Course Life
28-Day Kruger National Park Field Guide Course in South Africa

Your adventure starts on arrival at the airport. You are transferred to the wilderness camp by road and arriving at the camp you are met by the camp staff. Your weeks on course will be filled by bush walks, game drives, night drives, and a sleep out in the wilderness and daily lectures on the various topics as required by the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa. Your day starts with a cup of coffee or tea, rusks and fruit and then you are off exploring the wild on foot or in a vehicle. Returning to camp you are greeted by the flavor of a freshly prepared brunch. Finished eating, you start with the lecture of the day and then a late afternoon snack and then a game drive or spend time relaxing in the lounge or work independently on one of the projects provided by the trainers. These projects help you attain more knowledge on mammals, trees and birds and prepare you for your practical assessment.

The first week or two the trainers will be pointing out everything interesting - from fungi growing on grass to elephants pushing over trees - and will teach you about it all as you go along. The second half of the course they will continue this, but you as students will take over a lot of the talking during both walks and drives. This helps you prepare for your practical assessment which you will do in the final week, together with a theoretical exam on the modules covered during the lectures.

During the course, you will spend a full day in the Kruger National Park with your trainer and experience a day in the life of a qualified field guide. A three-day Wilderness First Aid Course, specially adapted to deal with medical situations in the bush is also part of the Field Guide Course. Our guest lecturer, Jason, offers and practical short course on reptiles and snakes found in the Kruger National Park.

As there is so much to learn, the course does take a lot of your time during the day. Time after dinner is entirely yours and can be spent at our bush bar, playing games in the lounge or chatting with friends though you might want to opt for an early night as another exciting day will be waiting.