On an early morning game drive at Shamwari, game ranger Julius Mkhize stopped for a moment to ponder the day ahead.

When the tourists get ‘khaki fever’, rangers are hunted

The jeep jockeys get selected for their charm and their comprehensive knowledge of the wild. But besotted visitors sometimes regard them as easy prey, learns Michael Roux van Zyl. Mike Holmes took the pictures

TAKING visitors under their wing and keeping them entertained and informed can be a tricky business for game rangers in the Eastern Cape.

What is known in the trade as “khaki fever” can be a menace out in the bush for these wildlife experts, sometimes also referred to as “jeep jockeys”.

But while the rangers themselves dismiss this “derogatory” tag because they say it only refers to rangers who do “rush jobs”, khaki fever could well be the reason why some feel they have to keep things moving along briskly!

It’s no secret that rangers – both men and women – often have to discreetly and politely keep their distance when they feel they might be getting a little too much attention from certain tourists because their youthful, tanned and uniformed image can represent the best of the great outdoors.

This is especially true of tourists whose inhibitions are eased by too much fresh air, open veld and a couple of sundowners.

But there’s no doubt about it. Game rangers are the backbone of the burgeoning game park industry.

The Explorer team recently found itself gazing into the veld at Shamwari Game Reserve, seated in an open-top 4x4.

Then we stopped. Game ranger Julius Mkhize peered into the bush.

“I think I saw a kudu,” he said.

Mkhize has been a ranger for nine years since he moved to Shamwari from KwaZulu-Natal.

“I love living here and working with animals out in the open every day.

“I go to the city from time to time but it is very claustrophobic there,” said the man who has driven big names into the wild like former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the Springboks as well as the English cricket team.

On an afternoon game drive we spotted 11 hippos lazily cooling down in a pool in the Bushman’s River. As we counted one hippo stood with its forelegs on another and yawned. “It is a rare to see so many together in one pool,” ranger Julius Mkhize said. These extraordinary yet dangerous animals became locally extinct in 1903 but have recently been reintroduced to several game reserves.

Rangers work for six weeks and get two weeks off. Most of their days are spent with guests.

A typical day starts at 5.30am with an early morning game drive.

“Each ranger is assigned to specific guests and we have to keep them company for most of their stay here.

“After the morning drive I will have breakfast with the visitors before having the early afternoon to myself,” said Mkhize.

At 4pm the rangers go for a sundowner drive with their guests.

Dinner starts at 8pm and sometimes stretches long into the night while rangers sit with their guests and answer questions about the animals they saw and maybe share some cultural experiences.

And if a guest has contracted “khaki fever”, rangers must tread as warily as a buck at the wstering hole.

“You’ll get a young woman with a rich husband and she will flirt with a ranger,” said Mkhize.

“It has happened in the past that staff wake up in guest’s rooms. But it is actually not professional and most rangers avoid these situations.”

Mkhize said he took his time with his visitors.

“The term ‘jeep jockey’ is derogatory and refers to certain individuals in our industry who race over the Big Five.

“I take it slow and try to give my guests a balanced section of the wildlife we have here.

“We are great sources of information for tourists and try to provide them with a fun experience while ensuring they spot animals.

“It can be demanding sometimes with guests asking the same questions over again.

“I might say the downside of being a ranger is the long hours and that we don’t earn enough to support a family,” Mkhize, a father of one, said.

Each ranger has his or her own style that fits their personalities.

Mkhize displays a sharp wit and often dry humour when explaining animals.

“There we have the wildebeest,” he says and we stop to look at the animal with its horns silhouetted against the failing sky.

“I call them the ‘confused ones’, because it looks like God made them from leftovers. “They have the hindquarters of a pony and the front part of an American bison.” Mkhize said that the wildebeest lives up to its “confused” image by often acting in a bizarre way. “They are the clowns of the veld.

Sometimes you will see them running around in circles and kicking up dust for no reason.”

The almost 100 rangers in the province play an important and often overlooked role in the game viewing industry.

By providing a customised experience to tourists and imparting a knowledge of the veld, they actually form the backbone of a fast-growing tourism sector.

They are the agents of this important, money-spinning industry, selling the country and the secrets of its vast natural resources.

And Shamwari general manager Joe Cloete knows it.

“The tangible product is out there in the veld. Tourists don’t come here to sleep in our beds only, they come to view our wildlife.

“That is why the rangers are so important – they provide this experience to the tourists.”

Cloete said when Shamwari employed rangers the most important quality they looked for was people skills.

“You can teach knowledge of the veld to anyone. But rangers are required to provide guests with a fun and informative experience and leave them more knowledgeable about game after the trip.”

I certainly left more knowledgeable – and even my veld vocabulary improved.

I learnt that zebras are found in a “dazzle”, rhinos form a “crash”, giraffe a “journey” and quite ironically you will find a “parliament of baboons” assembled in the veld.

Makes you think doesn’t it?

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Life