DAVID APIYE

People and Places

I have just 2 photographs of this incredible man. May he be resting in peace. Film days, pre digital. His name is David Apiye. I was fortunate enough to spend hundreds of hours in Kwando Safaris’ open converted land-cruisers, with David riding up front in the tracker’s seat. No one knew the rhythms, the signs and the secrets of the African bush like David. Sadly he passed away in his late 40’s not long after my family and I left Maun, but his humility, his quiet manner and his smile live with me. There were many occasions when his bush knowledge saved us from serious trouble. One particular day we were a full documentary crew and one of the party fell ill deep in mopane country. David led the guide back on what was a 2 hour journey in impossibly thick sand and terrain. He had a sixth sense for finding animals and for finding the way back to camp when none of us had a clue. His Dad was San (Bushmen) and his Mum from the Ndebele tribe. He was born in the tiny eastern Botswana town of Pandamatenga. Even the name is evocative with its own lilting cadence. I would sit in the vehicle on filming missions and just watch David in awe, absorbing the world around him, missing nothing. His whole being was so attuned to the bush he would notice blades of grass broken or bent as we drove past on a lonely track. Even though his English wasn’t great, he could tell everything about the character of a person in minutes I found. He would give a wry smile if he thought someone was perhaps showy or had a healthy ego. His mind was a road map and a living library of everything I love about Africa, he was at one with the land and its animals. He was the best of Botswana, with a fabulous sharp sense of humour. On any safari, I think it’s really important to get to know the local people you meet in the camps and along the way. Even if you’re with them for just a few hours. Family, children where they’re from, what they love, food, animals, there is so much to learn from them.

#travel stories

Photography:SIMON REEVE