EcoTraining Professional Field Guide Course
If you love the idea of taking safari lodge guests from all over the world out on walking and game drive safaris into Africa’s wild places, finding wildlife for them, and teaching them fascinating facts about the animals and ecosystems, then EcoTraining’s Professional Field Guide course is for you.
WHY DO THE COURSE?
This comprehensive and unique one-year course has been designed to supply the safari industry with high-caliber FGASA and CATHSSETA qualified professional field guides.
Students live and learn at four different wilderness camps giving them exposure to diverse ecological and geographical terrains, wildlife species, climates and more. These remote wilderness camps may include the Makuleke Concession (Kruger), Karongwe Reserve, Selati Reserve, Mashatu Reserve (Botswana) and Pridelands Reserve. The unfenced bush camps provide a consistently stimulating environment in which to learn, supported by highly qualified and experienced instructors, each with their own unique way of training and guiding that will enhance the overall student training experience. There is no other course that offers this breadth of wildlife immersion and knowledge.
This course comprises of approximately 5 months of theoretical and practical training with highly qualified instructors, in which participants will complete various separate certificate courses. Following this is a placement programme period of 5 – 6 months which will make up the second half of the course. Students are placed at a lodge where they will work with professional lodge staff and management in order to develop their newly acquired skills. At the end of the course the student will not only have potentially gained qualification/certificates, but will have also gained substantial practical working experience.
MODULE OVERVIEW
- Wilderness First Aid Component
- Field Guide (Nature Site Guide NQF2) Component
- Basic Birding Component
- Tracking Component
- Rifle Handling Component
- Trails Guide Component
- Advanced Birding Component
EcoTraining’s local rates are positioned for local citizens to access our training, and to ensure career development and employment in the safari industry.
Our winning formula
You will be based in camps in prime wildlife areas, and partake in wilderness walks or game drives twice a day. You could be trained in two different game reserves, exposing you to a diversity of habitats and species. No other training provider can match this variety of training environments, or the frequency of practical activities we offer.
YOU COULD GRADUATE WITH:
- Wilderness Medicine Level 1 and 2 Certificate
- Nature Site Guide NQF2 (CATHSSETA) qualification and FGASA Apprentice Field Guide Certificat
- Firearm Proficiency Certificate
- FGASA Advanced Rifle Handling Competency
- FGASA Apprentice Trails Guide status
- EcoTracker Track and Sign Certificate
- EcoTracker Trailing Certificate
- FGASA Tracker Certificate
- EcoTraining Basic and Advanced Birding
- EcoTraining Certificate of Participation
CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION OF COURSE
FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) – EcoTraining is a FGASA-endorsed training provider that is accredited by CATHSSETA. We will assist you by registering you with FGASA. FGASA will automatically register you with CATHSSETA.
PFTC (Professional Firearm Trainers Council) – Firearm proficiency training during the Rifle Handling section.
COURSE DATES
02 August 2022 – 02 July 2023
02 September 2022 – 06 August 2023
01 October 2022 – 03 September 2023