Walking Africa
I sit here, contemplating the words to to describe this unique part of the world, Mana Pools, Zimbabwe. I close my eyes and picture the mighty Zambezi, where hippos, elephants and all life roam free. There is no where I have been, where I felt so accepted by the wilderness. The video above, Walking Africa, is a short film Rewild was commissioned to do for African Bush Camps. Our objective was to try and capture the essence of what it is like to walk on foot, in this wild part of Zimbabwe.
Experiencing this wilderness, you are no longer a spectator. Here, you are given the opportunity to be guided through this landscape on foot. Touch ancient trees, smell incredible scents , pay attention to the alarm call of the impala, hear the rustle as elephants move through the thicket. It is truly a sensory overload, and an experience that leaves you thirsty for more.
Rewild, a start up company from Cape Town, seeks to communicate stories from the wild through visuals and story -telling. The future of the planets Wild areas are uncertain. Human population is on the rise, which as a feedaback loop, increases the amount of land we need for cities and for farming. It is said that there are now 28 mega-cities — with populations of 10 million plus — compared to just 10 mega-cities in 1990.
All species need habitat in order to survive, and in order for us to survive, we as the human species need biodiversity. E O Wilson explains that If all mankind were to disappear, the world would regenerate back to the rich state of equilibrium that existed ten thousand years ago. If insects were to vanish, the environment would collapse into chaos.
The loss of Biodiversity is the most disregarded conversation of our time. Whilst we sit, drinking our coffee in the morning, we are losing populations of biodiversity. It is the greatest genocide of our time. The thing that scares me the most about this issue, is that we are not able to see, and understand how intricately we (humans) are linked to healthy ecosystems. Our survival depends on our access to clean drinking water, good carbon sequestration systems, and clean air.
When you walk in places in Africa, you are automatically pulled right back into your senses. It forces you to engage with life in every way. This is why it is so hard to describe this experience, because no matter how many adjectives used to describe Mana pools, it does not bring you close enough to experience the complexity of it all - How it influences our psyche, and our other ways of knowing.
Protecting our wild spaces today, and finding ways to co esist is what really matters in conservation. What will bring us into our senses as intensely as being on foot with Elephants, and hearing the call of the hyena at night? Technology might be able to mimic this reality to a single degree, but never to its fullest.
Maintaining ecosystems, contributes to the health of our physches. Depression is also an outcome of our loss of knowing and connection to something much greater than us, this is widely studied in Academia.
Ian McCallum, a well known environmentalist from South Africa, explains that we have forgotten that human identity is impossible outside of relationships with the landscape, with mountains and with oceans. Biodiversity Loss, is no minor threat. We must engage in this conversation, in order for us to a find a future for our children that allows them to feel the deep connections and experiences that we may receive from places like Mana Pools.
If you are interested in learning more about the company I co founded with Alistair Daynes, please follow me on my website.
Learn more and support Rewilds next initiative to help raise funds for connecting 3 mega reserves in South Africa. Why this is an important conversation, is because of environmental and Climatic change, this change is forcing biodiversity to move, but fences are limiting this. If we are not able to open our fences, in the next 10 -20 years, we are going to see major extinctions all over the world.
Please see the video below to learn more
If the video resonates with you, please send me an email — sam@rewild.tv. I will send you our pitch proposal to help you learn more about this intiative
If you are interested in Walking Africa, Please see African Bush Camps Website to have an experience of a life time
https://www.africanbushcamps.com/
Thanks for reading and cheers for now
Wildest regards
Sam Chevallier
