Olive Akello cuddles lions, plays with snakes

With a wide smile and open arms, Olive Akello welcomes a pacing baby Nivaan, a cub.

Like a baby clasps onto a mother’s bosom, the young lion jumps onto her chest with its front legs resting on her shoulders. It goes on to playfully nibble on her fingers as it rises and rests its paws on her hand.

As she stands up, Akello holds Nivaan like a mother kangaroo would, to provide warmth, affection and love.

Akello,  the chief wildlife handler at CTC Conservation Centre, says animals are ‘beautiful people, friends’ who she relates with on a daily basis.

CTC Conservation Centre is in Butambala, Mpigi about 21 kilometres from Kampala. The facility was started by Thomas Price with the belief that conservation should be commercially and financially sustainable. This is partly in the name; Conservation through Commercialisation, abbreviated CTC.

Establishing the facility is more like a dream come true for Price.

“Since childhood, I wanted to work with wildlife and establishing this project is mostly my passion more than a business,” he explains.

 And for Akello, connecting with wildlife is more than just a job. She finds all species of animals unique and beautiful. Like a mother, she says she had no favourite animal but has what she describes as a soul animal- the leopard, given its nature as an elusive, strong, confident, mysterious, persistent, wise and fascinating species of animal.

 “There is something special and unexplainable that a leopard does to my soul every time I see it,” she adds.

The start

Her fascinating journey with wild animals started at the age of four and a half years when she followed her grandparents to the garden.

 As the youngster played, a loud hiss caught her attention, so she searched for its origin and found a huge Gaboon Viper, a highly venomous species of snake.

It lay under a log covered in dry leaves. It was so heavy but brightly coloured with nice patterns. She quickly carried it up and asked her grandparents if she could play with it and they told her it was okay.

She still thinks they were not paying attention to him and didn’t realise what she was holding.

“I spent some time playing with the snake and placed it back under the log hoping to find it the next day,”  she recounts.

When she returned to the place where she had put the snake to rest, she didn’t find it. This broke her heart.

Crying, Akello asked her grandparents if they knew what happened to the snake and they told her an eagle had eaten it.  From that moment, she became more curious about what different animals feed on, and how they live in the wild. Her knowledge of animals has since improved.

She was raised in a homestead where she interacted with and fed rabbits, goats, cattle and chicken. The Gaboon viper was the first wild animal she interacted with in Alebtong, her home district in Northern Uganda.

The other highlight of her childhood was finding a bell’s hinge-back tortoise. The relationship that she built with some of the animals and the goose bumps she got whenever they were together are memories she cherishes.

Handling wild animals

Today, such interactions and the knowledge she has galvanised have shaped her career as a tourist guide and conservationist. She manages to handle what are otherwise fierce reptiles and wild animals because she understands their behavior.

There are more than 3,500 species of snakes worldwide. Uganda has slightly more than 100. When handling snakes, for example, she uses professional gloves, tongs, hooks, safety shoes and other required tools.

 Different species of snakes require special skills and knowledge when handling. Some are highly venomous, fast-moving and short-tempered. For example, Puff Adder, Black Mamba, Egyptian cobra and other species of snakes must be handled by an expert.

Taming  the wild

In her realm of work, the tour guide has successfully built mutual relationships with snakes, lions, hyenas, jackals, serval cats, and golden cats.

“Taming animals takes passion, patience, courage and willingness to learn the behaviour, diet and other important things about taming an animal, “she says adding “That way, you can be able to build a strong bond and a good relationship with the animal. Taming a wild animal is a delicate practice and lifetime commitment.”

Asked which animal has been the easiest to tame, she says a bell’s hinged tortoise Kinixys belliana. She was below 10 years when she found a tortoise eating flowers in the garden. 

She took it home and gave it vegetables, fruits and flowers. The two had a great friendship.  After a few years, she released it back into the wild because she felt like it was going to be happier living in its natural environment.

She has managed to gather so much knowledge about wildlife, reptiles and the like by reading books and watching films in line with her profession. She also attends different types of training to enhance her skill set.

Part of her work involves sensitising local communities on wildlife conservation as well as guiding tourists and helping them create great memories.

Taking care of the animals and protecting their environment was her childhood aspiration. She felt there was a need to do so when the bush where she released the bell’s hinged tortoise was set on fire by someone in her village.

It was a case of a cattle keeper burning old grass so that new ones could grow. The animal lover got to understand that more people need to be involved in conservation so she has been carrying out community sensitization, education and training in wildlife handling, identification, safe relocation and how best to co-exist with all the living things on earth because people are part of the environment and their lives depend on it.

Being a professional wildlife handler and tourist guide at the same time is a job she wouldn’t trade for anything else. She has always had great experiences with domestic and foreign tourists.

“Most tourists are very interesting to guide and a few are difficult to guide. But still, as a professional guide, you can manage them just fine,” she says.

Awarded

Her passion, experience and knowledge of the wildlife and tourism industry and the ability to give tourists an excellent experience resulted in her being recognised and awarded by the Uganda Tourism Association as the Most Outstanding Tourist Guide in 2019.

“It’s a feeling that no word can explain. I feel so honoured to be recognised as the most outstanding guide in 2019. That award made me believe more in myself, it made me more confident and it was one of the confirmations that hard work pays,” she elaborates.

The award boost her self-belief and confidence, making it easier for her to overcome work challenges and focus more on achieving her vision. Akello appreciates that challenges are part of life and how you handle them matters.

Wishlist

On her wish list  is to continue making a living through her passion and have a decent life. She would like to continue sensitising and educating the public to conserve, protect, love wildlife and nature.

“We are part of the environment and our lives depend on it,” she adds.

Akello would like to inspire and empower others to create and do great things. She would like to travel the world to create beautiful memories, and hopefully see various species of animals. She will write a book.

Her education and career life have been challenging and emotional journeys, but she is grateful and proud of what she has accomplished so far.

Education background

She sat for Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) at Lira Primary School in 2008 and attended Lords Meade Vocational College in 2012. She could not continue to A-Level because of financial constraints so she opted to pursue a certificate in Tourist Guiding and Driving at Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute, Jinja in 2013.

She did internship at Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in Murchison Falls National Park from May to August 2014.  Then, she was taken on as an assistant tour guide, wildlife handler, cashier and marketer at the Source of the Nile Recreation and Mini Zoo from  September 2014  to June 2019.

Akello  resigned her job hoping to get another that would allow her to concurrently work and study. She got sponsorship from Bird Uganda Safaris to attend a nature guides’ training. This was conducted by the Uganda Safari Guides Association at Lake Mburo National Park from  August 18  to  September 7,  2019 after which she enrolled for a diploma in Wildlife and  Tourism Management at the Uganda Wildlife Research and Training Institute in Kasese.

The school is strategically located in Queen Elizabeth National Park. In October 2019, she was taken on as a chief wildlife handler at CTC conservation centre. She continues to pursue her diploma, and hopes to join the university this year.

“I am excited about this next chapter,” she excitedly adds.

TO HER EMPLOYER

Thomas Price says Uganda has huge tourism potential. “Uganda should be among the richest countries in the world because she has everything any country can dream of. She has minerals, oil, perfect agricultural climate, Lake Victoria so you can irrigate the whole country from Karamoja to Kisoro. Uganda’s potential is not only in tourism but in each and every aspect of it, it’s just a matter of management,” Price observes.  He is yet to officially open CTC Conservation Centre to the world. “We hoped to open as early as last year but we were delayed by the Covid-19 situation. We hope to open some day at the end of the year,” he adds. For now, he spends time visiting Uganda.

His favourite place is Karamoja because of its scenery- the environment, the savannah, and the mountains. A place such as Kaabong is very beautiful with its little bridges and mountains. “I also like Kisoro and Kabale. They are very beautiful,” he adds.