Nature: The Great Leveller

Over more than 20 years, I have taken many hundreds of people into the African bush from around the globe, and from every place in society. Some who have come from homelessness, drug addiction or abuse, others who are among the wealthiest in the world, some from the military, young people, older people, and many from somewhere in between. Right from before my very first trip, I knew that nature couldn't care less where people come from, who they are, what they have done or not done, and that she is the great leveller...

On our adventures it is clear how often the usual differences between people disappear. Not 100% of the time but often. I can start a trip with a group made up of completely different individuals, different ages, backgrounds, jobs, and personalities. People who in everyday life might never cross paths, or might deliberately avoid each other.

And yet, give it a few days on the journey in the bush and those differences start to fade, and by the end of the trip they are sitting around a fire, sharing stories of their adventures, laughing, and already talking about staying in touch.

In the bush, nature sets the terms

I believe there is a consciousness in nature, and that nature doesn’t care about airs and graces, moods, status, or where you’ve come from.

Nature doesn’t distinguish between people or reward one person more than another. It offers the same thing to everyone; space, slow pace, perspective, and time. Time to think, to breathe, to reflect and time to step away from whatever you’ve been carrying.

In normal life many people have a lot on their shoulders with work pressures, expectations, family challenges and a multitude of other responsibilities. When talking to people on my adventures I have found that although these things that challenge us do not go away just because you are in nature, they do begin to lose their grip on us, as we become more present, have time to breath more deeply, and as a result gain clarity as we become more aware of what is right in front of us; the landscape, the wildlife, the rhythm of nature, and the people we are sharing the adventure with.

What matters becomes much simpler:

• Getting camp set up before dark

• Watching wildlife without disturbing them

• Sitting still as the sun goes down

Everyone is in the same place, under the same conditions, going through the wonderful experiences, and as a good friend of mine Devin says, "we must focus in on these important moments and really feel them, before they become memories."

I think that the combined simplicity of nature and our adventures has a way of helping to reset people.

Shared experience, on nature’s terms

Our overland adventures or other group trips are well organised of course but deliberately not polished, which is a large part of part of the power of our such a journey.

Sometimes there are long days, early starts, dust, heat and the occasional challenge. But nature does not adjust itself for any of us, and in that, there is something very grounding.

My good friend Mark always says that "even with the best planning in the world, nature will always tell us what we're doing today."

Everyone goes through the journey together and that shared experience starts to shift the group dynamic:

• People naturally begin to look out for each other

• Conversations open up without effort

• The group starts to work together rather than as individuals

This is not something we can manufacture, it’s something that happens when people are placed in a real environment with none of the normal distractions of life.

Everyone finds their place in the team

Nature does not treat people differently and I have taken that lesson on fully as a leader of these adventures and do my best to quietly instill that in those who lead with me, or guide for me. We must always do what we can not to discriminate for any reason and to bring everyone onto the same level.

On these adventures that becomes obvious quite quickly. Everyone gets involved in what’s going on:

• Cooking together

• Setting up camp

• Getting stuck in when needed

• Helping each other

There is no hierarchy, we are just people, with other people, with different skills, and histories, all developing new skills and just working together to make things happen.

As this quickly becomes normal, everyone starts to relax into the journey. They find their place naturally without any pressure.

Before long a group of strangers feels very much like a great team.

Letting nature do the work

From our side, what we try to do is create the right conditions in the right places and then step back a bit. There is always structure behind the scenes; preparation, route selection, safety, logistics, activities, but during the venture it’s more about understanding what the group needs in that moment.

Sometimes you lead things, sometimes you leave things alone, because once people have the knowledge and space they need, they, in tandem with nature, make a plan.

Nature slows us down, it strips things back to basics, it gives people room to settle into themselves and into the group.

I think that this is where a lot of the the real value of my ventures lie.

Where conservation becomes real

When people spend time in nature, something shifts. Not because they are told to care but because they experience it for themselves and naturally begin to feel nature in a way they might never have before.

We see wildlife and wild places as they should be, understand the scale of these places, and begin to recognise how easily the land and wildlife that live their lives there could all be lost.

Nature gives us that perspective equally to everyone and what people take from it is for them only, but can stay with them long after the adventure ends, and particularly when we encounter endangered species and learn about why they are endangered and what that really means.

I think real conservation awareness starts when people experience more, notice more, then ask more, and then care more.

So what comes next if/when you care more?

Well, there was once a giant of a man in conservation, his name is Dr Ian Player, who I am honoured to say I once knew, a little. He and his guide and mentor, Magqubu Ntombela (pictured here as well) would say, “conservation is just a conversation if we take no action.” 

The good news is, there is plenty of action we can take at home and abroad, and I am very pleased to say that many people who have travelled with us have gone on to do exactly that.

It does not have to be complicated, it just starts with caring enough to do something.

It's so important to give something back to nature, when nature gives so much to us, without ever asking for anything in return.

It’s not about the 'right' people

If anything, these journeys have shown me that you never need to look for the perfect mix of personalities. We never need people to be similar, we just need to find ways to place people in nature, and then we find those similarities with ease.

This is when true connections form, when people reset, when the mind slows down, when we feel closer to nature, closer to each other, and when these adventures become something we all talk about and act upon for years.

Angus