During the years that Marinus was moving game between emerging parks in South Africa in the early 2000s, he met an integral member of the Wildlife Ranching SA team: Ida Steenekamp, who would later become Mrs Smith. A surprise marriage on a famous mountain at Phinda Private Game Reserve convinced her to say, “I do.”

Ida joined Marinus, and the company truly began to take flight. Together, they established the dynamic brand that grew and evolved from successful game capture and conservation programmes to versatile safari tourism in the Greater Kruger.