“I’ve always been a little bush kid, from a young age I would always be out and about exploring. Thanks to both of my parents they nurtured a love of all things in us as children. Both my brothers and I love spending time in nature, regardless of where we find ourselves.
I had been a guide for many years (about 10 at the time) when I started looking for something different. I heard about EcoTraining and that they were looking for an Instructor in Makuleke. I did some research and liked what I saw. It was exactly the kind of challenge I was looking for. I was badly injured in 2003 and in 2005 one of the challenges I needed was to be working in a true wilderness area. I needed to still heal on both a physical and an emotional level. EcoTraining Makuleke had all of those things. I instantly fell in love with Makuleke, and her healing powers helped me along my own personal journey.
During this process of self-discovery and healing, I also realised that everyone was on their own journey and that if I could help facilitate similar experiences for others I had to. So if you ask me about my goals and dreams, that’s still part of it. Allowing others the opportunity to have their own experiences in the wilderness and for them to make their own connections. I can’t make that happen, however, I can put them in that position for it to happen naturally when they are ready for it to happen. The wilderness is the magic, I’m just the lucky one that helps them along the way and that puts them in places where the magic can happen.
We don’t just train guides, we let nature and its wilderness inspire like-minded people. Hopefully, they can all go away and with the love of nature within them, they’ve all become conservationists at heart”.
Henry is currently working as head instructor at Mashatu and this video will give you a glimpse of the great person he is.
