Chobe Game Lodge : Reviews : Jill Haniger

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A game lodge is her home



By Angela van Schalkwyk ECLECTIC, energetic, enthusiastic, Jill Haniger sweeps you into her life at the Chobe Game Lodge in Botswana. When Jill talks about the last three years there, her face becomes animated with pleasure and pride. There is no title to Jill’s work at the lodge; it is far too varied to be simply labelled as that of a PR. During the course of a day, guests will see Jill dressed in a safari-style Khaki outfit as often as they see the tiny bush-tailed squirrels which scurry with perky cheekiness about the patios and gardens of the lodge. In the morning on one’s way to breakfast, Jill is likely to be in the entrance hall to greet you. If you miss her there, you’re bound to catch her a little later to discuss whether to take a boat trip or a game drive as part of the day’s programme. Chases warthogs Guests also become accustomed to seeing her chase warthogs out of the garden and more recently hurling ladylike abuse at baboons who have taken to venturing into the lodge in search of food. In the afternoons she often acts as guide on the barge cruise which offers an unbeatable view of hippopotamuses, elephants, crocodiles and a wonderful assortment of birds which live around the Chobe River. As the sun sets, guests gather in the pub where Jill is a good listener to tales of the day’s adventures. Her involvement with guests is not seen by Jill as a mere function of her job. “I’ve come to look upon the lodge as my own home and those who step through its doors become my personal guests. “They are completely my concern.” Helge Haniger, general manager of the lodge, is a fortunate man. Jill not only fell in love with him but also with the lodge. It must have made his task far easier to put the lodge back on the map in a matter of three years. Isolated When the Hanigers arrived shortly after the lodge was reopened early in 1984 (the Rhodesian bush war forced it closure in April 1977), Jill had no official job as such. “As we live n this isolated are (550 km from the nearest town) and have no children, I was forced to become involved.” It is an involvement she enjoys wholeheartedly. Initially, she found herself playing chauffeur for anyone who needed her. But Jill Haniger with her intensity, warmth, commitment and winning personality has established herself as an integral part of the lodge’s activities. Her one regret about her present lifestyle is that it meant giving teaching, which she loved. Born in Zimbabwe, she qualified as an infants’ teacher and then specialized in the medical work. After teaching in Zimbabwe for three years, she decided to move to Swakopmund, in the South West Africa, where she an uncle. It was a fortuitous move because she met Helge here. He was involved in setting up a catering unit for 4 000 workers for the Rossing uranium mine in the Namib Desert. They met after her swop shop for books failed and Helge decided to purchase the books fir his company’s workers. Jill maintains he cheated her out of a good price, but it did not deter her from marrying him nine years ago. Contrast Before moving to Botswana, they lived for a time in Durban, where Jill was reintroduced to city life. Today her environment is dramatically different. Although her immediate surroundings at the lodge can be defined as sophisticated and aesthetically tasteful, she is completely cut-off from the things that most people take for granted – newspapers seldom arrive, communication with major centres by telephone is impossible, and personal shopping can only be done once a year. “I initially missed the cultural aspects offered by a city and keeping up to date with politics. For the first six months I read every newspaper I could lay my hands on, from cover to cover. I listened to the radio whenever I could. Now it is not important to me. “This place has given me a built-in calm I never had before. One simply just does not have the kind of pressures one gets in a city.” Gazing in the direction of the great expanse of the Chobe River below the hotel, she adds: “The beauty and tranquility here is overwhelming.” Her married life is very different from the norm, she admits. Helge see each other constantly at the lodge, there is little chance for privacy. Respect “We have only had one meal alone in three years. In a way, our marriage is fairly lonely, I suppose.” “Working together, however, has given us a different respect for each other. I admire Helge tremendously for his just and fair handling of people. It is a good working partnership because we each operate in our own spheres and leave the other alone.” For a couple so dedicated to making other people’s holidays memorable, what one wonders is their own choice when there is time to take a break? “We go camping in the bush to be as alone and isolated as possible”.