Have you ever wondered what it is like to be on the 'other' side on safari and part of the guiding team as opposed to being a client? Kalunga, as a Sunway guide, writes about his experiences on tour and what it means to be a guide when starting off on each new safari...
As you may have learned from his bio on 'Our Guides', he loves guiding for Sunway because he gets to see different countries and he loves sharing this with the clients that join him. When home in Zambia, Kalunga plays in his local football team and supports Arsenal and his national team, the Chipolopo's who recently won the Africa Cup of Nations.
"At the start of each new departure, I always find myself wondering: “What is the next group like?” So off I go to the airport to do the 'meet and greet' and look forward to meeting the next group that is to become my responsibility for the next few weeks..."
Transfers are done and we have introduced ourselves to the group. Everyone is very courteous and friendly so maybe this is a good group for group dynamics? Oops.... One slight hitch is that the other part of the group have already arrived and are at the hotel. Now this could be a potential hurdle? We have two distinct groups. For us as guides alarm bells have started ringing. But all is well...
The two groups' first encounter is very welcoming and they get off to a fine start as a whole... We are off to a potentially great safari! Beer seems to be the first common denominator important to this group, so lots of friendly vibes on the first evening. We finish the initial tour briefing and get through the paper work without a glitch, well except when one of our papers accidentally finds itself swimming in someone's beer. We outline the programme for duration of the trip. Many a times I have heard our clients often wonder “ Is a safari a holiday…?” One of our T-shirts puts this question to rest declaring ”Its not a holiday! It’s an adventure!!" The border formalities and some of the roads in Namibia are not for the faint hearted. The weather is described by one client as “hot ,hotter and very hot…” but this group seems to have found a way around all this - Drink and be merry is the motto! We have learnt always to ensure that there is enough ice in the cooler box and we should always stop for shopping. As usual we emphasise on drinking lots of water. It works, and we have a good laugh when one day, one of the clients orders a gin and tonic for his friend and water with a slice of lemon for his wife, the order comes and he mistakenly gives the gin and tonic to his wife and the water to his friend. Wife quickly realises she is drinking a gin and tonic, but the friend continues drinking and almost finishes the glass before realising he is drinking water! Once we set off, we hear “Stop, stop, stop!” an impala, (a pavian), and that "small antelope" - are all expressions you hear at the back of the vehicle. We stop as they ask but as guides, we want to continue as we know better game is just ahead. We have also come to believe that a successful game drive should include “THE BIG FIVE”. We don’t have to drive long before another “Stop stop”! This time it is an elephant and “Oh cute, with a baby!” Click, click and pictures of the elephant are taken. We give a brief explanation about African elephants.
After almost 8 minutes, we arrive at the waterhole. Here we find an interesting scene: Springbok, giraffe, and the oryx all are drinking water. This makes for beautiful pictures and the group is delighted. We leave the park and head back to the lodge. Upon arrival “Malaria prophylaxes” quickly becomes a pseudo name for gin and tonic :). Everyone orders one except for the guides and we realise one of the clients who usually does not enjoy alcohol has also taken to the drink and be merry motto. Singing and laughter is the order of the day. The manager at the lodge is also delighted to be hosting such a friendly and happy group.
One of the clients says "Oh, Kalunga this was another successful day. The animals, the landscape, the food and accommodation - everything is super! Have you ever had such a harmonious group? We are all happy the Swiss, the Aussie (a nick name given to a former East German) and of course you Africans (us guides...) are one big happy family!” We, as the guides were happy as everything is going smoothly so far. What could burst this bubble? Remember we are in Africa and it's very unpredictable. Not long after we were faced with a first real test to our adventure.
The ‘Red Elephant’ has had a breakdown. We cannot blame him/her (I have to be gender sensitive, as trucks also have feelings). The truck has just endured the bumpy dusty roads, pot holes and the heat and it has taken its toll. So he/she just would not move, like the donkeys on the side of a Botswana highway. It had to also happen in one of the worst locations on this tour - the Petrified Forest in Namibia. If you have been to this side of Namibia you know what I mean. The bumpy dusty road and the heat are not a good combination. This had all the ingredients for a very unhappy tourists and we were worried that the group would be upset with us. We decide to walk to Petrified Forest which was just about 500 m away. Red elephant wasn't a bit bothered. He/she is just quiet...
We do our tour of the Petrified Forest and are back after an hour. I am seated at a corner which is the only place I can get a network signal. The group and my colleague leave me searching for the cell phone signal and decide to have lunch seeing that Red Elephant still hasn’t moved. Now we have had lunch what to do? Oh yes! We ask the local guides at the Petrified Forest to rescue the situation and come with a little lesson about the Damara language and culture. They agree and keep the clients entertained whilst we try and get our Red Elephant back up and running by trying to figure out the problem.
the local guides explain the clicks in their Language and how they are used. This is very interesting, (and hilarious) when the group tries out the clicks and ask many questions. They ask the guides to sing in Damara using the clicks. The guides agree and we have a new group song “Amarula amarula rula” for the rest of the tour.
Of course the cooler box has to be part of this and 3 members of the group go to get it from the Red Elephant. So whilst I, Kalunga am trying to sort logistics to get Red Elephant to move again, the clients are enjoying Malaria prophylaxes aka gin and tonic and singing “Amarula”.
We end up having tea and coffee and only leave the Petrified Forest in a hired vehicle around 18.45hrs. The heat and the wait have taken their toll, and the morale is a bit low. Its understandable - everyone is tired. We drive to White Lady Lodge and occasionally you hear singing at the back from the Swiss ladies. The welcome at White lady Lodge is very interesting: “Please keep quiet we have sensitive guests on the premises.... African Elephants shhhsst! Come inside quickly and quietly.”
We have dinner and our end of day briefing and off to bed. I hear “To bed , you must be joking! Dorothy is the cooler box in your room?. Oh, and Kalunga advises he will be at the lodge tomorrow morning with the Red Elephant. Good news.”
The Red Elephant is back. We apologize on behalf of Sunways Safari (and our red Elephant) for the breakdown (bumpy roads shake things loose), but the group takes this as part of their adventure. They say they really enjoyed their day at Petrified Forest and were happy they could continue on their trip so quickly.
We continue with no further delays and end our trip on a positive note in Botswana.