He's reaping the rewards of hard work and commitment

When Moven Qibi left school he wanted to go into law enforcement, but fate had different plans. Born and raised in Hluvukani, his dreams were shattered when his father sadly passed away, leaving his mother caring for him and his two sisters on a much reduced income. "There was no money for me to go and study to enter the police service," the 46-year-old father of three explains.

"I had to go to 'plan B' which was to become a guide." It's a plan B that the then young man had sensibly put in place, but again he faced the familiar challenge of having to find the money to attend the South African Wildlife College, which is where I wanted to study to become a field guide.

"I made a plan to achieve my back-up plan! My uncle and my brother-in-law drove taxis and they suggested I become a taxi driver too. I went to driving school, got my licence and started off driving taxis between Hluvukani and Acornhoek. The taxi owner knew that I wanted to go to college but couldn't afford it, so he helped me, paying me only enough to get by and saving the rest of my wages to go towards the cost of attending the wildlife college. 

"We agreed I would work like that for a year but after six months he took me to the college and made a plan with them to get me enrolled and even though we didn't have enough saved up he paid for me to do a one-year course."

So Moven finally began studying and rolling out his plan B. "I studied hard because I didn't want to let my former boss down," he explains. "I was just 20 years old but knew I had to succeed. I passed all of my exams but the next challenge was to find a job. I couldn't find anything guiding but got an offer from a game lodge on Karongwe to start out as a driver, which I took, doing transfers for guests.

"When I didn't have transfers I helped out on reception, relieving the receptionists in the evenings. Finally the opportunity came to become a junior tracker and I didn't let them know I had qualifications as a guide, but just started out, quietly tracking, showing the managers what I was capable of. They noticed I was knowledgeable about the bush and asked me how I knew so much about it, so that's when I told them I had a field guide qualification."

In 1996 Moven finally became a junior guide and did his FGASA qualifications, passing his exams and getting fully qualified for his career as a guide. "I worked at Karongwe until 2021 when I went freelance and worked at EcoTraining as an instructor on their short courses. When COVID19 hit and lockdown happened I had no work, and as soon as tourism began to open up again I started looking for jobs and had an interview with Baobab Ridge and got the job, starting at the beginning of March this year. So I've been here six months now and couldn't be happier.

"I am busy with my trails qualifications now as I want to do walking safaris. It's my ambition to be a trails guide one day. There is a lot of opportunity here at Baobab Ridge and I am loving being part of the team. The bush here is wonderful and we are a big, happy family here. It's a great atmosphere in which to work."

Moven's wife is a professional nurse. Between them they have three children - "One son is from my first marriage, then we have a daughter from her first marriage, and a son together. Our eldest son is at university studying motor mechanics, the daughter is doing a chef's course and our youngest son, in his early teens, shows a lot of interest in becoming a guide," says Moven.

"He's very interested in wildlife and loves being in the bush! So maybe he will follow in my footsteps!"