Marine Guides: Final Week of the September Semester
Jenna is wrapping up the end of her 6-month journey here at Ulovane! You last heard from her during their Apprentice Trails Guide course, and she now has a lovely account of her journey with us; have a read on to the wonderful memories she has shared!
Wow, it’s crazy, I cannot believe it has been six months already, it is something else to see how fast it has gone by.
This is probably the most amazing experience I have ever been through, and probably the hardest I have ever worked too. I am thankful for the Ulovane team who have helped me in so many ways. Justin, thank you for helping me through Field Guides and helping me become a more ethical person. My best memory of Field Guides was scary but thrilling too! Funny for everyone else, I think! It was when we were driving along the N2 fenceline road, I was looking at the horizon, as the view from the tracker seat is unhindered from this seat! We were searching for some lions; the vehicle was just about to come to a stop near a bush close to the road, next thing all I heard you say was, “Ohhh Marli, go. Marli, GO now!”. I asked “Why?”, and then looked to the side and saw a male and female lion A BIT too close for comfort! Thank you, Justin, for stopping me from having a heart attack!!
Pieter, thank you for helping me believe in myself and for helping me see in myself that I can do anything if I work hard. You also helped me overcome my fears of the Apprentice Trails Guide course, as I was terrified to do the course! I didn’t think I would be able to do it, but it was truly the most amazing and life-changing course; you get to see the bush like I have never dreamed possible.
My favourite memory of Trails was our last walk where we walked up a valley and followed a herd of elephants. It was the most breath-taking experience to watch them, literally, I can’t find words to do justice to the feeling I had; utter amazement and truly gobsmacked.
And here we are; last week of the Marines course!! I can’t believe it!
Marines has been amazing and an eye-opener on what is happening to the ocean, its animals living in it and how we need to do something to save it because it is vital to our world and to the ecosystems on our planet.
I have two favourite memories of marines; the one is when we went on the boat trip with a company called Raggy Charters from Port Elizabeth. We saw Indo-pacific dolphins right next to the boat, we also saw a Humpback whale which very sadly had a rope caught around its tail, but a rescue team came to help it! My other fondest memory was when we went snorkelling at Kenton-on-sea, and I spotted my first octopus, and I saw how it got a little scared by something in the water. It swam out its hole and squirted ink, changing its colours using what are called chromatophores, to look like a rock so that it may become camouflaged with its environment; absolutely fascinating!
Thank you, Shani, for opening my eyes to the ocean, I never knew a thing about it, now I leave here wanting to learn more!
I also want to say Thank you to Schalk and Candice for letting me have this opportunity and for supporting and helping me. Also, Melissa, you are amazing. Seriously, I don’t think you know how much you help everyone and make everyone’s day, most days! You are awesome and thank you for all the amazing game drives; you’re our lucky charm! From seeing female lions trying to catch a warthog, to a beautiful elephant herd coming over Hornbill road to Rooivalle – and I was on the tracker seat here too!
Jenna
“Develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” —Brian Tracy