Baby rhino on the Mkhaya Game Reserve, Swaziland.
Wrangling Rhinos: No Spurs Required
By N. Chrystine Olson
In 2006 I traveled to the Mkhaya Game Reserve in Swaziland, an intimate park in one of Africa's smallest countries. Wrangling Rhinos: No Spurs Required is a snapshot in time memoir about working and living on Mkhaya as an ecovolunteer. Doctoring sick elands, haying for hippos, assasinating lantana and, as the title clearly states, wrangling rhinos, comprised an intimate and magical experience.
A Little About the Author
I'm beginning to think I have the mystical "novelty seeking" gene implanted somewhere in my DNA. I'm in my forties, never married, no kids, circumstances making for an eclectic footprint on the planet thus far. I've been a nanny in New York City, a salesman for Washington D.C.'s largest chamber of commerce, a federal government cowgirl and an organized angel. My formal edication is in raneland ecology ( B. S.-University of Idaho, M.S.- University of Nevada ), a choice influenced by childhood walks with my father in the wood of Appalachia, himself a forest researcher for thirty years. I worked for thirteen years with the Forest Service, involved in challenging, fascinating programs focused on restoring cold water fisheries, re-introducing elk into the Bruneau River Basin, and surveying for rare plants using helipcopters and GPS when the latter technology was is it's infancy.
My career took me to the edge of nowhere, working and living in tiny towns of the American West. My curiousity however, extends beyond my country's borders, going on to explore Australia, Baja, Mexico and most recently, southern Africa and Madagascar. On these vagabond wanderings I've combined work, pleasure and adventure; typical tourism is not for me. In Australia it was monitoring a rare species of kangaroo on a tiny island in the Southern Ocean. In Mexico beach clean-ups and fund raising for local children to attend school dovetailed seamlessly with sailboat restoration. On Mkhaya not only did I work with the Swazi people on conservation projects, we prepared meals, shared stories and danced together. It's a beautiful way to live life, at home or abroad!
I've come back to Northern Idaho, stitching together a free spirited existence where writing is integral. Currently I'm mining my empirical backlog; there are some good stories in the archives, and a good story never goes out of style.
My career took me to the edge of nowhere, working and living in tiny towns of the American West. My curiousity however, extends beyond my country's borders, going on to explore Australia, Baja, Mexico and most recently, southern Africa and Madagascar. On these vagabond wanderings I've combined work, pleasure and adventure; typical tourism is not for me. In Australia it was monitoring a rare species of kangaroo on a tiny island in the Southern Ocean. In Mexico beach clean-ups and fund raising for local children to attend school dovetailed seamlessly with sailboat restoration. On Mkhaya not only did I work with the Swazi people on conservation projects, we prepared meals, shared stories and danced together. It's a beautiful way to live life, at home or abroad!
I've come back to Northern Idaho, stitching together a free spirited existence where writing is integral. Currently I'm mining my empirical backlog; there are some good stories in the archives, and a good story never goes out of style.
My Home at Mkhaya
On the Move
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