Hoedspruit sits where the lowveld runs up against the wall of the northern Drakensberg escarpment, a khaki-coloured town of game farmers, pilots, guides and researchers. To the east, the private reserves of the Greater Kruger roll away unfenced into the national park. To the west, the Blyde River has carved one of the largest green canyons on earth. In between, warthogs trot down the main road like they pay rates.
Ten minutes out of town, a small camp does work that outlasts any game drive. DAKTARI Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage brings rural children into the bush for a week at a time and teaches them why it is worth protecting, using the orphaned and unreleasable wild animals in its care as the best teachers there are.
