The attraction of free-roaming game draws thousands from afar to the Kruger National Park. But for learners at school inside the park, living with the animals is a way of life, writes Julia Grey
In the heart of big five territory, Skukuza Primary School makes a mockery of what you’d expect from a school buried in a truly rural environment. Manicured grounds and pristine buildings, facilities ranging from a flashy computer centre to emerald-green sports grounds – and, of course, the surrounding expanse of wild bush and its roaming animals.
The school is located within the staff village, a neatly laid out settlement that houses employees of the park. Although the individual houses have fences around them, the game walk freely through the village.
Little wonder the grade 7 class are one bright-eyed and bushy-tailed bunch. They take their environment so much for granted that terms like “alpha baboon” slip off their tongues without having an idea that this is not everyday knowledge. After all, how many city kids know that this is the term for the “king of the baboon tribe”, as 12-year-old Janie Lourenco explains.
Skukuza Primary was one school that suffered the effects of last year’s floods. Principal Jannie Geldenhuys describes how the waters suddenly swamped the school property – at its height only the building’s roofs were poking out – causing about R1.5-million worth of damage. But, thanks to insurance and community contributions, “one year later, and if you didn’t know about the flood you wouldn’t believe it had happened”, says Geldenhuys.
For the learners, the brief saga of the flood is not nearly as exciting as tales of close encounters of the wild kind: temperamental elephants that flatten neighbourhood fences to get to the orange tree, bad-tempered hyenas that send you running from school for the safety of your house.
Leopards feature in the most dramatic stories: Chantelle van Wyk tells of the chilling episode when “tannie Kotie de Beer was killed by a leopard. It came from behind and broke her neck before she knew it”. But rather than think of the predator as a villain, van Wyk is sympathetic when she explains that “it was a sick leopard. Sick leopards are not strong enough to hunt properly, so they go for easy prey.”
Learners also have access to all the expertise and knowledge of game rangers and conservationists. Some, like Mariethe Oosthuysen, enjoy remarkable opportunities like “going into the bush with my father who works with the animals. When he catches lions I go with him, and he darts them. We also do impala – we go into the veld, dart them and take their blood.”
Such exposure has persuaded several of the learners to become involved with the world of nature in the future. Robbie Hume for one says: “I’ve got big plans of starting my own reptile park. I’m studying snakes right now – but my mom won’t let me keep them because she’s scared they’ll escape into the house.”
But there are some sides to their lifestyle that frustrate the youngsters. They miss the freedom of little things – like walking the streets after dark and making a noise at night (the village has to be quiet from 9pm onwards because of the animals), and luxuries like shopping malls and movie theatres. But for the privilege of living side-by-side with the animals, it seems a small price to pay.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, July 2001.