“Safari writer and photographer Fransje Van Riel travels to Royal Malewane in the Greater Kruger in South Africa where she is introduced to one of the industry’s most elite ranger training programmes and so to a guiding team that includes two of the world’s ten known Master Trackers.”
First published by Journeys by Design, 18 September 2025.
Text: Fransje van Riel, Photography: Royal Malewane
Giving back. It’s become a buzzword in recent times, and with good reason. Corporates, companies, small business owners and game reserves and lodges are all doing their bit; providing upliftment to local communities, creating job opportunities, investing into conservation and anti-poaching and striving to be more ecologically sound.
A new generation of rangers
Royal Malewane is no exception. But they have a unique angle to offer. As the reserve boasts the highest qualified guiding team in Africa, including two of the world’s known ten Master Trackers, Royal Malewane has devised an apprenticeship for would-be game rangers that comprises a two-year course to set a new generation of wildlife rangers on their career path.
It is a win-win initiative; the apprenticeship course raises wildlife ranger standards within the industry and simultaneously provides opportunities to applicants to set upon a brand-new career. The selection process is tough, and only two apprentice rangers are enrolled in the programme every year. Understanding animal behaviour, gaining intimate insight into animal behaviour and differentiating a vast and wildly diverse fauna and flora, rifle handling and first aid are all included in the course, the costs of which – including exam fees – are covered by Royal Malewane. Successful applicants receive a minimal wage as recompense for other duties and responsibilities, such as collecting guests from the airstrip or airport, town trips for routine errands, bush clearing, and road maintenance.
After two years of living in the bush in a dome tent, which for safety reasons is located in the vicinity of the lodge, and being trained by mentors with a minimum of ten years’ experience, students will have qualified as an accredited guide by the Field Guide Association of Southern Africa (FGASA). At the pinnacle of these professional guiding qualifications are the Special Knowledge and Skills (SKS) Qualifications such as Dangerous Game and Birding. Very few guides in Africa achieve these qualifications, which require extensive knowledge as well as technical skills – the team at Royal Malewane, with over 300 years of African bush experience between them, have these qualifications in abundance.
And it is here that the giving back part starts. For these newly qualified guides are then free to embark on their own, to wherever their hearts take them. The aim of Royal Malewane is to ensure that these highly trained guides enter an industry where their skills and knowledge will raise the quality of guiding in southern Africa, and that these unique skills are passed on to the next generation.
Reaping the rewards
One successful applicant is 25-year-old Privillege Manyike. Born and raised in the small village of Sigagula, situated close to the Thornybush Nature Reserve, she is twelve months into the programme and loving it. ‘I’m so grateful to have been accepted,’ she says. “I have learnt so much and feel as though I have really grown as a person.’
Game ranging has been a dream job for Privillege for a long time. ‘I grew up around the reserves the area and have always loved nature and conservation. Even as a small girl, I used to fetch firewood from in the bush, and heard lions roaring from a distance.’
Privillege enrolled into the programme in July 2024. ‘The most exciting and fulling moment of my life,’ she says. ‘During the seven-day long week interview, I truly felt it was life changing… to see young people with same enthusiasm and passion for nature that I have always had.’ She tells me that there were eight candidates; activities included setting up camp, meeting qualified guides and bush walks with nothing but a map – the exercise being finding the way back to camp after hours of walking, albeit accompanied by armed mentors. Tracks and signs of animals featured high on the agenda, as was rifle training.
‘Sleeping out in the middle of the bush in a tent was a first-time experience for me,’ she says. ‘At first, I didn’t know if it was safe, as you hear all sorts of sounds at night coming from different directions; lions, hyenas, jackals, owls and nightjars. We often hear breaking branches that we know are elephants feeding around the camp. Sometimes we find tracks of lions and leopard having walked straight past, or a herd of buffalo moving along the campsite. Now a year into the programme, I love it. It is incredibly peaceful and humbling to be one with nature. Every day an opportunity presents itself to learn new things.’
When I ask her if she has any advice to any would-be rangers, Privillege is quick to respond. ‘Dream it and you can achieve it. One step at a time. There are many challenges and sometimes it isn’t easy, but if you have the passion, patience and discipline, you will reap the rewards.’
A big thank you to Fransje for the insight into a wonderful programme. For more on the Royal Malewane Rangers Apprenticeship Programme, please visit www.royalportfolio.com / email [email protected]. For travel to Royal Malewane and stays at its fantastic properties, do contact a member of the Journeys by Design Exploration Team, two of which – Squack Evans and Kyle de Nobrega – are also professional guides. You can find Fransje’s work at Fransje Van Riel.
