'I helped track down wounded cheetah' A job in the Sun.

CALUM McFARLANE'S love affair with Africa started on a gap year. He now runs a safari camp in Kenya's Masai Mara with fiancee' Sophie. Calum, 30, of Taynuilt, Argyll, graduated with an honours degree in zoology and finally found a job suited to his skills.

CALUM first got a short-term contract with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds as a species protection officer.

It involved working out in the hills and glens trying to prevent the persecution of Scotland's endangered birds.

He spread his wings and applied for a job with an Edinburgh-based travel firm specialising in safaris and beach holidays to Africa.

Calum had been a teacher in Zimbabwe during his gap year and backpacked his way through Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.

He said: "My African experience proved to be time well spent as it played in my favour. I landed the job at Farside Africa and had five amazing years travelling there twice a year."

During that time, he met fiancee' Sophie Brown, a co-manager at Elephant Pepper Camp. The pair decided to take the plunge and head to Africa on a permanent basis last year and the adventure began.

Based in the Masai Mara, they run a luxury tented camp in a private conservation area.

Calum said: "There's a lot of day-to-day trouble-shooting, be it the local game rangers asking us to help track a wounded cheetah to inventing new ways to keep the baboons away from our food store."

Sophie is a qualified guide and Calum leads safaris full of tourists eager to spot their first lion in the wild.

Visit www.elepeppercamp.com