Keeping the Wildlife Spirit alive
A rare funding opportunity has fuelled an innovative project that pairs gin and elephants at a Jozini community camp
SAKHILE Mathenjwa was a professional hunter, who laid aside his rifle to become a game guide. Now he is focusing on a community camp, Wildlife Spirit, which is geared to cherishing the environment.
The camp, perched high above the Pongolapoort (Jozini) dam, has five rondawels in a stunning setting.
Mathenjwa labours from dawn to dusk – building, painting, renovating, sorting out the electrics and plumbing – to get this little corner of Africa fully operational.
He began his “green walk” when someone persuaded him conservation was a better option than hunting.
“For a time I was a guide at Thanda Game Reserve in Zululand, before coming to run Wildlife Spirit,” he says.
Funding for Wildlife Spirit comes from an unusual source. Tessa and Robin Gerlach originally made gin in London before moving to Hamburg, in Germany, where they bought a distillery and an apple orchard, and set up the Elephant Gin company.
While visiting Thanda, the Gerlachs came in contact with Digs Pascoe, one of the founding members of the Space for Elephants Foundation.
They were already supporting two foundations, but wanted to add Space for Elephants as a beneficiary.
After discussions with Pascoe, it was agreed that they would plough 7.5% of the profits of their artisan “Elephant Gin” into the Space for Elephants Foundation, on the proviso that it be used to support and educate communities such as the Wildlife Spirit Centre, as well as for conservation of the Pongolapoort population.
Pascoe’s partner, Heinz Kohrs, a vet practising in Pongola, says: “Pascoe’s health meant he could not oversee the project and Mathenjwa stepped into the breach.”
According to Kohrs, each bottle of gin is named after an actual elephant.
Mathenjwa says the camp serves traditional fare like samp and beans, and ujeqe (a special Zululand/tonga way of making bread by placing dough in a plastic bag and immersing it in boiling water).
“We tell our visitors about elephants and wildlife,” says Mathenjwa. “We want to bring school children here so they can spread the conservation message around the Jozini area.”
During the Sunday Tribune’s sunset visit to the camp, one of the local indunas, Bheki Elephant Sikhakhane, popped in to check out the vibe. He indicated his approval of what Wildlife Spirit was doing and said he would have a word with the local chief to promote the project.
Mathenjwa, who clearly has many ideas, says they have been given a special press, which he will get up and running. “It will enable us to produce paper from elephant dung.
“We also want to make special presentation boxes from elephant dung to hold individual bottles of gin,” he says.
Meanwhile, he feels it would be ideal if Wildlife Spirit could obtain a liquor licence.
“Then visitors can drink the crafted gin, have a traditional meal, and enjoy the beauty of Africa at sunset,” he says.
“We have to become self-sufficient. We cannot expect the funding to go on forever.”