Back from the wilderness

Hello everybody,

I hope you are all well and that our new upside down world is not treating you too badly.

I just wanted to give a little update on what's been happening with me and how I have come through

the last few months. The title of this story might be slightly misleading as it is not from a bush or safari wilderness that I have returned but rather from the wilderness of our current day-to-day life and boy is it wild!

My family and I moved back up to Hoedspruit at the end of October last year for the expected surge in tourism from international guests and unfortunately this did not happen. This was not the best case scenario as the arrival of our second born was imminent. Fortunately my wife is an absolute legend and started an online business which managed to keep the wolves at bay. I was able to get some guiding work in the Waterberg area of South Africa, which has been a life saver of note. I have been so excited to go and guide in a new area of our magnificent country and meet such a wonderful family that have given me this opportunity.

The best part of this fantastic news is that now I can put food on my table but even more importantly it is going to give me the time required to put some much needed effort back into photos for food.

It is so very hard when things get tough in this wilderness of ours and it has been during those tough times that my family has managed to pull together and work together to make a plan to get through, from selling furniture to buy groceries, cutting costs in every aspect of living and selling some of our prized photography equipment, even though at the time you feel like you are making the biggest sacrifice in order to survive, we would often remind each other of the thousands of people in our country who do no have the luxury of selling furniture or camera equipment for that matter in order to find the next meal, these are the people who are really struggling and this is the kick up the bum my family needed. We realized that in our wilderness we were living far beyond our means and started to fall into the trap of keeping up with the times and latest current trends etc., what a load of rubbish.

So it is with a full and happy heart that I am able to aim my attention back onto photos for food, and I would like to say thank you for all the support. Sales have continued to tick over and we have still been able to contribute to the lively hoods of the many families that are on the underside of the breadline.

So until next time stay positive and keep dominating.

Much love

Jonty, Ricci, Amelia, Lambros and Frank