Farewell to a Friend and a Brother

It is with such a heavy heart and sadness we bid Farewell to our Friend and Tracker Simon Manzini.

We all have such special memories of our time with Simon, he was a gentleman and one of the best Trackers I have ever had the privileged to work with over the years.

I have such fond recollections of tracking with him along the banks of the Sand River, and even in those moments of intense stress when the tracks we were following were extremely fresh, he never lost his composure or sense of humor.

I remember well an occasion out on drive when Simon raised his hand from the front of the vehicle indicating for me to stop. He sat on his trackers seat out front looking down at the road for a while before turning to me and saying, “very fresh Lion tracks, a whole Pride of Lions have been walking here not long ago”. I turned in my seat and explained to my Guests that Simon and I were going to leave the vehicle for a while and to track in an attempt to find the Pride.

As I jumped down from the vehicle and Simon jumped off his seat, the whole bush next to us exploded in dust, teeth, claws and growls……… I stood there with my head in my hands, not even having had time to remove the rifle form the rack. Lions ran everywhere, fortunately away from us, and I remember looking up through the dust and seeing a huge grin on Simon’s face…………..he winked at me and said “I told you the tracks were fresh”!!!!

There are hundreds of memories we all have of Simon, but none more so than Heinrich who has Tracked with Simon for the last 18 months, they had a very strong bond, like brothers in arms, and although I know we will all miss him greatly, none more so than you.

Go well our friend until we meet again in the Great Reserve in the Sky.

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