Meet Ruh, manager-guide extraordinaire!

From music-loving village boy to Vintage Camp head honcho

When Ruh Budulala was mixing up a storm as a resident DJ in Gweta village, little did he know that 20 years later he'd be an exceptional safari guide running a luxury tented camp in the Okavango! It's been a journey of note, and one he's happy to share...

Ruh was born and raised in a village called Gweta just north of the Makgadikgadi Pans in July 1985. In those days Gweta was a community of around 5,000 people, today that figure has more than doubled and what is still called a village is probably closer to a small town. Young Ruh did most of his schooling in the village, finishing his last two years of high school in the capital of Gaborone. 

"I then enrolled in college to do a two-year course in accounting and business studies," he explains. "Even though I really didn't want to be an accountant, I felt it was the responsible thing to do to have something good to fall back on, as my hopes were set on doing something in the entertainment industry. I'd been a resident DJ in the village and thought it would be a great way to earn a living."

To complete the course and get his qualification, Ruh had to spend time as an intern and so, in 2010, he joined a safari company for a three-month internship, which he subsequently extended to six months. 

"After the first three months I wanted to learn more about the safari business and moved around inside the business, learning every aspect from kitchen work in the lodges to admin. It's at this time that I fell in love with the idea of working in tourism. I guess I wasn't supposed to be an accountant," he laughs.

And so, Ruh's career path took an unexpected turn and, determined to learn more about guiding, Ruh asked his manager if he could spend some more time shadowing the safari guides. 

"I loved it so much that when the internship finished I enrolled in a year-long training programme in Maun to learn to be a safari guide. I did well and passed my guide's license exams. I then spent the next two years shadowing leading guides across Botswana before being hired by a safari company. But rather than just guiding, I had an office and did admin, learning the operations side of the business as well," he explains.

"In 2013 I eventually got a job as a guide, working for 10 years honing my bush and guiding skills before I joined Feline Fields in 2017 as a managing guide on a year's contract. When that year was up I went back to guiding mobile safaris for two years before COVID19 hit."

It took a forced break for Ruh to work out what he wanted to do and as tourism began to open up again, he got the chance to return to Feline Fields, this time full-time as a manager/guide at Feline Fields Vintage Camp. "It's where I belong and where I am truly happy," he says with a broad smile, looking out across the Mbudi Channel towards the setting sun. 

It's a career that keeps him away from his family a lot, but they have only ever known it this way and he sees them on a regular basis when on leave. "I am married with two daughters aged 10 and 8. My family lives in Botswana's 'second capital' of Francistown which is also my second home now," says Ruh. 

"I think once you are a bush person you can never return to an office environment and certainly not a city," he says wistfully. "The bush is my home, and I could never give it up. And I love Feline Fields. It's growing well and is a great company to be with because the owners and directors are directly invested in the staff and are committed to helping us reach our full potential," he adds. "My hope is that I will continue to grow with Feline Fields."