Africa-Press – Botswana. Boat cruising a Head of State may come as a dream for many tour guides, but to cruise two at the same time is quiet a story!
Many tour guides may never have that experience, but for Vivian Diphupu – who works at Chobe Game Lodge – that came to pass on Wednesday when she had on board Presidents Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi and Mr Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia.
“It’s an occurrence that gave me great pride, and it was a first in my life,” she said, the pride she talks about evident in her eyes.
“Last month President Masisi came here on what he said was his first cruise around and I had the honour of cruising him, but to cruise two Heads of State at once is quiet a stroke of luck,” she said
Ms Diphupu, part of an all-female team of professional tour guides at the lodge, said that she started her job in 2013 after returning from USA where she was on a Disney Cultural Exchange programme. Prior to that, the Bobonong native worked at Mmokolodi Nature Reserve and later Khama Rhino Sanctuary Trust in Paje.
She said that when she was on the cultural exchange programme she learnt about Chobe Game Lodge through her friends from Wildlife Training Institute.
“When we completed in 2005 one of them came to work here. We kept in touch and she told me about women who were working here as tour guides among men,” she said.
She said that the lodge had seemingly kept deliberately increasing the number of women tour guides, an opportunity she seized to join the lodge.
She believes that deliberate decision was informed by the fact that management was satisfied with the ability of the women they already had.
“Sometime after I joined, we then formed a group of lady guides called Chobe Angels and we are now globally recognised,” she said. Ms Diphupu said that tour guiding had initially been a preserve for men at the lodge until one of the senior managers decided to give women a chance after he noted a satisfactory performance by the first and only woman tour guide at the lodge by then.
“She seemingly did a marvellous job in driving and handling tourists, so this instilled trust and belief in the management about the potential of women as tour guides,” she said.
Ms Diphupu pointed out that was the beginning of more women coming into professional tour guiding at the lodge.
She said that one issue that made people to initially doubt the ability of women as tour guides was the fact that Chobe Game Park had deep sands, especially during dry seasons. “There were reservations about women’s ability to handle common challenges around the park, such as tyre punctures and mechanical breakdowns mid-tour,” she said.
She appreciates the management of the lodge for developing women tour guides, indicating that they are sometimes sent to training schools such as African Guides Academy for either refresher courses or to advance their qualifications.
She said that this was vital since tour guiding was much more than just pointing out animals to tourists, but that a tour guide should know all about the animals, their character and way of life to enable them to explain and answer questions from tourists.
She stated that as tour guides, they were not bothered by the fact that their lives may be endangered with each tour, saying that they took that as just part of adventure.
“Remember that touring means you are invading the animals’ space, so we are taught how to handle situations such as coming face to face with dangerous ones like lions. If it happens then it will just be part of a story to tell,” she said, pointing out that how one handled the situation could prove the difference between life and death.
As a parting shot, Ms Diphupu said that time was past when women were kept away from occupations that were perceived to be for men only.
“This is an era of women empowerment, and we have indeed proved that what a man can do, we too can do,” she said.
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