“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.” - Swami Vivekananda

Some of my earliest memories I have are being out on safari. My first ever safari I was a young 6 months old where we apparently got stuck and the vehicle broke down. The guide and his tracker had no radio signal and left us in the vehicle in the middle of this extremely wild and mysterious wilderness whilst they walked back to the lodge to get help... the adventures of the bush started here for me. Being a Safari Guide has been a dream of mine since being at the ripe old age of 7. I used to walk around the garden with a pair of binoculars that were almost the size of me around my neck and a bird book in the one hand trying to identify different bird species and when I had done so I used to run excitedly inside to tell my parents I think I had just found a new species for me.

I grew up in Johannesburg where I lived for 16 years and in those years I was fortunate enough to stay as a guest at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve 7 times. It is now some of those guides I had 10 years ago that I find myself working with and still learning from them on a daily basis, sharing stories and tales over a cold beer. During these years I would sit right next to the ranger asking a huge amount of information and trying to decipher the radio so could I imagine myself there and deciding the daily safari plans. When I turned 16 my family (Mom, Dad, Sister, 2 dogs and 2 cats) were moved to Beijing, China where we lived for 2.5 years. Whilst living here I would dream of those times when I was out on safari and would often imagine being there when stressed.

Finishing school in Beijing really gave me a huge cultural appreciation and desire to one day return back to South Africa and make my dream a reality, being a Safari Guide. However, I had to wait a further 4 years for this to become a reality. This is as I moved to Scotland to study at the great and prestigious University of Edinburgh, here I studied BSc Ecological Sciences (Hons. Conservation and Management). After completing my degree I moved back to South Africa and I had to decide do I start by trying to get a job immediately in Ecology or to follow the dream of being a Safari Guide. I live with a motto: Failure is temporary but regret is forever and that when reflecting back on that motto I had made my mind up immediately. There is nothing to be scared about failure, it molds and makes you whereas regret is forever and you can never learn from regretting something and it will always dwell on your mind.

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” ― T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

As I landed back home in South Africa I immediately signed up for then the 28 day Field Guiding course based near Hoedspruit. After completion of that course I had realized I had made the correct decision.

Having now been a Safari Guide in the Sabi Sands for the past 3.5 years with the past 2.5 years being at the magnificent Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve it is now time for me to move on and pursue a new dream of mine. I am hoping on moving to the USA and more specifically, New York City to hopefully move into the field of finance and business where I will be able to use all my skills I have learnt and adapted from as being a Safari Guide. I hope that within the next 4 months my application for a temporary Green Card will be approved and I can then make the big move over the Atlantic Ocean. I think that being a Safari Guide has provided me with the most incredible stepping-stones in life to find my concrete pathway to lead me into the future.

Steve with his tracker, Heavyness

It has been a magical dream come true – join me in my last few months as a guide reflecting on the daily adventures and people that have made this dream come true.

“We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we're too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams.” - Herb Brooks