Jacques loved the bush so much he went straight from school to the Bush Academy, where he received his field guide and lodge management qualifications. He has worked at Cheetah Plains for six months, but has a wealth of experience behind him from guiding at various game reserves in the country. He is also a very keen wildlife photographer.

“Right now I’m studying for my trails guide course,” he says. “It’ll allow me to conduct walks in the bush which is the most superb way of viewing and photographing game, and noticing the smaller components of the bushveld.”

He is a man for all seasons, loving the open, stark winters when animals are easily seen, but enjoying the lush green summers just as much, when the Sabie Sand is awash with birds and snakes. “It’s always changing, is the bush,” he says. “People generally believe winter’s the only time to visit because that’s when you see the Big Five. Yes they’re easier to spot then, but when you see them in summer it’s so very beautiful. And the wealth and variety of wildlife in summer makes you realise there’s actually a Big Twenty.

Certainly Jacques enthusiasm for the bush is catchy. “A guide in the bush is a job hard to beat,” he says. “As a guide you are a teacher and you have to know everything about everything in the wild, big and small. And a love for people is a prerequisite.”