What is the difference between a Game Ranger and a Safari/Field Guide?
When I worked as a Safari Guide, we were often referred to in marketing material and brochures as ‘Rangers ‘. Although this has an undeniable ‘badass!’ appeal, it was technically incorrect.
What is a Game Ranger?
A Game Ranger is concerned mainly with the conservation of an area, behind-the-scenes maintenance of a wildlife sanctuary or protection of the natural resources held within. Sometimes they may take on an education role, but primarily, they are focused on keeping an area safe and protected, allowing biodiversity to thrive.
This means generally long and arduous days of patrolling the fence lines of reserves and territories of endangered species. Sleeping rough, eating quick, and working tough are the norm.
These are unsung heroes who serve and protect the wild spaces. This task is often thankless but necessary for the safety and security of these wilderness areas that house the most precious resources on our planet. It’s very own biodiversity.
Becoming a Game Ranger means hardcore training, military boot camp style, drills, patrols, fitness, combat and rifle training. It’s hard, and it’s gruelling. The dropout rate is high, but so are the rewards. These rangers are on the front line in the fight against a war against the extinction of species, and a war it is.
What is a Safari/Field Guide?
A Safari or Field Guide is something else entirely. They are the bridge between that wilderness, being protected, and the guests who want to experience it before it might be too late.
They guide and enhance the experience so that when that guest goes home, they are changed, they are more. They now know that we are all a part of this vast ecosystem, with everything working in an endless balancing cycle, constantly seeking equilibrium.
The Safari or Field Guide is an absolute jack of all trades. They are an educator, a protector, a host, a first aid responder, a barman, an advanced 4×4 driver, unwavering in their ethical approach to the safety of all involved. The guests and the wildlife. They are an entertainer, an expert naturalist, and, with the proper training, expert trail guides who can lead a group of people safely through potentially dangerous animal encounters while revelling in the beauty of nature and giving the guests an experience they will never forget!
This seems rather unfair. A Guide sits down to a 5-star meal and a sumptuous glass of wine while recounting a day’s adventures with exciting and interesting people worldwide. And gets paid to do it? Yup.
Without the services of Field Guides showcasing the best that the bush has to offer in the most ethical way possible, the extinction event sweeping the globe would be exponentially increased.
The money brought in by the guests who will come back time and time because of their fantastic guide’s tireless positive attitude will help sustain and expand the protected wildlife areas that will buffer our future from catastrophe.
To become a Safari Guide can be accomplished in many ways, most rewarding of all meaning joining a training organization like EcoTraining, on one of their qualification courses, from a 55-day Field Guide Course, 1-Year Professional Field Guide Course, to the Higher Certificate: Ecotourism Field Guide course covering over 17 different modules ranging from Geology to the History of Human Habitation, from Botany to Ecology and Animal Behaviour.
Hands-on experience, expert trainers guiding you every step of the way, and a dedicated team of support professionals in the EcoTraining office will help you set up a future that will see you as the next generation of Guides and Guardians.
Whatever direction you choose, be Field Guiding or enrolling in a Game Ranger course… I hope to see you in the bush soon!
A FGASA and CATHSSETA-qualified guiding course.
Immerse yourself in the African wilderness, expand your knowledge, and embark on a transformative learning experience with EcoTraining.
Sign up for one of our Career Courses today!
For more information on our Career Courses contact [email protected] or call +27 (0)13 7522532
Finding Your Purpose in the Bush
We meet EcoTraining students Katharina Hoevel, Anthony Fenn, Edzard Gelderman and Jakobo Bartusch. They are all from various parts of the world and come together on the 55-day Field Guide course, sharing their experiences of the African bush.
‘From the beginning, you are with new people, loads of information and nature itself daily. You take it all in and become part of it. You connect with nature, yourself and everyone around you, and that’s when the feeling of Purpose kicks in. Strangers become friends and a sense of belonging; you know this is where you should be.’
For these students, the connection with nature and each other, the sense of belonging and Purpose together and the incredible wildlife have impacted their lives and changed them in the best possible way. A special moment that uplifted them and made them feel fortunate was the encounter with a pangolin, a rare experience many of us only dream about.
