on the savannah…

New camp, new setting, new experiences, same job!

Of course it is not the exact same job when working with individuals. Each have their strengths, each have their challenges and each have their goals and priorities, but ultimately I am here to listen, to coach and to develop them into better managers. And it continues to be amazingly rewarding. One of the guys I teach here said to me last night: “Betina, I have never had to think so much in my life before”. I took that as a great compliment!

This Sabora camp is pretty amazing – sure, they all are – but this is a little different. It is a tented camp, in an Out of Africa style, right on the savannah. First morning I got woken up by buffaloes right outside my tent and I was showering (outdoor shower) with the view of a dazzle of zebras! Doesn’t happen in an office in London!

Even though it really is one of the most amazing places to work, ‘life in the bush’ is not easy. I’ve been here close to a month now and I see why many of the people here dream of a job in the city. There is nothing to do here, you can only socialise with people that you work with, you can’t just pop to the shops and most are far away from their families as there are no good schools out here.

For me a three month stint is perfect, but I could not see myself living here full-time. Maybe that is mainly because I am working as a consultant, I am always ‘on’, can never really be 100% myself. Of course people get leave – frontline staff work 6 weeks and then have 2 weeks off, managers work 3 months and take 1 month’s leave, which is a great but it’s still a difficult life, I think.

Anyway, the guys and girls make the most of their life here for sure and the other day there was a football match against a team from a nearby village (mainly made up of employees from other camps). It was a lot of fun – I have never been a football spectator where there was a risk of play being stopped because of a warthog or a buffalo on the pitch – although no such thing happened (sadly)! It was super hot, but the guys had lots of energy and the quality was not bad actually – was thinking that one or two of them might make it into Charlton’s current squad – haha! ‘Our’ team won, so everybody was very happy!

I am staying here until the 18th Feb when I move again. Back to Mara River in the Serengeti National Park. Still a lot to do with my students here, Sam and Mayenga, so it will be some busy days, so early night for me! Night night all – miss you!