Trails guide, conservationist, gentleman. Gary walked the bush with a quiet authority. Over many decades he guided thousands of clients and friends through wilderness that he understood deeply and loved unconditionally. To those who walked with him, he gave more than knowledge – he gave perspective.
The third iteration in the Hoedspruit area of the Social Employment Fund (SEF 3), part of South Africa’s Presidential Employment Stimulus, is under way in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region. Running from November 2025 to July 2026, the project builds directly on lessons learned during SEF 1 and SEF 2, with a strong focus on mathematical proficiency through the numiknow® approach.
magine a state-of-the-nation address delivered without triumph or ceremony. The President rises, not to announce renewal, but to offer thanks. He thanks the households for installing solar panels that kept the lights on when the grid could not. He thanks parents who found ways to send their children to private schools as public classrooms became more crowded and less reliable. He thanks communities that drilled wells when taps ran dry, and businesses that paved roads, fixed wells, installed streetlights, and hired private security as policing quietly retreated. Applause is restrained, even respectful. The speech sounds practical and appreciated. It also reads as a quiet admission that the state has withdrawn from the everyday work of holding society together.
The South African Weather Service (SAWS) has issued ongoing warnings related to a low-pressure system over southern Mozambique, which is expected to continue affecting north-eastern South Africa over the coming days.
If anyone doubted whether Hoedspruit needed a new place to gather, laugh, eat, sip, shop, mingle and generally let its hair down, the opening of The Neighbour Hoed at Zandspruit Boulevard settled it. The place launched with a bang – live music blaring, pizzas spinning out of the oven, drinks flowing under the old fig tree, and enough foot traffic to convince even the sceptics that Hoedspruit has a brand-new destination on its hands.
When Rotarian and Adult Scouter Penelope Colly recently told me that, as part of Hoedspruit Rotary’s Youth Leadership Development programme, ten scouts from the Acornhoek Scout Group would be sponsored to attend a Koru Camp experience, it set off a flood of memories.
In January 1990, four visionaries — Clive Walker, Marilyn Dougall, Laurie Wright, and Frances Gamble — gathered with a shared purpose: to bring structure, credibility, and professional standards to a field that had, until then, relied purely on passion and bush intuition. With a modest fund of R1,000, the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA) was born.
Ten years on, the Rotary K2C Cycle Tour is more than just a ride. It is Rotary Hoedspruit’s flagship fundraiser – and this year it raised a staggering R650,000 distributed at the awards evening hosted at The Clubhouse.
October is a month that shakes the dust off your boots. Expect sharp turns, bold conversations, and opportunities that look risky but pay off if you’ve got the grit to follow through. Relationships spark — some with fire, others with friction. Money matters tighten early in the month but loosen their grip mid-way if you stay disciplined. Above all, October rewards courage: fortune is flirting with the brave.
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