Q&A with James Kydd

• How did you start out in guiding?

  Wanting to be a safari guide (or game ranger as we knew it) was akin to the other careers young South African boys idealized like becoming a fireman or an astronaut. For me, the desire never left, and it was clear from a young age that I was happiest when in nature. On my school breaks, I began volunteering in the Kruger area before one day I was asked at the last moment to step in for a sick guide. I was asked to stay on and guide for two years in the South African Waterberg before seeking the mentorship and training I eventually found at And Beyond and Londolozi. Seven memorable years later I began my career private guiding.

• What’s your favorite place in Africa and why?

  The Hoanib River in Northern Namibia. Words can’t describe the deep peace of that wilderness. Desert lions and elephants, brown hyenas, ephemeral rivers, rolling dunes and breath-taking mountains, all in the embrace of the oldest desert in the world.

• Have you ever been really scared on safari?

  I had a few close encounters with elephants when I was untrained and inexperienced, a Mozambique spitting cobra rearing up a metre in front of me (the groin area to be precise, which was somehow more frightening), the cold shudder realizing I was standing in a leopard’s den, and a few other moments that got the heart rate up: all lessons I am grateful for receiving. The more carefully and respectfully we move through nature, the less likely we are to have a reactive encounter with a wild creature.

• What three books do you recommend your guests read before going on safari?

  Ecological intelligence by Dr. Ian McCallum

  Elephantoms by Lyall Watson

  The hidden life of trees by Peter Wohlleben

• What are the three most important pieces of kit for guests to bring along?

  A good pair of binoculars, if it is the only thing you bring, bring this. Those without binoculars miss out on a totally different world of observation.

  If you are going to bring a camera, and you want to photograph wildlife, make sure you have a lens from 300mm upwards.

  A diary

• What is your motto in life and what concepts are sacred?

  Be present and free of the outcome.

  Gratitude rewards.

• Which rules have you made, which ones do you follow and which rules do you break?

  Nature makes the rules and she breaks them too. Respect nature, with integrity and pure intentions, and any rule can malleable.

• What's your most embarrassing or comical moments ever on safari?

  That one requires a campfire under the stars and a good bottle of red.