Running a camp in the middle of the wilderness can be challenging but with the dedicated EcoTraining staff, the challenges are turned into opportunities. Opportunities to ensure our students have an experience like no other. We start by describing a normal day’s routine at an EcoTraining camp:
- Wake up to drumbeats with tea, coffee and rusks
- Morning game drive or wilderness walk
- Coffee, tea and cordial morning activity
- A hearty brunch
- A theory lecture in the bush classroom
- Free time to relax, study, or partake in some “bush sports”
- A light lunch
- Afternoon game drive or wilderness walk ending with sundowners
- Dinner and informal discussions around the campfire about the sightings and interesting facts learnt during the day
This above-mentioned list can give you an idea of the amount of preparation that goes into meals alone. Our camp ladies, Keina and Maggie, wake up at the crack of dawn to begin preparing meals for our active hungry students. They work throughout the day to make sure the camp, tents and communal areas are clean for busy students.
Our instructors, back-ups and volunteers manage the day-to-day running of the camp. This includes collecting of firewood, general administration, refuse runs, setting up bush dinners or special events and town trips for ad-hoc purchases. Top of mind is ensuring our students are always safe and finally and most importantly, that their living environment is conducive to learning as much as they can while on course.
If you think about it, it is a big responsibility to provide this service to different cultures from all over the world, to ensure expectations are met and that our students take away from the course exactly what they came for. So far we think we have not done a bad job of it and so we acknowledge the people on the ground, the hardworking camp staff of EcoTraining.
Watch this video to get an inside view of a day in the life of Mashatu camp
