Bruce Bryden

A game ranger remembers Bruce Bryden

"There are only two great certainties in a game ranger's career. The first is that you will never be well off. The second - and best by far - is that you will do things that most other people only get to dream about. This is a collection of stories about the life of a bushveld conservationist as it is lived at ground level by that elite band of men and women who guard the Kruger National Park - at the cost of much sweat and, not infrequently, quite a bit of blood. Bruce Bryden's tales of 30 years in the service of our most famous park make a gripping and entertaining read, abounding with encounters with elephant, lion, buffalo, leopard and rhino, whether darting for research, managing culling operations by helicopter or stalking on foot. In the best tradition of bushveld stories, there is a great deal of shooting, and a fair amount of running away; there are meetings with extraordinary characters among the rangers; memorable gatherings; hilarious mishaps and narrow escapes; and throughout, a great love and respect for both the wilderness and the creatures that inhabit it."