My guest today, Rodney Nombekana, grew up with a love of all things animals. He was born in 1977 in the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere. The hospital is in Soweto, South Africa, where Rodney grew up . Given that he was born during the time of apartheid - the system of segregation based on race that was in place in South Africa and West Africa until the 1990’s - Rodney had no easy path carved ahead of him upon which to pursue his passion of wildlife and animals.
Growing up in the townships Rodney started rescuing dogs, bringing injured birds into his home. But the political climate was one of unrest, therefore an unlikely environment for him to develop his interest in nature and animals.
Today, Rodney is known widely as one of the foremost safari tour guides in southern Africa. Leopard and lion sightings are now his norm. His path to get there is a story of passion and persistence, belief in himself…. Here’s where Rodney and I share something strikingly similar. His dreams of working with elephants and lions, started when his family got their first television set in 1985, a small black and white tv, with programming about the wildlife parks.
Today he lives in Johannesburg, Rodney’s heart and soul are in the 2 million hectares of unrivaled diversity and wildlife of Kruger National Park in East Africa….lions, leopards, elephants, wildebeest, wild dogs, baobab trees…wildlife of every kind...just like what both of us used to watch on tv as little kids.
Rodney runs his own safari and wildlife tour guiding company called Nombekana Safaris and Wildlife Photography….where one can experience the park in 5 Star class or by camping and barbeques, to the sounds of lions roaring. He’s a world class photographer….
I know you'll enjoy my recent interview with the humble and talented Rodney Nambekana from his home Johannesburg South Africa.
Here is a link to the Kevin Richardson Foundation:
https://kevinrichardsonfoundation.org/
Look for Rodney Nombekaka on his Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/nombekana/
My guest today, Rodney Nombekana, grew up with a love of all things animals. He was born in 1977 in the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere. The hospital is in Soweto, South Africa, where Rodney grew up . Given that he was born during the time of apartheid - the system of segregation based on race that was in place in South Africa and West Africa until the 1990’s - Rodney had no easy path carved ahead of him upon which to pursue his passion of wildlife and animals.
Growing up in the townships Rodney started rescuing dogs, bringing injured birds into his home. But the political climate was one of unrest, therefore an unlikely environment for him to develop his interest in nature and animals.
Today, Rodney is known widely as one of the foremost safari tour guides in southern Africa. Leopard and lion sightings are now his norm. His path to get there is a story of passion and persistence, belief in himself…. Here’s where Rodney and I share something strikingly similar. His dreams of working with elephants and lions, started when his family got their first television set in 1985, a small black and white tv, with programming about the wildlife parks.
Today he lives in Johannesburg, Rodney’s heart and soul are in the 2 million hectares of unrivaled diversity and wildlife of Kruger National Park in East Africa….lions, leopards, elephants, wildebeest, wild dogs, baobab trees…wildlife of every kind...just like what both of us used to watch on tv as little kids.
Rodney runs his own safari and wildlife tour guiding company called Nombekana Safaris and Wildlife Photography….where one can experience the park in 5 Star class or by camping and barbeques, to the sounds of lions roaring. He’s a world class photographer….
I know you'll enjoy my recent interview with the humble and talented Rodney Nambekana from his home Johannesburg South Africa.
Here is a link to the Kevin Richardson Foundation:
https://kevinrichardsonfoundation.org/
Look for Rodney Nombekaka on his Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/nombekana/
This is tools for nomads. Tools for nomads is an up close and insightful look into the lives and habits of passionate and creatively prolific people who embrace and cherish the nomadic lifestyle brought to you by top drawer. As creative professionals we know the nomadic lifestyle is as much a mindset as it is a way of being. Visit top drawer shop.com or visit one of their dozen plus meticulously outfitted shops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Berkeley, Chicago, and Tokyo. Top door shop.com. I'm Thom Pollard. I've traveled the world in search of adventure since 2001. I've been a member of the Explorers Club. I'm a filmmaker mountaineer even a sailor of into the top of Everest and helped build and sailed a ship made of two and a half million reads from Chile to Easter Island. I almost got eaten by a mako shark. I filmed with orcas, elk bear from five star hotels to the cold, cold ground. I've visited a lot of cool places over the years. But there's a whole lot of places on the globe I've yet to experience. As a little boy growing up in New England of the United States, I was transfixed by television programming that opened my eyes to remote and dangerous parts of the world. I lived for programs like the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau and Marlon Perkins Wild Kingdom. I dreamed of becoming one of the camera persons who filmed encounters with giant octopus or elephants or lions. And it would come as no surprise that I'd one day actually become a documentary filmmaker, a documentarian can get up close and personal to a topic, gain an intimate understanding and bird's eye view of the subjects he or she is documenting. The camera itself acts as a portal into as of yet undiscovered and hidden secrets of the world. Growing up in a middle class community in the United States offered me plenty of opportunities to pursue whatever passion that filled my heart. While I've yet to set my own two eyes upon a lion or lioness outside of a zoo. It's just the matter of a few twists and turns of fate that have kept me from experiencing it firsthand. My guest today, Rod neat number Conor grew up with a similar love of all things animals, albeit with a childhood quite different from my own. He was born in 1977, in the largest hospital in the southern hemisphere. The hospital is in Soweto, a township of the city of Johannesburg in South Africa, where Rodney grew up, perhaps is far from the apex predators of the Savannah or Bush as one could get. And given that Rodney was born during the time of apartheid, the system of segregation based on race that was in place in South Africa and West Africa. Until the 1990s. Rodney had no easy path carved ahead of him upon which to pursue his passion of wildlife and animals. Growing up in the townships, Rodney started rescuing dogs bringing injured birds into his home. But the political climate was one of unrest therefore an unlikely environment for him to develop his interest in nature and animals. Today, though, Rodney is known widely as one of the foremost safari tour guides in southern Africa. Leopard and lion sightings are now his norm. His path to get there is a story of passion and persistence, belief in himself. Here's where Rodney and I share something strikingly similar. His dreams of working with elephants and lions started when his family got their first television set in 1985, a small black and white TV with programming about the wildlife parks. Who knows we were probably watching the same television programming about the same national parks in Africa. Today, Rodney lives in Johannesburg. His heart and soul, however, are in the 2 million hectares of unrivaled diversity and wildlife of Kruger National Park in East Africa. Lions leopards, elephants will de beast wild dogs, Bayeux Bab trees, wildlife of every kind, just like what both of us used to watch on TV as little kids. Rodney runs his own Safari and wildlife tour guiding company called naam Bikaner safaris and wildlife Fatah autography where one can experience the park and either Five Star World Class lodgings and accommodations or by camping barbecues, to the sounds of lions roaring right outside your door, or tent. He's a world class photographer. Here's my recent interview with the humble and talented Rodney number Connor from his home in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ronnie, it's so cool to be able to talk to you, I'm I'm really honored, and I'm inspired by your career and what you've done.
Rodney Nambekana:Thank you so much Thom. Thank you for inviting me. I'm blessed that I'm doing what I love. So it may sound like a lot of, you know, achievements. But for me, it's just a normal, normal life for me. And, you know, just doing what I love. So it's good to be here. Thank you for the invite, and feel very honored to be here.
Thom Pollard:Thank you. Well, that's the, to me, that is the most interesting thing of an individual is not necessarily their accomplishments, or, or the or the, you know, the awards they've won, or the mountains they've climbed, it's that they had something in their heart that they loved and meant something to them. And they pursued it and they went after it. And then they got there. Not that not that either of us or anyone is done. We have there's much left to do. But But you you found a calling when you were a young boy, right? I just a youth growing up? And could you tell me a little bit about that. And, and the seeds of this what what it was like and tell me where you grew up and and what kind of conditions it was where you were?
Rodney Nambekana:Well, I think I'm one of the most fortunate people in South Africa and probably in the world, because I've experienced a bit of both lives what I like to call the city life as well as the rural life. Up until the age I think at the age of 1011, I was living in Johannesburg. But then things got a little bit unstable politically. So my father who comes from the rural areas, he only came to Johannesburg to work. So he felt the need that he would take us to the rural areas. And I think for me, that's where my, my calling and my love for for for animals and nature was really, you know, stuttered, if I can call it that. Having said that, even when I was living in the city as a kind of a different kid to others, because I was always, you know, hanging around with dogs, trying to you know, look after animals, dogs, cats, I had dogs, I had cats. I remember, we used to travel from Johannesburg to the Eastern Cape with my family and my mother would would always tell me that her house is not a zoo, because I would I would I would pick, you know, some small birds called Weaver's, we call them Weaver birds. And sometimes the babies would fall out of the nest. So I would, I would take these babies and feed them. So this was when I was still in Johannesburg. So the love, I think it's something that I was born with. I just didn't, I just didn't know it looking back now as an adult. I think it's something that I was just born with. Then I moved to the Eastern Cape in the rural areas. And from there, that's where my, my inspiration for nature really was ignited because I was now exposed to seeing different things, not just buildings, but you know, beautiful trees, the ocean, the mountains, which is something that I wasn't really used to in Johannesburg. You know, we, we had a very interesting childhood, you know, my classroom, for example, at some point it was under a tree. And that's I'm not exaggerating. So so, you know, it was it was quite a humbling experience growing up there. But things were quite difficult because we really didn't really have a career guidance and all that stuff on what we wanted to do. You know, I remember some of us who would be asked what we wanted to be we didn't know all I wanted to do was work with the animals. But what my job I didn't know. So when I finished my schooling, then I then I had to now look for something to study further. And I went to Cape Town on the western coast of South Africa, and that's where I studied nature conservation. And that's when I get I've got to understand now what I want Do I wanted to, you know, spend the rest of my life you know, helping animals? Saving animals? And yeah, that's, that's that's me shut and how I grew up in terms of you know, the animal side of it.
Thom Pollard:Wow, it's really inspiring. I there's about 10 questions I have, but I'm gonna try to limit them. One. I'm fascinated by the the classroom under a tree. So So were you in? Was it like a village? Or was where there? Were there cars that like, you know, literally like paint a picture? Because that's fascinating to me like because now in where I live and as a kid growing up, it was like, Oh, you because you've behaved, we're going to go outside today. And then the kids would screw around and start throwing acorns at each other's heads. And we'd have to go back in and, but but so. So but but you that was all you had? Was there literally four walls? Or?
Rodney Nambekana:Well, I mean, yeah, it was a village to answer your question. And particularly when I moved to high school, our high school was, you know, was very, very limited. So there were certain classes that were, you know, that were decent. But the rest of it, I mean, everything was just falling apart to such an extent that again, that might sound like a joke. But, you know, I guess enemas have always followed me wherever I went, because I remember if it was raining, for example, the classroom was it was a mad mad house, mud heart, if I can call it as made up of mud. So when it gets older and older, it sort of kind of falls apart, and there's holes here and there. So when it's raining, the goats in the village will obviously find some sort of shelter in our school. So they would go into the, into the, into the classroom. And, you know, obviously, there were chairs there, and you know, the desk and everything. So every morning, when we came in, we had to chase that the goats first. And then you know, clean the clean, clean the what you call it, the chairs, and everything. But of course, it's you know, it's, you know, with the urine and you know, the dam of the animals, sometimes it can smell. So if the weather is good, it was it was actually cleaner and better to just go and learn outside and it was sitting in the classroom. Wow. The school was, yeah, there was not much there, you know, but we had good people that are passionate about what they were doing. They're trying their best teachers. And yeah, that's what that's what better is, you know, we didn't have laboratories and all these things.
Thom Pollard:It does it is it you know, Ronnie, you nailed it, it is it is so what matters. You know, there are so many, so many children around the world, and it will continue to happen that they have an idea or a dream. And there are people or friends who call themselves friends or even parents who are like, No, you can't do that. And, and so they're they're taught to doubt themselves, right. And so the key is, it doesn't matter whether your, your your school is is a, you know, multi million dollar structure with air conditioning, or, or he it's it or a mud hut that the goats run to during a rainstorm. It's the people who inspire and give the power to dreams to youth. So it really doesn't. Yeah, and you're and so you obviously had that.
Rodney Nambekana:Yeah, 100% we had, you know, we had really people that were really passionate about, you know, and really cared about about us because they know how, how difficult it was when during their time and they grew up and they wanted us to, you know, to be to be somewhere so the end of the day is a classroom. It's just, it's just the walls, but you know, what gives people a vacation? Is that Yeah, you know, you can be sitting you can be sitting in a multimillion dollar university, but if the teachers you know, the educators are not committed to the cause, then you're not going to achieve anything. So I was really lucky and privileged because we had really people that really cared about they did the best they could with the limited resources that they had. And yeah,
Thom Pollard:so you said that it was kind of closer to the Eastern Cape. So where there were there was like gigantic animals there were there. Were there elephants near or lions are left. So what are were you away from that?
Rodney Nambekana:No, not at all. So the pet of The Eastern Cape where I come from, there's no big animals like elephants or anything like that, in fact, throughout my childhood, you know, I would, I would see elephants and lions and television from the Kruger National Park. And for me again, when we, when my father first bought our first television in 1985, and it was like, the biggest thing ever, you know, the small Telefunken television and black and white and we I mean, it was just like, I will never forget that day. But anyway, so we would, we would see the animals on television, really. And the, the area where I came from in the Eastern Cape, we didn't really have that, that those big animals, we had small animals, you know, the the antelopes, what you guys would call the deer, for example, in America. Yeah, so it was up until I, then, you know, I was preparing to when I was studying my nature conservation studies and preparing to start working, that I, you know, got to then experience through big game animals like elephants, lions, buffaloes, and rhinos and all that in the Kruger National Park. And yeah, so I think the progression was, was quite, was quite good. And in such a way that when, when I was in the Eastern Cape, you know, it's something that I really, it gives me the motivation to study and work harder, so that one day I could even, you know, get to see these animals because for me, that's what, that's all that mattered. Now, remember, at the time we had, we had, you know, the teachers that were very passionate, and they were telling us about, you know, you know, we must be lawyers and everything. And for me, just like it would come on this year, and go on that year, because I knew that was just not me, you know. But if you started mentioning, you know, animals, and then then I will listen to you.
Thom Pollard:You're listening to my September 2021 interview with apex predator and wildlife photographer and Safari guide, Rodney Nomicon, from his home in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Rodney Nambekana:The finances were always a problem. So at some point, my parents couldn't afford to pay for my studies. And I decided it would be better for me if I'm working and study. So I went and studied part time. So I had, you know, a lot of time when I was studying pattern, but I felt I needed to do something, you know, more, so I went to this place. That time it was called the lion pack. And I asked if I could volunteer. The funny thing is, the story about this is my young, my early 20s, probably 21 somewhere, but it was very, so at this place. They didn't. They were looking for people to work number one. So I said, I wanted to volunteer. And the manager said to me, we know we don't take volunteers, you know? Sorry, you know, but I wasn't gonna take no for an answer. I wanted to help us. Please, please, please, please. And then eventually got tired of me. He said, okay, cool. Now, next week, come on weekend. And come and help us out. We'll see what we do. And then I went on the weekend, first weekend, I volunteered Saturday, Sunday. And then second, at by the end of that weekend on Sunday, he called Mr. melas. May his soul rest in peace, good man. He called he called me to the office and said, Robbie. Yeah, it was good to have you here. Would you mind coming next week and helping us out? I'll give you a little bit of something. You I'll pay you this time. So I went the second weekend, and I helped out and you know, at the end on a Sunday, again, he called me to the office. He says he had a big voice is that Renee? I think I like you young man. Would you mind working for us full time. So that was my third weekend. So yeah, he saw something that I didn't see in myself. And then yeah, that's how I got my job. Although I was working with the animals, these were still animals that were still in captivity. So they're still not in the wild and not in the Kruger National Park. And you know, my childhood dream has always been that at some point, I would love to, you know, to see the animals and work with animals in the wild. So eventually in after 12 years, then I had to, I resigned and yeah, it's started doing guiding Safari guiding now. I was now taking people Pulling into the wilderness and showing them the beauty of Africa, which is something that I still do to this day.
Thom Pollard:Ronnie, so conservation in the message of conservation is a big part of it. Is there? Is there a lot of pressure on the on the animals on on? How like encroachment of human populations poaching? Is that a big problem?
Rodney Nambekana:I think, I think it's definitely a thing. And what's very, what's very important to note for me, is the fact that these animals, wherever we talk about whether we talk about, you know, lands, or leopards, or birds, or, you know, any animal, at the end of the day is that the biggest threat to these animals is, it's, it's the, it's the, you know, the digression of the habitat, you know, so humans are expanding, and we're taking up space for the animals, you know, it's not just in Africa, I'm sure it's the same in the United States as well. And the last 20 years, the amount that the amount of difference that I've seen in the area, where I live, where, you know, big cities are cropping up, and all these things, so all those things obviously going to, to affect, you know, the, the natural world and where the animals live. So things like poaching are a real problem, especially now, with with a situation with your COVID. Unfortunately, you know, it's people are probably tired of hearing the word COVID. But it's a fact, you know, we are living in these times, and we, we cannot ignore it. I mean, during the COVID time, you know, it's been so difficult to manage certain areas, because a lot of these tax, they depend on ecotourism. They depend on people coming and seeing the animals and spending the money because the people that are working there are employed, and when you don't have revenue coming in, that will filter down to the animal. So the pandemic has not just doesn't just end with us, but it goes beyond us, it goes to the animals.
Thom Pollard:Thank you for sharing that. That's really important to hear. And it is just another thing I need to push me to Africa to visit you. So, Ronnie, like how do you so in terms of how you work and how you organize your day and everything, do you so? Are you at the Do you have an office? And then when you're out on the road? Is it do you work? How do you get your work done? Are you is everything in a bag? Or do you need a desk and a computer, you know,
Rodney Nambekana:I'm the I'm the most simplest person in the world. So I don't need much to go around my office is the bush so I can be in the bush for a long long time I was and still be able to do to do my work just fine. As long as I've got my cell phone and the bush and that's my office once in a while if I you know I need something really out of the world, you know out of the ordinary then I would need an office but I don't have an office you know I am a I'm a small like individual person, if I can call it that like a self employed guy, if I can call it that. And yeah, my office is my home. So I am at home even now
Thom Pollard:Ronnie so when you so you're preparing for a trip on Saturday, what what what do you have to bring with you so when you get ready to walk out your door, What's in your bag? What I mean? You're You're an amazing photographer, your Instagram page is just one small sample of it, but what what do you have to have with you so when you go to meet your client, your friend, you do have a is it a truckload of things or is it a bag load of things what what goes with you?
Rodney Nambekana:Well, usually all I need with me is you know, my my books, my binoculars, my camera, which is very important tool in what I do now. Because now not only am I a safari guide, but a safari guide, stroke wildlife photographer, if you can call it that. Sometimes if I've got a client that's camping, then I would need to bring tents and all that stuff. But this guy is not a camping person. So so we staying in one of the chalets that everything is organized, all I have to do is to go to town and go and get some food for him. And I cook for him. So my suffer. The nice thing about my safaris is that I Do what a client likes to do. So he likes he likes me to prepare food for him. And I'm not a chef, I'm the most horrible person to cook. But he, what I do well is what we call the bride in South Africa. You guys call it the barbecue. So that's how that's yeah, that's, that's my cooking. So he likes the barbecue a lot. It's a South African thing. Some clients, you know, they want five star, Chef and all that stuff, then we would go to a lodge because the Kruger Park is a big area. And so you get anything from camping, to literally five star treatment. So it all depends on what you'd like to see the most. The most important thing in all of that, is that, of course, I have to choose the best place to take the person for the the game, the game viewership and the wildlife experience. So you try and balance the two, the crew guy is so big, and it depends with what people want.
Thom Pollard:So I just have to ask, so when you cook him, you said you're a horrible cook. So what So is it an open fire? Is it an open flame? Or is there a grill? And what do you put on it? Is that dizzy? Is it like do you make him a steak or something?
Rodney Nambekana:So so in the afternoon, when we come back from the game drive, I come back and make a fire. And the fire is on a what to call it bryston Where you actually put you know, the wood and all that and make a fire. So it's open fire. And then on top of that, then you take? Yeah, I would say like a grill. And then you put it on top, and then you put the meat on the top. So whether it's you know, chicken or beef, you know, lamb doesn't matter. But as the most delicious thing ever.
Thom Pollard:Incredible. I love that. I'm salivating. So I'm so so Ronnie. As if you need any more inspiration, because the wilderness the bush, the animals, the connection with people provides you with so much. Are there other things that you may be outside of that, that provide you some inspiration, whether it's reading or listening to music? Or or writing in a journal or something? What what is?
Rodney Nambekana:Yeah, I would not, I would not be doing justice to this interview if I did not mention my my love for photography and what it has done for me. So besides the fact that I take people out on safari, you know, the last couple of years I've also been very involved in, in wildlife photography, which is something that I, you know, discovered quite late, to be honest. So I'm a guide first, then, and by chance I just happened to to be involved in wildlife photography. That's another story on its own. But so for me, photography is everything for me, I kid you not from I my life is I work in the bush I holiday in the bush, everything is about me being in the bush. So I'm not, you know, I haven't watched television, I don't know, 12 years. So for me, it's just everything that I do is is in the bush and my photography is the big, big, big, big thing now. And I think I also need to mention that you know, as much as I discovered the photography quite late and you know, it started just being a hobby for me of just taking pictures of the animals but over the last couple of years it you know, it's gotten really serious in such a way that you know, I I see it as a tool for me to to inspire the young people especially I'm very passionate about the young people, but not just young people, everybody in the world you know, because the photography has allowed me to see the nature in a different way if I can call it that in such a way that I can see detail. You know, when I look at an animal with my eyes as beautiful, but it's a different version, when I take my lens and I look through that lens and I can see the whiskers, I can see the you know, the paws I can see the tail I can see the task of an animal and the detail for me is is incredible. And I guess again, I just had, you know, a natural gift of taking photographs if I can call it that because Because I never went to school photography, so it's all self taught within the last couple of years. But I think my, my understanding of animal behavior has sort of allowed me to be able to, to, to read situation and therefore, get much more meaningful photographs if that's the right word to use than just a person who knows just a camera. You know, you can know the camera, but if you don't know your subject, then it can be a problem.
Thom Pollard:Rodney, thank you for your time. I really appreciate you and your work. Did I miss anything?
Rodney Nambekana:If you haven't been to Africa, South Africa, you have to come to places three places you have to come and visit in your life. The first one is the Kruger National Park. And the second one is the Kruger National Park. And the third one is the Kruger National Park. And that's how passionate I am about this place. I love it so much. I look forward to seeing you guys and yeah, it's a great pleasure.
Thom Pollard:Rodney nombre Karna. He says that when you do what you love, everything comes naturally. His work, knowledge and passion inspires those he comes into contact with. And he told me after a conversation that if one person became inspired by listening to his story, then we have done something great in unison with his many roles as a photographer and Safari guide. Rodney is also a director of the Kevin Richardson Foundation, which endeavors to acquire and protect key tracts of land to protect and expand natural lion habitats. In Africa, Lions have been forced to survive on land that is only 1/5 the size they occupied only a few decades ago. If the habitats shrink any further, and the lion population continues to decline at the same rate, it's predicted there will be no lions left in the wild in 20 years time. Rodney thank you for your work and your passion and your talent and for bringing all the glory as well as the challenges of Africa to the world through your work and social media. Links to visit Ronnie's page and the Kevin Richardson foundation will be found in the show notes of this episode. Thanks for visiting tools for nomads, and up close and insightful look into the lives and habits of passionate and creatively prolific people like Rodney Nomicon tools for nomads is brought to you by top drawer. At top drawer nomadism isn't simply about being on the move. It's about loving and living life where the things we carry directly impact our productivity, our well being and even our identity. Top drawer combines the quality and craftsmanship of our grandparents generation with the drive for independence, function and stylish sustainability. It all results in a collection of tools curated from around the world that help you do your best work. Wherever you are. Visit top draw shop.com or visit one of their dozen plus meticulously outfitted shops in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Berkeley, Chicago, and Tokyo. Top drawer shop.com Thanks for visiting. I'm Thom Pollard. I'll see you next time on tools for nomads.