The Great Primate Handshake – Volunteer in Africa, working to conserve monkeys and apes through film and educational content production

At 8 AM the Handshake volunteers were met by Louis Jordaan, the owner of the Satvik Backpackers campsite that we’re staying at while working with the Vervet Monkey Foundation. Louis offered to give us a walking tour through the forest, land and dam that surround his campsite.

Perched on the Tzaneen dam off the Great Letaba River, the site is nestled within a large area of untouched woodland, farmland and rolling hills. Considering the urban surroundings of Tzaneen, the Satvik site is a rare find. Hidden at the bottom of a long dirt road encased in forest, the location feels an age away from the concrete jungle you pass through to get to the campsite.

Louis inherited the land from his Grandfather, and has a definite passion for the natural life that dwells here, its conservation, and ultimate future. Running the Satvik business as well as conducting microlite instruction, repair and trade, Louis’ time is somewhat limited. “I sometimes find it difficult to keep the place going – I do what I can with what I have but I need help to do anything with the land.”

Talking to Louis on the walk through thick bush, rare trees and waterside flora and fauna, he spoke of the pressure faced by local ideals and developers. The attitude held by the local community towards the wildlife is certainly detrimental. Louis described farmers as “shooting anything with eyes that was anywhere near their land –even driving down past my fence with their rifles out of the window.”

Not only is the wildlife threatened directly, but its habitat also. Urbanization is the biggest threat to natural land, and with planning in place for a fuel station and shopping centre across the road from the entrance to the campsite; the threat is getting closer all the time. Louis’ attitude seems positive however. “Animals are safe here – walking around and seeing wild bushbok in the forest is great. That will never change; I wont allow it to be built on. We’ve had suggestions for golf courses, hotels, but it wont happen.”

The inherited land has brought with it a definite sense of responsibility. Speaking about the land, his main focus is not of active conservation, but of stewardship. “Mother Nature will take care of this place, I just want to let her get on with it – It’s everyone’s responsibility to protect and preserve what’s around us.”

Currently there are crocodiles and hippopotamus that inhabit the dam, various bok species that roam the woodland, and numerous troops of vervet monkeys occupying the canopies. With invested time and effort, the area could become a protected natural habitat for many different species. Louis talks positively about getting the area protected and someday inviting volunteers to come and study the area and it’s wildlife.

Being at the Satvik site gives you a definite sense of well-being. Here is a large, beautiful and highly desired piece of land in the centre of Tzaneen surrounded by building and urbanization that, for as long as Louis can maintain, will remain exactly what it is – an untouched natural habitat for nature to manipulate how it pleases.

George Tyson