Intern and new full-time team member In 2015, Lucky Nomsobo (25) was a third year Nature Conservation diploma student at
Nelson Mandela University's School of Natural Resources.
The third year of the diploma requires of students to complete one year of practical experience on a nature reserve. Lucky was offered an internship at Bergplaas, where he excelled during the year and completed the three-week Spirit of the Wild Programme.
He has since graduated, we offered him a full-time post and he is now part of our team. Ntlahla is also a trainee Spirit of the Wild facilitator.
"I gained a lot of experience during my practical year on Bergplaas and it was a privilege to attend the Spirit of the Wild programme, which really helped me to develop as a person and improve my wellbeing," says Lucky who was born and raised in the rural village of Tsolo in the Eastern Cape. "I am fortunate to have been raised by both of my parents. My mother, Nompucuko, was a teacher and my father, Zwenithambele, a building construction bricklayer. "I heard about NMMU and the Nature Conservation course at a career expo at my school in Tsolo. I got interested in agriculture and nature conservation and applied to NMMU.
"For my practical year I heard about Bergplaas from a friend of mine who had done his practical here, and I went for an interview with Wayne Maspero. I got in and came to the Karoo. Nothing clicked in my mind when I first arrived at Bergplaas because the area is very different to the coastal area where I studied, and the driving forces behind the biodiversity of the Karoo are also very different to what I knew.
"The animal that fascinates me here is the eland; it is one of South Africa's sacred animals and it has an incredible ability to survive in this harsh environment. "I am gaining a lot of knowledge from Wayne and Cindy. From Wayne I am learning about animal and ranch management, and from Cindy about how to develop good working relationships between people. "The advantage of being on Bergplaas is that we work closely together and we all do everything that needs to be done on the reserve and for the Spirit of the Wild programme, which I did during my practical year. It helped me a lot as I couldn't give presentations and lectures to people before. I didn't think I had it in me".
"I must say, I really enjoy being in the field; time spent in the environment increases your confidence and trust in yourself."