2023-12-18 00:57:02
Bandia (Mbour), Dec 17 (APS) – Working as a guide at the Bandia animal reserve represents more than a Safari for Ibrahima Sow, who has managed, in 26 years, to forge a humanist character through meeting an audience multicultural by demonstrating patience and tolerance in the exercise of his profession.
He was in his thirties when he first arrived at the Bandia reserve in 1997. And nothing predestined the native of Saint-Louis to a life with wild animals, especially since his wildest dream was to emigrate to Europe.
“The procedures had already begun, everything was ready to go but at the last minute we had setbacks. Which meant that my plan to travel never came to fruition,” recalled Ibrahima Sow, now 57 years old.
After unsuccessful attempts and odd jobs in construction and horticulture between Saint-Louis and Thiès, the man who attended the Koranic school before stopping his studies in the classical secondary cycle ended up believing that his destiny for success was to stay at home.
As a philosopher, Ibrahima Sow even thinks that he made many trips without ever leaving Senegal. In the sense that almost all cultures, all personalities and nationalities come to him to discover the wildlife and flora riches of which the Bandia reserve abounds.
Once this dream of emigrating faded from his prospects, Ibrahima Sow was introduced to one of the reserve’s Belgian associates looking for a guide. »I had to do a 3 month test before starting work. Subsequently, I underwent on-the-job training on the workings of the profession,” he explains.
Since then, he has managed to find a place in this restrictive profession which requires a lot of tolerance and patience. Qualities that he has developed over the years through contact with visitors.
“This job taught me to be tolerant and to respect people in their beliefs and convictions,” says Sow, first guide at the Bandia reserve.
According to him, in addition to general knowledge, you must be bilingual and have the skills required to be a good animal guide. Especially when you work in an environment welcoming a multicultural and multilingual audience.
Ibrahima Sow also explains that his job requires a lot of patience, in order to be able to “detect very early on the reasons that push each visitor to go on safari. Because there is always an objective, but we are not supposed to ask for it at first glance,” he explains.
The animal guide, almost a psychologist
According to him, “there are visitors who talk to you regarding politics, others regarding religion, culture and others want to know more regarding Senegalese society.” So the sensitivities are different, hence “the need to be cultured but also very patient”, continued the one whom his colleagues commonly call “Secu”, short for security, because Ibrahima has the reputation of being “a reliable person and discreet.
He also says that he sometimes welcomes visitors who come with certain clichés regarding Africa. “They open up to us and tell us regarding their sensitivity, their journey, and the guide in turn must know how to deconstruct these clichés and highlight African values and cultures,” he observes.
Ibrahima Sow never fails to reveal the “human and humanist” character offered by fauna and flora. In this, he adds, “the behavior and exchanges of each person can very quickly transform into reflection on existential subjects”.
But the 57-year-old guide always insists on the patience that must be developed from every point of view. “The first advice I would give to a young guide is to be patient and tolerant because in the profession, as much as you can meet disciplined, courteous and polite people, you also meet unbearable people with inappropriate behavior.” Hence the need, he adds, “to always be patient and tolerant, but also courageous”.
According to Ibrahima, only passion can triumph once morest what he calls “the hazards of the profession” linked in particular to its seasonal nature and which result in a drop in guides’ income. He was referring to the Covid-19 health crisis or electoral periods which reduce the number of visitors to the site.
Today, the former candidate for emigration says he is proud of the choice and the journey he made there.
“We fought to make the reserve what it is today. It was not easy at the beginning because we had to achieve the feat of convincing visitors to come back and to bring other people. Especially since there weren’t many animals at the time. So we participated a lot in the development of the reserve,” he says.
Almost self-taught in foreign languages, this father speaks French perfectly in addition to English.
“I only relied on my own curiosity to deepen my knowledge of languages. I often bought books and read a lot to educate myself, I also do very well in Arabic and German,” he adds, with a smile.
For him, it is important to update your knowledge in many areas to succeed in this profession, which in places leads you to act “like psychologists when you are in contact with certain visitors”.
This seems to be confirmed by his colleague Amadou Tidiane Niane when he explains that the guide must be empowered to “detect their interest when welcoming visitors”. He finds that this human aspect of the visit remains the most difficult to detect, but once you get there “it’s the most beautiful moment” of the Safari.
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