In my year and a half at EcoTraining, I have had the privilege to move around our different camps and experience the unique relationship between humans and the animals that frequently visit the camps. The experience that captivated me, is the troop of baboons in Makuleke. They spend their days interacting with one another in and around camp and then roosting in the big Nyala Berry trees at night.
From the very first time I set foot in South Africa, I knew I had come home. Perhaps not in the literal meaning of the word, but it was something I felt in my very being. My soul, never quite at peace, felt awash with relief that it had at last found a place to belong.
Insects… always a dilemma whether to hate them or love them. On one side where caterpillars are ugly, adults mesmerize us. It’s hard to tell how many species we have and how many we are still trying to discover. Just like their not-so-clear love we still lack a clear vision for them. And one the most important out of them are none other than sweet Honeybees.
After almost six months of training across four different reserves in South Africa and Botswana, it was finally time for our group to disperse on their highly-anticipated internships. For my part, turning up at a beautiful 4* lodge in the northern Kruger, I was a heady mix of anxious and excited.
After completing the first phase of the Professional Field Guide course, our group spent the next few weeks building on some of the wider skills surrounding the guiding industry; navigation, birding, and tracking to name a few. During this time, I was incredibly fortunate to spend time with many passionate and knowledgeable instructors although one moment, in particular, stands out as a favorite.
September 1st is known as the official start of Spring in South Africa. However, in 2017, it heralded a different kind of beginning for me. Having spent years wishing, dreaming, and saving, I was finally seated at a large wooden table with 11 other wide-eyed students as we began our EcoTraining induction.
Even if you have never been to Africa, you probably have an opinion about hyenas. They are ugly, vicious, greedy, dull scavengers. Or you are more like me and love hyenas for their fascinating social structure and impressive features. To me, they are the most interesting mammals on the African plains.
It was mid-October 2020, and the email in front of me was from HR. Cost-saving measures began, like so many others before it this year. I felt that familiar ache shoot up into my shoulders as I imagined more furloughs or even redundancies in an already stretched department. But the request form below was new…
In this second blog in our series, we are following David Ullmann, from Germany, who is embarking on his dream of becoming a field guide. We will be giving you a real insight into what the preparation looks like, and how it feels to be counting down the months and days to a new career and life.
In this new blog series, we are going behind the scenes and taking you on a real-time journey. From deciding to become a Field Guide to touching down in South Africa to start with EcoTraining.
Study wildlife conservation and accredited field guide courses at any of our pioneering African training camps.
Located on the banks of the Mara river,
the camp is nestled between communities
and wildlife conservancies.
Explore the untamed wilderness of Kruger
National Park’s Makuleke Concession
with EcoTraining.
Located at the confluence of the Limpopo
and Shashe Rivers, in the eastern
corner of Botswana.
A natural wonderland with free-roaming
elephants located in the Limpopo
Province of South Africa.
A unique safari destination that offers
visitors an immersive and unforgettable
experience.
Offering a diverse and rewarding
learning environment, teeming with life
and rich in ecological variety.
Want to become a field or nature guide? Explore our immersive courses and training programmes for professional safari guides and guardians of nature, taught and led by experts in the industry.
EcoTraining offers career and accredited courses, wildlife enthusiast courses, gap year programmes and customised group travel courses.
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