From Zambezi Roots to Okonjima Head Guide: Martin’s Journey
How Curiosity & Passion Forged a Leader
How curiosity, mentorship and a deep connection to the land shaped a leader of Okonjima’s guiding team
When Martin Njekwa speaks about Okonjima, it’s not with the cool distance of a field guide’s script, it’s with the affection of someone who has watched the landscape change and the patience of someone who knows animals as his neighbours.
Martin arrived at Okonjima in 2012, not as a guide but as a groundsman working at Okonjima’s Villa. His leaders and peers quickly identified his unique skills in reading the natural world, and he was given the opportunity to train and shadow the trackers and guides who would shape his journey. Today, he is Head Guide at Okonjima. A leader who has steered vehicles through leopard charges and black mamba crossings, his guests gripping seats while his steady hand turned danger into story. “I consider myself a middleman,” he says, “between the guests and the land”. His path there began long before a uniform or a guide’s radio: it began with fishhooks, firewood, and a hunger to learn.
Roots in the Zambezi: learning to live with the land
Martin grew up in the Zambezi (Caprivi) region, where the Zambezi River shaped daily life. “We used to go and fish,” he recalls with a smile, remembering how close encounters with hippos and crocodiles were commonplace, but he quickly learned to respect them. That early life, he says, gave him an “intrinsic connectedness to nature.” It wasn’t formal training that made him a naturalist; it was growing up inside the environment, learning how land and people interact at a very practical level. That foundation also taught him an important lesson about conflict and perspective: when wildlife and people clash in a riverside community, blame is complicated. “If a crocodile takes someone, who do you blame?” he asked. This recognition of nuance shows through his work today.
The long way round: kitchens, a day visitor guide and a chance call
Martin’s early working life took him far from guiding. He worked as a groundsman and in the kitchen at Frans Indongo Lodge. He was noticed by a manager named Florian, who saw “the potential of me becoming a guide.” Florian lent him wildlife field guide books and encouraged him to learn. A terrible fire closed the lodge down and changed everything; Martin moved on to other opportunities, including practical hospitality training in Swakopmund and even appearing in a filmed project that stars Angelina Jolie, Beyond Borders.
His next chapter was at REST (The Rare and Endangered Species Trust), where his work guiding school groups deepened his passion for wildlife education. It was there that Martin’s kindness, honesty, and calm spirit left an impression on those around him, qualities that always spoke louder than ambition. Through these connections, he met the Okonjima family, who immediately recognised those rare traits. Andre Rousseau (AJ), then leading Okonjima’s Environmental Education Programme, later called him about a potential position at Okonjima, a call that would change the course of Martin’s life.
Arriving at Okonjima: groundsman, tracker and then guide
When Martin first came to Okonjima, he accepted work as a Head Groundsman at the Okonjima African Villa. Because another Martin was already part of the team, he became known affectionately as “Martin Villa,” later shortened to “MV”, a badge of familiarity that still follows him today. Martin’s dedication, quiet discipline, and natural attentiveness did not go unnoticed, and he was soon invited to join the cheetah team as a tracker. At the time, cheetah tracking remained a vital part of AfriCat’s rehabilitation programme and this became a perfect classroom for Martin as it kept him outdoors and closer to the animals, a natural fit.
His first formal guiding opportunities first came through shadowing Clive Johnson and later under the training of Helen Newmarch. Within eight months of joining the tracking team, he was promoted to a guiding role. “I was so happy,” Martin says; after years of supporting the work in other roles, he had the opportunity to lead guests on drives and to interpret what they were seeing.
From guide to head guide: training, leadership and a careful approach to mentoring
Martin’s ascent through the guiding ranks was nothing short of meteoric. Those who worked beside him watched in awe as he rose from guiding at the Villa to commanding the wild expanses of the Luxury Bush Camp. Between 2017 and 2018, he honed his leadership skills, first under the steady hand of Previous Tsivunga, and later under the sharp eye of then head guide Rohan van Wyk. Previous refined his understanding of nature, deepening his appreciation of detail and mastering the art of guiding. Rohan impressed upon him that guiding extends beyond just reading tracks and naming birds, but highlighted other skills such as staying alert to road conditions, keeping guests safe, remaining vigilant for any signs of poaching activity, and so much more. After six transformative years under their tutelage, Martin emerged as Head Guide of Okonjima, a mantle he wears with quiet strength and the poise of one deeply rooted in the land.
As head guide, his job is many things at once: planning daily guiding allocation and rosters, coordinating with front-of-house for VIPs, solving logistical issues, guiding regularly himself, and mentoring junior guides. He takes mentoring seriously. Rather than letting every new guide shadow indiscriminately, Martin prefers a focused approach: “If everyone joins everyone, they get mixed-up information,” he explains. Instead, he assigns specific mentors so junior guides learn from a consistent source and can verify information from multiple references before presenting it to guests.
This approach protects both the guest experience and the professional integrity of the guiding team, and it’s also practical management. “If you are not doing it properly, you are putting the company at risk,” he says.
A guide as educator and citizen scientist
Martin describes guides as “intermediaries”; people who bridge guests and the natural world. That interpretation work is at the heart of AfriCat and Okonjima’s mission: it’s not enough to show a leopard; a guide must help people understand the ecosystem, to see how species, seasons and management fit together.
Guides at Okonjima also collect data. Martin explains that guides sometimes don’t realise they’re contributing to research until quarterly reports get shared: guest sightings, notes and observations feed into datasets used by researchers. He also actively involves guests in this work, asking them to check views through binoculars and report anything they see and in that way, the visitors also become part of the research process. In Martin’s words, that dual role of interpreter and data collector is central to the reserve’s work.
Philosophy in practice: connecting people to place
Of all Martin’s gifts, the one that defines him most is his quiet genius for reading his guests. Where others rely on training or time, he relies on instinct. Within moments, he can tell whether his guests seek stillness or laughter; whether they are wide-eyed newcomers or world travellers who have seen the great cats of Africa from countless vantage points. His guiding shifts effortlessly through the rhythm of his words, the tone of his storytelling, even the silence he allows, all tuned to the hearts before him.
This deep sensitivity forms the essence of his philosophy: true conservation begins with connection. For Martin, guiding is not about showing wildlife but about helping guests belong and to feel, if only for a while, as though the land recognises them in return. He makes sure to craft his narratives like a pathway, either as simple, steady explanations or more complex, technical details, depending on who sits beside him. Beneath every story lies the same purpose: to draw people closer to nature, until they no longer watch it from afar but feel themselves woven into it.
Memorable moments: leopards up close and a black mamba on the road
Two of Martin’s strongest stories bring this philosophy to life.
The first is a dramatic leopard encounter in which a female, Naya, approached the vehicle at speed. Martin recalls the suddenness of it: the animal’s tail went up, she charged, and he “banged the door” and then began reversing with deliberate speed until the car reached the road and safety. In the aftermath, the guests who had been with him thanked Martin; the raw experience had been turned into a teachable moment about leopard behaviour and safe approaches.
The second moment involved a black mamba that crossed the road while his guests watched. The snake disappeared into a hole, then reappeared dangerously close to the vehicle. Martin reversed at speed to avoid a collision and later explained the event to colleagues and guests. These are the moments that stay with a guide: the adrenaline, the rapid decision-making, and the chance to translate danger into learning.
Stewardship, habitat restoration and a long view
Martin is also proud of the land-management work he’s witnessed. He points to Okonjima’s habitat restoration projects, like the debushing, which are helping grass return to areas that had become encroached with shrubs. “When I drive through those areas, I can remember how it used to be,” he says. Restoring habitat is expensive, he adds, but essential for rebuilding the ecosystem towards something closer to historic open plains.
Why he does it: responsibility, teaching, and connection
At the heart of Martin’s work lies a simple conviction: that knowledge only has value when it is shared. He feels a responsibility to “take care” of the land, of the animals, and of the people who come to experience them and to speak up when practices fall short. Guiding, for him, is the perfect bridge between personal history and professional mission. It allows him to transform traditional knowledge and lived experience into something practical, something guests and communities alike can understand and apply. In every safari, he finds opportunities to spark curiosity, to plant seeds of respect, and to show that conservation is not the work of scientists alone but the shared task of all who touch the land.
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