Rode, Brian

“I have loved nature all of my life. It is an integral part of who I am. After leaving school I enlisted in the South African Defence Force and joined a specialised unit, where I was trained in bush and desert survival techniques. I soon became an instructor in these techniques. Upon leaving the army I went to university to study law (where I met my partner and best friend Chantelle Venter) and then worked in Johannesburg for a year or two. This was not for me and I found that I was missing the bush so much that I decided to resign and apply for a position as a field guide.

Fortunately I found a job in the Timbavati Game Reserve (in the Greater Kruger area) and worked there as a guide, tracker, camp manager and finally as a guide-trainer. After leaving South African National Parks I spent a short while in Welgevonden Game Reserve, before deciding to move to Botswana. I was employed by Okavango Wilderness Safaris and started working as a Camp Manager and guide in the Linyanti Region. After doing this for a few years I was asked to join the OWS Environmental Team and worked as an ecologist for Wilderness Safaris.

My interests then turned more towards guide-training and by this stage I was already qualified as a trainer and assessor for F.G.A.S.A. (which I still am). I joined the OWS Guide-training team and obtained qualifications in training and assessing through B.O.T.A. (Botswana Training Authority). I continued training guides for Wilderness Safaris and guiding guests for a few years when, needing to closer to my family in South Africa, I resigned and got a job training guides and running a guide-training school in the south of the country. I was employed by Ecotraining and spent a few years in the Mashatu area. The majority of my training in Mashatu involved teaching young guides how to walk safely in dangerous game areas.

After spending approximately three years in the Tuli Block I found that I was missing the Okavango and Linyanti areas and so I decided to move back. I worked for Okavango Wilderness Safaris for a few more years before moving back to South Africa. I am presently working as a field guide in the Kruger National Park for Singita Lebombo / Sweni.