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Field Guide Training

What is a Field Guide?
Being a Field Guide is largely about guiding and interacting with people from all over the world, sharing information and interpreting the wildlife conservation sector, whilst keeping ethical practices in mind at all times. A Professional Field Guide also specialises in aspects like 4x4 driving, understanding animal behaviour and tracking, as well as studying the environment in order to grow the conservation sector. In many cases, Field Guides assist Game Rangers with their tasks, to help maintain natural environments and to provide additional support.

Why Choose a Career as a Field Guide?
Choosing a career as a field guide provides you with the perfect opportunity to trade a traditional nine-to-five for an “office with a view” in the African bush. Your hours will be flexible, and you will experience a lifestyle that is unlike anything corporate. If you have an interest in wildlife, you love exploration and adventure, and you want a career related to these passions, then pursuing a career as a field guide is the way to go.

Why train with GVI & Bushwise?
Between 2012 & 2018, our students’ results have been the highest compared to other long term training providers in the area. Over 90% of our students passed their FGASA level 1 exam, which is unprecedented in any industry. Our graduates are highly sought after by leading South African employers (Molo Molo, Londolozi and Senalala are but a few on the list), especially as we recently won the “Top Rated Internship Program” at the 2017 GoAbroad Awards.

Bushwise is now providing an industry first, by offering all FGASA Field Guide Course graduates who have completed their placement, a complimentary job recruitment benefit to help jumpstart their careers. Bushwise Recruitment provides candidates with the opportunity to be directly appointed to a permanent job in the industry as soon as they have completed their training, at one of the many partner lodges we have built and maintained a solid relationship with since 2006.

Our Course

GVI presents FGASA accredited programs on the Mahlahla campus at Bushwise Field Guides, in Limpopo, South Africa. The FGASA Professional Field Guide Course runs for 23 weeks, with an optional six month work placement, along with a job offer guarantee for South African students.

The course was created to develop students into highly skilled professionals in the area of field guiding, conservation, research, adventure tourism or lodge management, by providing a well-rounded, specialised education which focuses on the theoretical and practical aspects of wildlife conservation and guiding. The curriculum also includes practical application of subjects such as conservation, ecology, reserve management, geology and animal behaviour.