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Awareness through Wilderness . . .

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OVERVIEW

The 1 Year Professional Field Guide Course prepares students for active participation in the Wildlife Tourism industry, by developing competent guides, with well formulated career paths in the various specialist guiding fields.  This includes a good knowledge of the environment, communication and interpretative skill, entrepreneurial skill and most importantly, a positive and enthusiastic attitude.

The course has been structured to include the national skills programmes as required by the South African Tourism Act, to be recognized and registered as a legal nature guide. These skills programmes are trained using the syllabus of the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa.   

In addition to these skills programmes, we have added components such as Wildlife Tourism in SA and Practical Guiding Skills that address areas of essential knowledge that is not included in the skills programmes above. This includes various topics such as the Guiding Career Path, Areas of Specialization, General Knowledge for Guides, coping skills for working in lodge and other guiding environments, research and reference skills, correct use of equipment, guest etiquette, discussing controversial conservation topics with guests, vehicle skills and various life skills such as self confidence, leadership and communication.  

We focus not only on the mainstream field guiding skills needed for guiding at upmarket lodgeson Big 5 reserves, but also introduce you to new emerging niche eco-tourism markets such as Birding, Butterflying and Marine Guiding.Eco-tourists are by definition well educated and always looking for new and authentic experiences. While there are many guides available for the traditional Big 5 guided experience, there is a growing demand for guides with some specialised knowledge that can guide tourists "off the beaten track". We will give you the competitive advantage by providing you with training that can be used to later specialise in your chosen field of interest.