MY YEAR OF LIVING

DANGERAARON GEKOSKI WAS A SUCCESSFUL, BORED OUSLY AND FRUSTRATED BUSINESSMAN. NOT ANY MORE. HE TELLS MEN’S HEALTH HOW HE GOT OUT OF THE OFFICE AND INTO THE WILD

ANSWERING THE CALL Navy SEALs on a training exercise near BY AARON GEKOSKI PHOTOGRAPHS AARON GEKOSKI Coronado, AND GEMMA CAITLIN California.

122 MAY 2012 MAY 2012 123 PIC TO FOLLOW AS

IPUKIN GFINISHE ON THE CONVULSING SHARK THAT LAY DYING ON TOPD OF ME, I HAD A FLASHBACK – ONE THAT SHOWED MY PREVIOUS LIFE.

Just a few months earlier I ran flat in Brixton, we formed rela- person I was becoming, or the I’d always been seduced by the a successful modelling agency tionships with models and clients, world I’d subjected myself to. The idea of disappearing into the bush in London. I had a designer flat, and the business kept getting bet- people in my life were commodi- for a while and leading the simple drove a late-model Mercedes and ter and better. It was easy money ties, stepping-stones on a path to life. I would make fires (by rub- ate in Michelin-star restaurants. and we got to look at beautiful financial gain. As the week drew to bing sticks together of course), Fast forward to the present, women all day. a close, I’d escape to blind drunk- hunt and skin my catch for dinner and here I was: lying in a pool During the next few years enness for two nights, before before sleeping under the stars. of guts, in a tiny rowing boat in we immersed ourselves in the repeating the cycle of discontent Life would be free of materialism, the middle of the Mozambican industry. We hit London’s best at 9am on Monday morning. free of whining models, free of channel, filming a shark’s last nightclubs and mingled at exclu- Other than partying, I’d lose commitment. Free. moments. There wasn’t a long- sive model-only parties. Clients myself in wildlife documenta- And then one day I did it. I told legged model or sushi bar in sight. would fly us – replete with a gag- ries and films on great adventur- Rich I wanted out of the business, Yet I had never been happier. gle of girls – to hang out on private ers. These people didn’t exist: bought a backpack and booked It hadn’t always been like this. yachts. I was a red-blooded male they lived. There had to be more a three-month tour of Asia. It Until that point I’d led a fairly in his mid-20s with a permanent than this modelling microcosm. wasn’t quite McCandless sta- normal existence: school, univer- erection. I kept wanting to pack up and tus, but it was a start. I had saved sity, some overseas travel, a job in As the agency grew, so did the leave without saying a word. I enough money to last a year or marketing and then I starting my responsibilities. Despite living longed to emulate Christopher two, whilst I figured out what own business. During my early every teenage boy’s dream, I hated McCandless from Into The Wild. to do with my life. 20s, I worked for the Men’s Health being a “grown-up”. There were UK edition. See the subscription mortgage payments, bills, peoples’ advert in this month’s issue? I incompetencies, paperwork and wrote lots of these for the London- emails – so many damn emails. based brother magazine. My phone rang relentlessly: 30, In a bid to earn money for 40, 50 times a day. Aside from a WHATJUNCTURE ARE THE BIGGEST OBSTACLES ONE TO CHANGING someone else’s hard work (whilst quick trip to the gym at lunch- YOUR LIFE? hopefully getting laid in the pro- time to frantically throw around cess), I started TIME: I worked damn hard, and using ‘time’ as an excuse to not shake some weights, I couldn’t escape. It things up was an easy one. I was lucky though; there were no wife, or kids a modelling became di!cult to breathe. to consider. If I had, perhaps I would have found the time (weekends and agency with And then stress took hold. I evenings), to learn a new skill. If you’re deadly serious about pursuing a my best friend found it hard to sleep, worrying new career, could you go part time whilst you chase other options? You will ANSWERING have to make some cut backs, but believe me, it’s a small price to pay for a THE CALL from school, about clients and employees. My happier, more fulfilling life. Navy SEALs Rich. Much to hair started receding, leading to on a training MONEY: I had to make some sacrifices so I could chase endangered exercise near everyone’s sur- obsessive hairline examinations. wildlife around the world, but they weren’t important ones. Now, I shop Coronado, prise, our half- Whilst I never had a full-blown at Pick n Pay rather than Woolworths. My flat’s a little cosier and more California. modestly decorated than my London pad. And I drive a clapped out 1975 assed agency panic attack, I felt perpetually yellow Mercedes, rather than a souped-up one. It’s got way more character quickly snow- close to the edge. As a couple of though. Financial cutbacks can be part of the fun. balled, and pretenders, life had been fun; I CONFIDENCE: It was scary leaving behind my stable and regular income, we became an had enjoyed setting up the busi- along with the quality of life I’d become accustomed to. Many people speak overnight suc- of changing career paths, but few ever do it. I just asked myself, “what’s the ness and watching it grow. But real worst that can happen?” The modelling industry wasn’t going anywhere. cess. Based out life? That was harder to deal with. Pose yourself the same question. It’s better than muttering those two of our shared Worst of all, I didn’t like the

124 MAY 2012 MAY 2012 125 remote villages where people still turise). But more than anything, alive. No longer did I dread getting lived the same way they had for I learned how much trouble our up every day. Now this was living. thousands of years. We formed wildlife is in. Flagship species such as the close relationships with the local I started investigating other black rhino, giant panda and fishermen and became integrated wildlife crises and discovered Sumatran tiger dominate the into their families. We witnessed it’s not just sharks that are killed precious column inches dedi- not just the sharks’ struggle for sur- every day; but rhinos who are cated to animal conservation. Yet vival, but also the community’s. drugged, before being dehorned the Black-faced Honeycreeper, With fish stocks diminishing, and left to bleed to death; or tigers, Madeiran large white butterfly, and in order to make ends meet, slain for nothing but their paws; or Tecopa pupfish and Holdridge’s local fishermen have started to manta rays hacked up for their gill toad are all animals that have catch sharks. Their fins are then rakers, finger-like projections that slipped away with little more than exported to Asia to create a gelat- help them retain food. After drugs a croak. inous broth, shark fin soup. In and human tra!cking, the trade Most people don’t know it, Thailand, in its inimitable way, financial terms, a day’s shark catch in endangered wildlife is now the but turtles, tortoises and terra- was a debauched gateway into is equal to two-month’s working third largest criminal industry in pins, a group known as cheloni- the world of travel. It was there in a local lodge. It’s hard to blame the world. The sheer volume of ans, are in serious trouble. Some that I became hooked on div- the local fishermen: the land here tragic cases hurt my head. I was scientists believe they are now ing. Despite being brought up in a is infertile, making it di!cult to desperate to share my findings, so the most threatened vertebrates country renowned for its crappy grow crops. The ocean is both began writing and submitting arti- on earth. Around the world, they beaches, the ocean has always their supermarket and bank. cles to magazines. To my surprise, are hunted for a surprising vari- been a source of fascination. I’m Filming, conducted in the sti- editors were hugely supportive ety of purposes: in Mexico their Tmesmerised by its sheer power, fling heat of Mozambique’s sum- and wanted more. fat is a major ingredient in cos- unpredictability and everything it mer, was exhausting. The sun, sea Chris and I decided to go on a metics; in China their body parts contains - 50-ton whales, fish that and sand relentlessly battered 4 000km road trip to Namibia’s are used in traditional medicine can change sex and the planet’s our bodies and equipment. Film- Skeleton Coast, on an undercover and in Madagascar they are ille- most finely honed predators. ing thrashing sharks caught on mission to report on their annual gally exported by their shell-load I made the decision to dive long-lines, as they fought for their seal cull. Every year, up to 85 000 for the exotic pet trade. One of into the world of underwater lives, was dangerous work. On one seals are clubbed to death here for Madagascar’s five endemic spe- filmmaking. What cooler way to occasion I was recording under- their pelts and penises. cies of tortoise, the Ploughshare, make ends meet than shooting water as the shark hunters hauled Any journalists caught in can fetch up to R300 000 on the sharks in exotic locations around in their nets from around me. My Namibia, conservation group black market. With such large the world? Plus, I’d dealt with regulator, then my fins and BCD Sea Shepherd warned, would be sums of money involved, a tortoise far more dangerous predators in became entangled in a massive “beaten up and thrown into one of mafia has evolved in Madagascar. my agency days. Friends at home wall of fishing line that quickly the worst prisons in all of Africa.” These armed gangs are sweeping thought I’d lost the plot (“you’re engulfed me. I nearly ended up in Last year, just that had happened. the country and raiding villages of from Leamington-bloody-Spa, serious trouble. On arrival, the desert air was thick tortoises, which are then shipped slap bang in the middle of Eng- In the end, after digging deep with tension. The government to Asia. land, what the hell do you know into our personal reserves (and had deployed their Special Forces Chris and I spent a fortnight about the ocean?”). But I ignored shallow pockets), Shiver was a to guard the culling site; police traversing Madagascar’s Spiny them, researched relevant courses resounding success. Still shown searched our car on a number of Forest, in a bid to release 125 con- and came across the Wildlife Film regularly on Mozambican televi- occasions. Luckily all film and fiscated radiated tortoises back Academy, based in the Kruger sion, the film has been instrumen- photographic gear had been hid- into the wild. Madagascar, with National Park. tal in the fight to get whale sharks den at a local hotel. One evening all its endemism, captivated me. After film school, still being wet and manta rays protected in we were pursued through the des- Through fields of cacti, along behind the ears, I headed to Tofo, Mozambican waters. Evidence we ert at high speed by a truckload of every pitted red road, lay species Mozambique in a bid to become found of Methylmercury content seal clubbers. In the end, our posi- of plants and animals that exist FIELD WORK Captain Steve at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Even in high-tech the marine version of David Atten- in shark meat stopped the local tion in Namibia became untenable nowhere else on earth: jutting battle, human decision making is critical. borough. The timing couldn’t communities from eating them and we drove 17 straight hours octopus trees and stout baobabs, have been better. Dave Char- and poisoning their families. home, barely stopping en route. the gira"e-necked weevil and Par- ley and Chris Scar"e, two British These successes felt damn This trip was an uncomfortable son’s chameleon. The contrast filmmakers, were about to com- good – I was actually making a dif- reminder of the dangers involved to London couldn’t have been mence shooting a documentary on ference. It had been years since I’d in working on sensitive subjects in starker. Here, I could breathe. Mozambique’s shark finning crisis, done any learning and I thrived foreign climates. The mass slaugh- We visited tortoise-poaching NAVIGATE OUT OF HAIRY SITUATIONS Shiver. We met, got on and I volun- on it: the filming, life in the bush, ter of animals usually involves hotspots and found hundreds of OFFICIOUS OFFICIALS ANGRY LOCALS teered to work on the film. the ocean, Africa, and photog- mass sums of money, along with dumped shells. We interviewed a Uniforms can do funny things to people. Some battles You’re hungry and a camera-clad tourist shouts at you The next year was the most fas- raphy in particular – I was like a criminal fractions and unscrupu- poacher outside of his dilapidated are lost, but with the right approach, most can be won. not to eat an animal because it’s endangered. Telling PIC TO When it comes to dealing with the police, customs or people how to live their lives usually goes down like cinating period of my life. Despite sponge, desperate to take in more lous governments. But we clearly home. He was poor, he explained government officials I’m always courteous and try to a cup of cold vomit. How would you feel if someone more protests from friends at of this foreign world. I’d already never learnt our lesson, so Chris to us; there were few ways for him FOLLOW never raise my voice. Learning a few lines of the local came to your home and told you how to behave? Plus, home (“when are you going to become less precious, learned how and I made arrangements to track to make a living. He would sell dialect helps too; delivering bumbling banter has got some people have more pressing matters to contend me out of a few sticky situations. In rural Africa, I never with than the plight of the lesser-spotted Patagonian come back to real life?”), Mozam- to change a tyre and even kicked Madagascar’s “tortoise mafia” large tortoises, some over 40 years travel without a couple of cans of Coke in the car. It porcupine. Show an interest in people: listen to their bique was, to me, more real than my extensive three-step skin care through the country’s sacred for- of age, to his mother for less than can be sweaty, poorly paid work being a policeman, so stories, ask to meet their families. Too often locals are anywhere on earth. We filmed in regime (exfoliate, cleanse, mois- ests. It was dangerous, but we felt R7. She would then cut them up refreshments are always appreciated. patronised and treated dismissively by tourists.

126 MAY 2012 MAY 2012 127 ANSWERING THE CALL Navy SEALs on a training exercise near Coronado, California. DANGEROUS ANIMALS When it comes to wildlife, knowledge is power. Ask locals about their most dangerous animals and how to deal with them. I’ve already learned to: stand my ground and shout at a charging lion, avoid a and sell them at the local market. turtles are eaten on a single day. HEADER PLEASE and out of shape, which in turn can down the poachers. – some formed over thousands of HEADER PLEASE stampeding rhino by climbing Like Mozambique’s shark hunt- I’ve got used to picking up at the During the festival Kali Puja, lead to a negative mindset. Though Like the guys at the IAPF, I have years – are major drivers behind Over the next year, there are more a tree and eyeball and exhale ers, these were not wicked animal drop of a hat and living out of a many of Dhaka’s Hindu darkness occasionally rears its met some truly inspirational peo- these trades. Hunger and igno- intense jobs lined up. I am cur- hard at an onrushing shark. Also, sweat the small things. slayers, but hungry people, doing bag, so have shed most of my per- community consume turtle meat - sticky head, I shouldn’t complain. ple over the past couple of years rance play their parts too. Sadly, rently working on a piece about In Mozambique, a worm embed- all they could to survive. sonal possessions. Spending time much in the same way that we eat I’m one of the lucky ones. who dedicate their lives to conserv- whilst there’s a demand for sub- lion hunting, one of my most ded itself in my toe and laid Despite lashings of Malagasy in rural communities has shown turkey at Christmas. What angers Discomfort has become an all ing the planet. The issues I report stances like rhino horn, the greedy controversial yet. After that, I’ll eggs. Yet after a little magic paste, applied to the wound by rum, we soberly made our way to me how little we need to get by. conservationists is the way in too familiar emotion. For a story on, however, are rarely cases of and ruthless will continue to fulfill face the largest human/elephant a local friend, it healed a treat. Bangladesh to report on a reli- Life now fits into a rucksack and which the animals are killed. in Zimbabwe I trained as an anti- good versus evil, or right versus it. Though in my experience, these conflict in the world. Then, who To this day, I still don’t know gious festival where up to 100 000 camera bag. At Dhaka’s Tanti Market, where poaching ranger. The International wrong. Tradition and superstitions people are often in the minority. knows? I feel incredibly fortunate what was in it. the majority of killings take place, Anti Poaching Foundation (IAPF) to have seen so much, so young. turtles are butchered with crude educates, recruits and deploys rang- Though as the golfer Gary Player blades. Their bodies are scooped ers throughout Africa. Its founder, once remarked, “The more I prac- be there to spend more time with out of their shells and hacked to Damien Mander, is a former sniper, tice, the luckier I get.” them, rather than being a source pieces, before being sold to cus- who served in the Australian mili- Although I miss family and of worry? JUNCTURE TWO tomers. I saw legs, detached from tary. The IAPF are dedicated to JUNCTURE THREE friends dearly, when I visit, slot- Occasionally, as I pick myself I NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT… their bodies, trying to escape from protecting critically endangered START YOUR OWN ADVENTURE ting in can be di!cult. Most have up after a di!cult day, I ponder MY MACBOOK. What would I do without this silver God? It’s my edit plastic bags. I saw heads, still blink- species, such as the black rhino. In There are plenty of ways to help the organisations that are trying to save been incredibly supportive, but how things could have turned suite, DVD player, stereo, photo processor, notebook and means Africa’s wildlife. Who knows, you may have some fun in the process. of communication with family, friends and editors. I adore it. ing, kicked into the gutter. I went 1960 there were 100 000 black rhi- there are still the doubters. Some- out, had I stayed in London. Per- into autopilot, capturing the scene nos in Africa. Today, less than 4 000 THE IAPF NEED HARDY VOLUNTEERS. You can assist the rangers times I even doubt myself; if haps I’d have bought a couple of MY CANON 40D. This poor old camera has taken a battering, but has through a lens; I’d deal with the fall- remain. Rhino horn, despite pos- and impart your own knowledge. You’ll stay in the bush surrounded by the what I want from life can change houses by now. I may even have a survived everything I’ve thrown at it. I really should upgrade but a) I can’t big five, and get an unparalleled insight into life as an anti-poaching ranger. afford to and b) I’ve grown kind of fond of it. out later. Graphic images perme- sessing little more than keratin, is The money generated by this initiative provides them with much-needed so quickly, who’s to say it won’t wife, baby and a dog called Rover. A DONGLE. Place a local sim card into this stick of plasticky loveliness ated my sleep for some time after. used to treat cancer in parts of Asia. resources to fight the poachers. Check out iapf.org. again? And then there’s the guilt. But then I would know less about and voila! The beach, rural communities, your car – they’re all transformed It’s an unusual line of work I joined the rangers on daily DON’T LISTEN TO THE DOUBTERS. Well-run aquariums, like the Two As I’m o" on this blinkered cru- myself, and the world I live in. into an office. In fact, I’m now in a beautiful remote lodge, 200 metres and not always easy on the psyche. marches and long distance runs, Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, inspire the conservationists of tomorrow. sade, my parents are approach- And life would certainly be less above the Zambezi about to email this piece to editor Jason. Along with processing the death trained in hand-to-hand com- Captive fish may have less room to swim, but at least they’re safe from ing retirement. Surely I should colourful. A LEATHERMAN. It may be stating the obvious, but they are an and gore, the uncertainty can be bat and was put through a gru- trawlers. You can even dive with ragged-tooth sharks: forget the teeth, essential part of any adventurer’s kit. I may not be the most practical guy, these are beautiful and placid creatures. Check out aquarium.co.za. unsettling; I never know where I’ll elling personal training regime, but these amazing contraptions have got me out of a few fixes. the Marine Megafauna Association work tirelessly to protect be the following week, let alone designed in the military. I stud- IN TOFO, FOR MORE INFORMATION on Aaron’s work, visit aarongekoski.com. Aaron A COUPLE OF BAR ONES. Great for a boost when your energy levels the giants of the ocean, such as whale sharks and manta rays. They always and Chris are looking for sponsors to help them raise awareness about drop. In Mozambique’s shark finning camps, we ate nothing but fish and where the next pay cheque’s com- ied the arts of tracking, camou- need volunteers to help with scientific research. Plus, you’ll get to do some Africa’s wildlife crises. You can see a video of them in action by visiting rice for weeks on end, day and night. Bar Ones kept me sane. ing from. The constant road trips to flage and concealment, and went of the best diving in the world. Check out marinemegafauna.org. mh.co.za/downtime/guy-wisdom/investigating-international-wildlife-crises. remote areas leave me feeling feral on patrols day and night, hunting

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