Can a girl catch a break? Yes. Yes, she can. Graduation was really a light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. And the cherry on top was landing this job just at the very end of my wits. I can't believe I found it on Gumtree!
Still, this turned out to be another rough year. The job I landed was reserve coordinator and "assistant to the reserve manager" at the Cradle Nature Reserve, which is in the Cradle of Humankind—a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It started off great. Better than great. It really seemed like a dream job. I got on really well with the reserve manager, Brandon, and we made quite the team. Plus there were some super fun times exploring the reserve.
But a month in, and Brandon had to leave over a dispute with the neighbouring property manager." Well, guess who wound up in the manager seat? Yip. Moi. I think that is when I started to realise my capabilities, because I actually rocked that position (for the most part).
I started to get pretty lonely though, working in that office, all by my onesies. I did, however, befriend some of the hotel staff, the maintenance guy, and the interior designer. And also the security manager and his lovely little family.
But then in November, tragedy struck, and Jan, the security manager, died suddenly. It was really a big blow, as I lost a friend and an important support person. To make matters worse, since I did such a stellar job filling Brandon's shoes as manager, the owner decided I could more than handle the role of security manager. Spoiler alert. I could not.
It was a cutthroat job I had no training for, and I was in well over my head. I also found out my second-in-charge was a poacher, and I started to realise the nuances of the bushmeat crisis. Long story short, I ended up on anti-anxiety meds. Most of all, for the most part, I wasn't doing real conservation.
Other than (poorly) managing the anti-poaching unit, I was mostly doing hospitality work - a conservationist's nightmare. But this story does have a happy ending. By the end of the year, a friend I had hired to do game drives got me a gig as a wildlife monitor at his new job. It was the kind of gig you don't interview for. You just show up, get thrown in the deep end, and learn to swim.
It was my first time getting real work in the bush, and I was scared as hell, but super excited for the adventure that lay ahead. More importantly, I was going to do real conservation again.