{"id":65634,"date":"2017-05-08T15:07:17","date_gmt":"2017-05-08T14:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/actualites\/2017\/05\/08\/each-of-my-journeys-has-had-its-moment-of-grace\/"},"modified":"2017-05-08T15:07:17","modified_gmt":"2017-05-08T14:07:17","slug":"each-of-my-journeys-has-had-its-moment-of-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/news\/2017\/05\/08\/each-of-my-journeys-has-had-its-moment-of-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Each of my journeys has had its moment of grace"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Olivier Deregnaucourt talks about his journeys with \u00c9tendues Sauvages, his eyes light up, a smile crosses his lips, and his voice fills with enthusiasm. \u201cThere are things one can regret in a lifetime. Never these journeys to Africa. It’s a wonderful dream that stays in the heart forever.<\/em>\u201d Once back in Paris \u2014 and on the television sets where he works as a technician \u2014 Olivier has his own magic recipe for bringing his journeys back to life. He puts on his headphones and plays the playlists he listened to there, in the Okavango, in Rwanda, in Madagascar, or in Zimbabwe. \u201cWith my headphones on, I go back and fall right into my African dream<\/em>,\u201d Olivier continues. Let’s follow him\u2026<\/p>\n

Sharing such a moment creates an unbreakable bond<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Rwanda, he spent a few nights at the hotel where the famous primatologist Dian Fossey once lived \u2014 the woman who inspired the film Gorillas in the Mist<\/em>. He likely felt the same emotions she once did, climbing through the rainforest to reach the gorilla sanctuary. \u201cWhen I got up there, I first saw the small head of a young gorilla, then his brother. I was lost in wonder when the dominant male arrived<\/em>,\u201d he recalls. A 250-kilo silverback\u2026 yet, according to Olivier, remarkably gentle. \u201cHe stood right in front of me, four metres away. And I had the feeling he was trying to speak to me, the way you’d speak to a guest in your living room<\/em>.\u201d Perhaps the high point of the trip. A \u201cmoment of grace<\/em>\u201d in any case, as Olivier likes to call it. \u201cMy sixteen-year-old son was by my side\u2026 Sharing such a moment creates an unbreakable bond.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

In Zimbabwe, encountering the elephants: \u201cit was Laurent, at \u00c9tendues Sauvages, who made me want to go to Hwange National Park. He told me it was one of the few places left in the world, along with Botswana, where large elephant herds still existed<\/em>,\u201d Olivier explains. Years later, he still speaks of it with genuine excitement in his voice. He remembers the shock he felt when, surrounded by hundreds of elephants, he suddenly realised these creatures experienced emotions just as intense as our own. \u201cYou only have to look them in the eye to understand their sensitivity and intelligence. And when the matriarch steps forward, you immediately know who’s in charge!<\/em>\u201d Seven metres from a rhino in Zimbabwe, Olivier recalls other unforgettable moments. Like the day when, near Victoria Falls, accompanied by an English guide who knew the park inside out, he found himself seven metres from a rhino. \u201cInconceivable if I had gone with the crowds of tourists you see near Victoria Falls<\/em>.\u201d Taking the roads less travelled, even close to a tourist spot, can sometimes lead to extraordinary scenes. Olivier certainly won’t say otherwise. \u201cI’m still grateful to Laurent for convincing me to go to Lake Kariba. I wasn’t keen at first\u2026 and yet I witnessed one of the most extraordinary scenes of my life there, at Matusadona.<\/em>\u201d It was the rare sight of a lioness leaping onto a buffalo. Another moment of grace\u2026 The most beautiful landscape in the world is right there, Olivier could go on for hours\u2026 And one could listen to him for hours!<\/p>\n

Isn’t the story of the seven whales chasing a female off the coast of Madagascar wonderful? Or that of the villagers in Rwanda who all celebrated Olivier to thank him for sharing a meal with one of them. Or that of the Cessna pilot, met during a flight transfer, who one day landed in the Okavango Delta and decided never to leave again. Olivier adds: \u201cI understand him, it’s the most beautiful landscape in the world. Even Yann Arthus-Bertrand or Nicolas Hulot, who have seen plenty, agree on that!<\/em>\u201d It’s only a small step from there to imagining Olivier settling in Africa one day\u2026<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he fully intends to keep travelling. \u201cAlways with \u00c9tendues Sauvages. Thanks to them, each of my journeys has had its moment of grace<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conversation with Karine Welter, for exp\u00e9rience Magazine #07, March 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Olivier Deregnaucourt talks about his journeys with \u00c9tendues Sauvages, his eyes light up, a smile crosses his lips, and his voice fills with enthusiasm. \u201cThere are things one can regret in a lifetime. Never these journeys to Africa. It’s a wonderful dream that stays in the heart forever.\u201d Once back in Paris \u2014 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":64651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-rwanda","category-zimbabwe"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etendues-sauvages.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}