I’ve been working as a safari guide for just over a month, but my journey in the bush began long before that. In 2018, I started working as general staff at Thornybush Game Reserve, where I first developed an interest in tracking. This led me to Moholoholo View Mountain in 2019, where I completed a tracking course and began working as a tracker, a role I held for five years.
During that time, my passion for guiding grew. In 2023, I registered with FGASA, bought my books, and began studying. After every game drive, I would read and learn from my Head Guide, slowly building the skills and knowledge I needed to step into the guiding role.
I trained and qualified through Thornybush Game Reserve and currently hold the following certifications:
My favourite animal is the leopard, elusive, powerful, and graceful. I also enjoy pointing out the white-crested helmet-shrike, a striking and social bird, and the marula tree, a plant rich in tradition and significance across Africa.
One encounter I’ll never forget happened on 11 June 2021. I was tracking lions through a large block of bush when I suddenly came face-to-face with a black rhino. It charged, and I had to climb a marula tree and radio my guide for assistance. Another intense moment occurred on 5 October 2024, when I was on a bush walk with two guests and our lead guide. We were charged at close range, just five to seven metres, by lionesses with cubs. Moments like these remind you of the wild’s raw power and the respect it demands.
To me, conservation is more than a responsibility, it’s a way of life. It feels natural to live in alignment with the bush, and being a guide is not just a job, it’s part of who I am.
Languages spoken: Tsonga
Each guide in our team brings their own unique voice and perspective, but they all share one goal: to help you connect more deeply with the beauty, power, and fragility of the African wilderness.
Kaingo is a 16 400 hectare (41 000 acre) private game reserve in the Waterberg District, of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. A pleasant 2.5-hour drive from Johannesburg, makes Kaingo one of the most accessible premier malaria free big game reserves in the country. It is a declared protected area with Critical Biodiversity 1 classification and a core area of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve, which was officially declared by UNESCO in 2001.
As a declared Nature Reserve with the primary objective of Natural Resource Conservation the Reserve is run along pure, sustainable management and development principles, with an exceptionally low development and tourist footprint. Kaingo Reserve Foundation, a non-profit public benefit organisation is the appointed management authority of the reserve.
The grassy plains and savanna abound with animals such as giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, and impala. It is the diversity of habitat on the reserve that encourages such a wide range of wildlife as well as over 300 bird species, including rare species such as African finfoot and Narina trogon.
Kaingo protects a unique and special environment and the reserve’s owners, and management is deeply committed to conservation and research. It is one of the few reserves where the full tourism income goes towards positive conservation. Every visiting guest directly supports the reserve’s primary objective of conservation.
Rich in human history there is also an array of rock art sites on Kaingo. With hundreds of images spread across 15 sites, Kaingo offers the biggest variety of rock art and archaeological finds dating to the Stone Age.
Engage in fishing activities in the Mokolo River, home to 32 different fish species. The area offers picturesque spots for mostly catch-and-release fishing, with the option to have caught bass prepared by our kitchen chefs as a delightful snack.
We’re striving to conserve the biodiversity, ecological integrity, landscape characteristics and cultural resources of Kaingo Game Reserve for future generations. As custodians of nature for the next generation we have an opportunity and thus responsibility to make a significant contribution to the protection of the Waterberg.
Embark on a serene Mokolo River Boat Cruise to witness the wildlife of Kaingo. Our expert guides ensure an educational journey through the reserves beauty. With the gentle boat pace, experience up-close encounters with animals and the diverse fauna and flora of the region.
Weather Dependant
*NB: River levels are low at the moment.