Putting Your Trust (and Life) in a Stranger’s Hands – 3 Lessons Learned

Would you place your trust in a stranger’s hands?  What if the trust involves what you perceive to be a very dangerous situation, and one that would also involve your family?  If you are like me, the answer is a swift and resounding “no!” to the questions above.  As someone who has been occasionally referred to as a Type A personality, this type of trust doesn’t come easy to me, but this is exactly what I faced recently.

Last month I had the very fortunate opportunity to travel to South Africa on vacation with my family.  Cape Town was spectacular, but definitely the highlight of our trip was our safari at Thornybush Game Reserve.  We were looking forward to seeing Africa’s Big Five (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and cape buffalo), along with many other wild animals in a very natural environment.  On the first day we were introduced to our ranger, who we came to know as Ranger Ross.  In very short order we were impressed with Ross’ knowledge of the park and its creatures, and Ross gave us tremendous information on how the animals interacted with each other and the ecosystem.  Most importantly, he provided us the rules we had to follow, and told us how the animals would behave around the vehicles our family would be travelling in.  I felt fully confident that we would be prepared for any wild encounter.  Except that it turns out I wasn’t.

The thing is, the trucks you are riding in do not have any covering that reaches above your waist.  You could literally reach down and touch a lion…..or a lion could reach up and touch you.  On our second day we happened upon an encounter that tested my natural limits of trust.  We were witnessing in real time a pride of lions getting ready to ambush a herd of cape buffalo.  We were very close to the herd of buffalo….not more than 15 feet away from a herd of 150 huge animals.  As we witnessed the lions stalking the herd (the herd was oblivious), I kept asking Ross if we were safe.  I had the lions to worry about, but I was primarily concerned with a stampede of panicked buffalo.  Ross told us we would be safe and that we were about to witness a truly incredible event that very few people would ever get to see (we could have left at this point but we decided to place our trust in him).  As it turns out, the lions showed themselves too early, and the herd of buffalo reacted aggressively and chased the lions away.  We were spared the memory of witnessing a kill, and also saw how the buffalo banded together to defeat a predator (there is probably a good post there regarding teamwork).

So what did I learn from Ranger Ross?

1. I learned to trust someone who was clearly an expert. Ross demonstrated over and over how skilled and knowledgeable he was, and by the time we got to a situation where I really needed to trust him, I was able to do so based on the credibility he had built with us.  I had to defer my natural tendency to try to control the situation, and allow the person with the most skill and knowledge to have control.
2. The easy thing would have been to leave the spot where we felt uncomfortable. By giving our trust to Ross, we were able to experience (at very close proximity) something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
3. For the rest of the safari, I was able to fully enjoy the adventures we were having, without having to worry about what needed to be done every step of the way. Giving trust (and control) over to Ross allowed me to relax and focus on the big picture, without having to worry about all of the details.  This was Ross’ job, and he was able to focus on delivering a great experience for all of us, and not have to worry about the crazy guy in the back of the truck.

We all came back from South Africa with some amazing memories that will be with us forever.  I also came back a little wiser regarding the importance of placing trust with an expert, and experiencing the benefits of giving up control.

Thanks Ranger Ross for the experience of a lifetime, and a great life lesson along the way!

P.S. That is Ross on the far left, in front of our (very open) safari truck.