocations.
Everything that I expecting before becoming a field guide came true, or if not better.
After resigning my position at Thorn Tree Bush Camp, I decided to try a completely different aspect to wildlife which resulted in game farm management in the Eastern Cape.
Working on a game farm close to Grahamstown did come with its challenges as it was a completely different environment from what I was used to, but my time in the EC was not wasted and it turned out to be one of the best learning curves I have ever had.
But I missed the guiding, the interactions with the people in the bush – showing and educating guests about the fauna and flora of a specific area is where my true passion lies. I returned to Dinokeng in August 2020, when I decided to approach my FGASA Trails Guide journey.
Once again, signed up with LFGA, I started at the end of September for another month at Tau Camp. The motto of the academy “Once a Limpopo Guide, always a Limpopo Guide” sure seems to make more sense amongst guides which have graduated, I don’t know any guide, including myself who wouldn’t want to go back to Tau camp, even if it’s just for a coffee around the fire.
Although I had been on plenty of walks in the past with Chris and others in the Greater Kruger area, the Trails Guide journey was not easy. My signs of reading the bush were more than acceptable, however the required ARH Course (Advanced Rifle Handling) was a challenge…a big challenge. Coming from a former professional golfer when during competitions ones needs to control his/her nerves, this was a different story…I was extremely nervous about not passing, especially towards the end of the assessment when you are on your last attempt to successfully complete the ARH which involved the famous simulated lion charge. I can’t explain how happy I was when Mark (Director of LFGA) poked his pen through the bullet hole within the circle of the brain cavity…ARH completed!
Being qualified as a FGASA Apprentice Trails Guide, myself and Chris started up our own trails company where we take guests out on morning, afternoon, day or 3 day backpack trails.
Conducting walking safaris is the ultimate – being at one with nature and becoming a participant rather than a spectator is a different feeling.
I returned to LFGA at the end of August to assist with the instructors and the students. This time I had the opportunity to see the camp from a different perspective, one which I truly admire and enjoy.
Not only did I successfully complete my Field Guide Level 2 NQF4 exam and attain a CyberTracker Track & Sign Level 3, my eyes have now opened to a different guiding aspect which is the potential of becoming an instructor and FGASA assessor one day. I do realise that the journey to reach that goal is a long one and not everyone is cut out to be a trainer, but its certainly something that I would like to strive towards!
I am very grateful to have learned and shared memories with everyone who has been involved in my guiding career so far, from top class instructors and facilitators to more experienced guides, some of whom I now call my colleagues and friends. You never stop learning – that is the beauty of this industry and I am excited for what the future holds… and guess what, I now live in a “hut” in the bush!
Val Graus
For further enquiries, contact Linky at:
Limpopo Field Guiding Academy
+27(0)72 625 4709
+27(0)14 007 0621
Email: info@limpopotraining.co.za