Category: Course updates

Picking up from the last blog, we get to the next…..

Anton from Manyeleti Game Reserve was a legend… most of our shared stories are not suitable for publication as the two of us together, when left to our own devices in the African Bush, used to amuse ourselves in quite creative ways. From scaring guests with our homemade lion caller (that worked so well it accidentally called in lions which caused a problem for ourselves), to galavanting and exploring the hidden sections of Manyeleti in a short wheelbase Landrover that more often than not broke down. 

I’ll share a memory of coming back to the lodge one night and finding Anton looking like a young boy at Christmas “there are leopards mating somewhere nearby!” he exclaimed. So without further ado, we left the guests to their gourmet dinner and proceeded to track these mating leopards into the dead of the night armed only with a handy torch. As we tracked we heard the unmistakable calls of leopards mating and then we found and watched Rulani the big male leopard of the area on foot, with the night heavy around us and felt truly in sync with the Bush and its residents.

Another of our great adventures was a balmy summer’s night when I managed to convince Anton it would be an excellent idea to go searching for frogs after the recent rain. 

We headed straight to one of the nearby summer bogs and heard thousands of frogs calling in all directions. Anton had less of an inclination towards the amphibians than I did and stayed on watch duty from the tracker seat with a spotlight whilst I wangled my way knee-deep into the black cotton soil mud with my trusty macro-lens and camera. Sneaking awkwardly from frog to frog, when suddenly I heard Anton, way behind me, yell out “lion!”. As I followed the beam of his spotlight I saw two massive male lions (the Matimba Brothers) sauntering towards us, 40m and closing.

Frogging

This was hardly ideal, as my avid frogging had taken me at least 50m from the safety of the car. And as luck would have it I was in between Anton and the lions. There was nothing I could do but sit knee-deep in the thick mud, switch off my head torch and watch as the two giant lions walked right past me.

I can only assume they were far too regal to come playing in the mud with me and that they shared Anton’s lack of a desire to chase frogs in the dead of night.

Blog & photos by Vaughan Jessnitz

Vaughan’s stories continue:

This was not the only encounter I enjoyed with Sam, there are too many to mention, some of which were even more hair raising (which could explain my thick and luscious locks), like the time we were leading a walk tracking some buffalo.

Cape buffalo

The property we were walking on bordered an infamous Game Reserve, where they kept many semi-tame animals. One such animal happened to be an elephant, who I’m sure was known by name, but when we bumped into him on a bushwalk that morning we didn’t know it. He had broken into our property overnight and whilst exploring his new domain bumped into us as we were doing our tracking. Seeing a human in a strange environment was, for him, probably a delightful surprise. However, we were not ready for such a friendly elephant. 

There is a significant and somewhat key difference between approaching a wild elephant and approaching a tame one. So when “Nellie” decided to come up to us it caused mass confusion, it was not a charge like a wild elephant, his body language was telling us he was a happy elephant, happy to see us and happy in our presence, almost like he was hoping for a cheeky treat or two from our backpack. Sam immediately recognized him as “Nellie” from next door and that we might be in trouble. There was no time to explain but luckily the look on Sam’s face told me he had probably dealt with this animal before. I immediately sought higher ground, a classic evasive tactic. So the two of us, together with our guests clambered up a sizey termite mound, in the nick of time as “Nellie” arrived in the spot we had been standing. Fortunately “Nellie” appeared to be unable to join us on the termite mound, this did not stop him from trying, however, and the more we tried to convince him otherwise the more determined he became to climb the mound. The more profanities were spewed in his direction the more focussed he became on joining us. Interestingly he still wasn’t showing any signs of aggression, it was almost like we were a perfectly ripe strawberry that was taunting him by sitting, noisily, just out of reach.

‘Nellie’

We soon realized that standing our ground was a stalemate and decided to duck over the other end of the termite mound and beat a hasty retreat to the next termite mound before “Nellie” realized what was occurring. As we reached the next point of cover, we could see he had discovered our ruse, and was slowly, but thoroughly, tracking us as we had done with the buffaloes earlier. The ordeal came to an end after a lot of jogging, and guests not fully understanding why we were impersonating meerkats on each termite mound we found, before eventually making it back to camp, out of breath and having learned that on the odd occasion despite the golden bush rule of “DON’T RUN” running might just be the best option.

Until the next story…..

Blog & photos by Vaughan Jessnitz

Those of you who know me will know that my hatred of blog writing stretches further than the reach of an ancient Baobab. I have ducked and dived, bobbed and weaved, crawled and swam, and yet I cannot escape the dreaded responsibility. However, looking back over my time as a field guide there are certain stories that deserve to be shared. 

Being a field guide and spending your life running wild in the African bush for so many years you are bound to collect a tale or two, but the age-old question is where to begin. None of the moments that follow can necessarily be described as my best or worst experiences, however, any experience survived is one that must have had a positive outcome. Be it learning from my mistakes, sharing priceless moments with great people, and even more memorable moments with greater animals. But something that is without question absolutely the best thing about working in the bush is some of the characters that become a part of your life. The tales that follow are some of my favourite recollections with some of my favourite people in the bush. In order to protect the identity of the individuals involved and to try to avoid causing a wild scandal or two all of the names and places featured below may or may not have been cunningly disguised. 

Sam from Mohlabetsi safari lodge was a legend. He contributed to some of my greatest early experiences on Balule Nature Reserve. Sam was a small bloke, quiet, yet witty beyond measure. We spent many happy hours together in the bush tracking big and dangerous animals. A few more notable moments do, however, spring to mind.

A normal morning bushwalk involving the two of us, together with my tracker Roger,  tracking some white rhinos, turned into a moment I will never forget. The tracks seemed to age with every passing minute as they wound through the dry bushveld terrain, tracking these two magnificent beasts was proving tricky, to say the least. However, the enthusiasm of our Swedish guests kept us motivated to persevere. All three of our noses were to the ground as we followed track by mysterious track. This took us straight through a steep drainage line we assumed that the rhinos had gone straight across. So, without thinking twice we barrelled straight down after them. Little did we know that our valiant beasts, without Swedish enthusiasm to spur them on had paused for a nap at the bottom of the drainage line. And we only discovered them once the whole troop of us were also inside the drainage line mere feet away from them! 

Somehow we had managed to stroll within bare metres of them without them ever becoming aware of our presence. Nonetheless we were sitting in quite the predicament. Myself, Sam,  Roger, and an unnamed guest or four, froze in our tracks with the three musketeers trying to figure out what to do next and the guests inevitably noticing our silent dilemma. There was no way around it, we were stuck. We all knew that if we made a move; spoke a word; or did anything at all; the pair of snoozing rhinos would wake up. Even a change in wind direction could affect the outcome. What made this moment so memorable to me, was neither the adrenaline, nor the predicament we were in, but rather the length of time we took dwelling, with no idea, on what to do next. It felt like hours passed as we stood there frozen, becoming increasingly fluent in “military esque” sign language as we silently debated the merits of the various options available to us. Unfortunately it seemed wholly unlikely that any of these options would result in the continued peaceful slumber of the rhinos. Eventually we agreed to sit down, we had barely creaked our stiff knees to the ground when one of the rhinos popped up, spun around and looked straight at us. Not exactly what we had been hoping for. 

Sam and I were in the front, Roger held the fort at the back and the guests were sandwiched between us. This positioning was key because one of the guests took it into their head’s to run. Now Roger, it should be said, is the opposite of Sam, he was built like the proverbial brick shithouse. And as the guest stood up to flee all Sam and I saw from the front was a poor, pale, middle-aged Swede being yanked to the ground by his belt accompanied by a calm, noble voice just saying: “take a picture”. By this time the second rhino (oh yes remember there were two) had also jumped up, but it seemed they were as stumped by the situation as we were. It was their turn to ponder what to do next. Then one of the rhinos started to walk closer to us, more inquisitive than aggressive. It was at this moment that we noticed that the best escape route for the rhinos was a little game path leading out of the drainage line, that regrettably sat behind us. It seemed the rhinos had noticed this too, for as we sat there quieter than mice, the two huge animals slowly and cautiously walked past us trying to get a good whiff to see what exactly we were. At this point, even the least religious amongst the group was making a set of ‘just in case’ amends. For as we sat there these two huge rhinos could nearly touch us. After a brief inspection they decided that the way out was a more interesting option than turning us into little bundles of mincemeat and proceeded with a snort as they both trotted on past us and up the hill.

With a great sigh of relief, we all have a memory never to be forgotten.

Blog & photos by Vaughan Jessnitz, senior trainer

#fieldguide #rhinos #bushwalk #sighting #gamedrive

An American takes on a manual transmission.

Uprooting your life and moving nearly 10,000 miles from home is a lot easier said than done. I have had plans to join Bushwise for two years now and the anticipation for this adventure was at times torturous. Now that I am here I feel like I am finally where I am meant to be, pardon the cliché. Despite this new found comfort I have also discovered that coming from so far, Denver, Colorado to be exact, has come with many challenges. The obvious being that I miss my family and friends back home, but the worst challenge of all you may ask? Well let me tell you, it has been figuring out how to drive stick. On the wrong side of the car. On the wrong side of the road.

Game drive with Mara

Upon our first driving exam I was shaking in my boots at the thought of driving the monster sized trucks we work with especially being the only American on the course I felt I had something to prove. I am the only student who has no real history with manual transmissions. America likes to be different from everyone else I suppose. Hands sweating and knees wobbly I passed the initial test by the skin of my teeth but no relief was felt as I was the first student up for game drive. Stuck with the landy for my drive as well I was petrified.

Night drive

Over the course of this drive I nearly beheaded half of the vehicle on stray branches, stalled maybe 10 times (this number is actively up for debate among my drive group), said “I am so sorry” more times in three hours than most humans do in their entire life, but powered through none the less. My review sheet filled out by the lovely Ed simply read, in bold and loud handwriting, “PRACTICE”. As I was told I practiced every chance I could stealing, with permission, my classmates “bakkies” (trucks for any non-South Africans reading). As I prepped the car for my second drive the occasional joke about stalling was thrown around but I was determined to stay calm. Sweaty palms still a staple in my life I drove through Makalali, reversed, traversed, avoided branches, the whole nine yards. I would be remiss to neglect mentioning that I did stall once..in the final moments of the drive which sparked laughter and rosy cheeks. I felt proud of my progress but what really made it special was having everyone of my classmates congratulate me and greet me with a smile or “well done Mara!”.

Looking into our fourth week I am so excited to keep growing as a guide among people who I have grown to love in such a short time.

Blog by Mara Vinnik

The class of July 2019 started our first day getting to know 22 new names and faces, getting a feel for campus life and starting paperwork. The campus rung out with many “what’s your name again?” as we all settled in and attempted to memorise new slightly nervous looking faces. The next day brought new ventures for the international students as they ventured into Polokwane to register for traffic numbers at the department of transport. The remaining nationals got a taste of bush life, going on a litter safari, picking up any litter along the riverbed. The evening was spent getting to know a few more faces and introducing ourselves during the Welcome braai.

Making new friends

The third day we all ventured out to the reptile park, learning about reptiles. We had a lecture on dangerous snakes before being allowed to handle them. A few lucky victims fed chameleons, with a twist… they fed live cockroaches from their mouths. One student got a taste of bug life when a cockroach burst in his mouth. After the adventures of the morning, a trip to khaki fever came next, where we all picked up our uniforms. The start of our official look.

Getting up close with some reptiles

Friday and Saturday were spent in the classroom gaining our first aid qualification. Many victims were chosen, and “bites” administered amongst other injuries as group members rushed out into the “wild bush” to find the patients. Stretchers came and went, CPR performed, and treatments administered as the classroom teemed with life. With everyone restored to life and full health, Saturday evening was spent at the local pub after everyone had all passed their first aid exam.

Hand on first aid training

First aid training

The highlight of the week, however, came when everyone was studying hard on the first official lecture when a pangolin came to class. The lecture abandoned as the surprised students rushed out to witness this amazing spectacle. The pangolin had been found near an electric fence, and was rescued and  shown to the students before being released as a preventative measure, much to the delight of all. For many, it was their first encounter with a pangolin. Passing pangolins has been the best start to our first official week, and all are excited to see where the next few months lead too.

Passing Pangolin

Blog by Sam Parker, photos by Georgie Stewart

Creepy crawlies are what we call them in the UK, you read stories as a kid about hungry caterpillars, are told about friendly bees that make honey and sing songs about spiders going up drainpipes. That’s alright for back home, but out here in South Africa the caterpillars eat poisonous milkweed which the Monarch Butterflies retain through metamorphosis so are also poisonous, the Bees are killers potentially, even the elephants don’t mess with them and many of the spiders that like to live in your house are venomous enough to put you in hospital!

This may seem a little scary, but then the UK’s wildlife does seem relatively tame compared to a lot of places around the globe. We might respect ours a little more if it could kill us, but ours is just as amazing and dramatic when you pay attention to it. It’s the same out here in the Bush the big animals are obvious, plainly dangerous if you get on their bad side. You really need to pay attention to what’s on your doorstep or living under your bed, tiny little Button Spiders and Sac Spiders, so highly venomous it seems a bit overkill for the flies and other small insects they eat. The big spiders like your Orb Web Spiders are pretty much harmless to humans, but still it’s not fun accidentally driving through their massive webs that can stretch across the roads.

Another large spider that is a ground-dwelling hunter, the Baboon Spider which can live potentially 20 years and is a protected species here. The females dig holes in the ground lined with silken web and live their whole lives inside them, whilst the males are more mobile hunters that have to search for their lady loves lair.

One of my favourite types of spider is the Jumping Spider family, small little dudes that have an incredible powerful leap, the equivalent of us jumping over at least a 3-story building. Completely harmless to humans but deadly little hunters in their own right, they come in a huge variety of colours and occur in numerous different countries. There are thousands of species you’d have to spend your life studying them to be able to identify and individual species. For some reason I seem to have made friends with them, having had about four so far just appear on me and just hang about being awesome for a while.

Inside at night, a mosquito net is very useful especially  during the summer here, to avoid those mozzies, moths and other biting critters. The moths here are mostly similar to any others, but there are several that break the mould and are quite impressive such as the King Monkey Moth. 

The insect life that swarms around the lights outside does mean that you get some more friendly house guests in geckos, big ones such as Turner’s Tubercled Gecko, that do a great job eating some of those moths and mozzies. Then there are tiny little ones that you find inside your mosquito net! This fella I found one morning as I woke up, tailless but Geckos can regrow them as it’s a predator defence mechanism. I tried to release him into the wider realms of my room to go about his life, but a few days later I found him again inside my mosquito net. 

This is just a little slice of the day to day since I began Bushwise back in January, I haven’t even gone into the skinks, frogs, beetles and bats that live on campus, as well as the several snakes that have made an appearance. It’s mid-April now and winter is starting to set in here in South Africa, the general temperature is declining and with it, the activity of a lot of the insects and reptiles will do so as well.

So if you find yourself out in the Bush, remember, the big animals are obvious, look closer at those smaller things living around you and who knows you may be surprised by what you discover!

Blog and photos by Jack Broadley – currently on his work placement

These two weeks at Lowveld trails were to get our apprentice trails guiding. This means that after gaining our ARH (Advanced Rifle Handling) & passing our theory on trails guiding we needed to get some practical experience and assessment. This was done with a 12 day course where we take turns operating as a back-up guide, fully equipped with a bolt action rifle and the responsibility that comes with that.

Note: Some pictures you might see are of us holding rifles while viewing animals or holding skulls or skeletons of animals. At no point are we hunting!!! At no point are we attempting to kill an animal in any way. The reason for our rifles is as a last resort measure in case an animal charges and we are unable to dissuade it from this charge. The motto of a trails guide is to view animals and educate people on them without intentionally disturbing the animals.

On Tuesday the 4th of June we set off on our 12 day trails course. We were able to grab some breakfast in town before heading out and around 12 we arrived at the reserve in Kruger with Wayne and Brendan who head up Lowveld Trails. Here we split up into our two groups with group 2 going directly on the 3 night primitive hike (i.e. no base camp, carry all your food and equipment and sleep under the stars while taking turns on watch duty). We drove on to our base camp, this camp was insane!!!! It’s so nice being out in a camp again.

Base camp

Base camp tents

We got briefed on the proceedings and learned that we do primitive when the other group arrives in 3 days, after our primitive we go to a different reserve and into an old farmhouse. I am not sure whether I am going to prefer that or not, the luxury, aka hot shower, nice beds and flushing toilet, will be nice but not sure if I will prefer that over the nice rustic outdoors feel.

Anyway that afternoon we went on our first hike, it was only a short one of about 2 hours but I was to be the backup guide. This means I was carrying a loaded rifle and having the responsibility of a back-up guide!!!! It was fucking amazing!!!!! I was very nervous at first but that soon dissipated and I could enjoy the experience, especially when we had our first encounter with an elephant herd!!!! We saw them on the other side of the drainage line and after testing the wind and ensuring we were approaching from downwind, we headed through the drainage line to the other and got to within 40m of the elephants and watched them eat for a while. Wayne provided me with an escape route into the drainage line and said I was to take the group down it if shit hit the fan, luckily it didn’t and I was charged with leading the group out of the encounter. Later that day Mersin (my once roommate at Bushwise) spotted what he thought was more elephants but ended up being a group of 5 rhino, again we approached downwind and got to within roughly 40m. As they were grazing in our direction we only stayed a few mins before heading out again without them being aware of our presence, a perfect encounter. Overall I would say this was an amazing first day and an amazing first experience at being a back-up guide even though I didn’t do the briefing.

On foot through the bushveld

One of the Elephant sightings where I was acting as back-up

Sleeping in tents was pretty intense but it was amazing, we had Kudu fillet and Boerewors (the South African version of Bratwurst) for dinner, grilled on the open fire and we sat around the campfire until about 21.00 (pretty much midnight for us these days). During the night you can hear the Hyena and it’s an experience going to the toilet in the middle of the night with hyena calling what sounds like only meters away. This kind of set the tone for the next few days. All we saw for the first 6 days were Elephant and Rhino but it was amazing to see those. One of the evenings we were sitting around the campfire and the entire evening we heard a herd of Elephant feeding in the drainage line about 5 meters behind us and at some time they passed right by us!! We also covered some tracking, botany and other relevant topics for both Trails and general guiding. We also learned from every encounter we had in terms of what and what not to do in those situations and how to use the elements in our favor. Afternoons were filled with siesta and filling in our logbooks, evenings with sitting around the campfire and going to bed around 9/10 pm.

On the 4th day as the other group came back into the camp and after we had lunch together, we packed our bags for the 3 night primitive hike. Sightings during these days were similar as before and nights were quiet with nothing coming into camp, though we knew not to relax as there are plenty of stories of other types of sleep outs. I got very lucky on my walks where I was acting as back-up, as we tended to see animals on those days. This was great as it is a much different experience when you are carrying the rifle and responsibility as opposed to being a guest. You never want to need to shoot an animal but you are responsible for the guests and if any harm comes to them you are in a world of hurt, yet at the same time if you are too trigger happy and shoot an animal without giving it the benefit of the doubt then you will be in a world of trouble as well. The key is to read the animal’s behavior and be able to act accordingly to avoid any negative outcome on either side.

Our trainer Ed ready for primitive trails, he looks like that kid from Up

Group picture

Overall primitive was amazing and although it was tough, especially trying to stay aware and scanning your surroundings whilst hunched over with the weight of the heavy backpack. We slept in river beds and hiked through terrain few people ever truly see. In general the terrain is very flat, this makes walking super easy, especially compared to the hobbly bogs of Ireland. It did make me miss Ireland though and cannot decide which I prefer. Effort wise and especially risk of twisting an ankle S.A. is definitely the better one as I struggle with the steep inclines of Ireland in terms of breathing, especially with the heavy packs, similarly after my torn ligaments my ankles are very week and I tend to twist them very easily, falling in the process. That said, I find the scenery here quite boring at times and miss the rolling hills, waterfalls and views of Ireland or other hilly/mountainous areas. This was punctuated on the last day when we had the Drakensberg mountains in the distance, this made the hike 10x better. What makes the bush so remarkable though is the animal presence everywhere, even when you don’t see them and not just the big 5 but all the birds and small critters as well.

On the last day we made our way to our camp and promptly packed up and left for the other reserve to stock up on supplies and sweets. After this we went to the farmhouse. It was definitely nice to have a proper toilet, shower and bed, though at the same time it took away a lot of the outdoorsy nature of our 12 days, still not sure which of the two groups is the lucky one here.

The first three days at the reserve we saw no big game but that changed on the 4th day when I was backing up again, this day we saw Lions as we were tracking a White Rhino. Over the next few days we actually saw a decent bit and we managed to round off our entire big 5. The best of the sightings though came the afternoon after the first Lion sighting…

Stalking the Stalker

It was a windy and cloudy afternoon, perfect weather for this ambush predator as it masks their movements through the bush. Wayne, our guide, told us that it was often days like this that this predator would go out and make several kills and stash them up trees for later consumption. As we were tracking Buffalo we came across some really fresh tracks and decided to stalk this stalker, they were leopard tracks. From where we found them they moved into a drainage line and we meandered in and out on the trail of this leopard. From the size we assumed we were on the trail of a male leopard and as we moved to catch up with it we could follow its path in our head based on the Squirrel alarm calls moving off into the distance. After about 15 mins we came to a bend in the drainage line with steep embankments, the Lead stopped and they were pointing down into the drainage line but I could not really catch what they were saying as I was 4th in the line. Out of nowhere comes a massive roar and I see our Lead shoulder his rifle and almost at the same time I saw a white tipped tail disappear into the bushes and caught a glimpse of the leopard bound off into the distance. What a sighting!!! This is often normal with Leopard in that you hardly ever see them, especially on foot. Normally if they become aware of you they will simply disappear into the bushes and you will not even know you walked straight past them. For it to have come out means we must have disturbed it and the reason became clear shortly after when somebody pointed to a nearby Knobthorn tree and asked ‘What is that in the tree‘. It turned out to be an 8 week old leopard cub in the tree. What we believed was a male turned out to be a female and we accidentally caught it at it’s den. This was now a highly dangerous situation and something that we would normally avoid if we would have been aware of it. Although it was also probably one of the cutest sightings ever, we made so to not make any move towards the cub as the mother was likely observing from somewhere nearby. We decided to move off and let mother and cub reunite. What a sighting and what lesson to learn, if the group had been any smaller or the Lead had been on their own there is no doubt that the leopard would have continued on her charge and gone for the kill, one of the many reasons to never approach a mother with child, regardless of the species.

The rest of the days passed very similar to the previous ones and we had great fun around the campfire every night and enjoyed our time out in the bush, all too soon the trip came to an end and we had to pack up and head back for one last night at Bushwise campus before each of us headed on to our separate placements. Below some more great pics of our time on trails.

Blog and photos by Jelle Linssen

#trailscourse #fieldguide #walkingtrails #trailsguide #lowveldtrails

The mood on campus for the week has been both tense and feverishly ‘busy’. Apart from the last few remaining Advanced Rifle Handling assessments that had to be conducted, as well as the preparation for the upcoming Apprentice Trails Guide exams, all were waiting in anticipation for the Bushwise Field Guides award ceremony that was to be held after the exam. In amongst all this activity, morning and afternoon bush walks were the order of the day for the students who were to be joining our partners, Lowveld Trails Co. for the next phase of the Bushwise Field Guide course – this in order to get their “trails legs” for the 12 day mentorship course that Brendan and Wayne facilitate.

Needless to say, all survived the 2-hour exam, and arrived at the venue for the Awards evening relatively unscathed. Thank you to our hosts, Mahlahla Game Lodge for a fantastic evening, the delicious 3 course meal, the great music and the “Happy hour”!

Congratulations to Georgina Hall for Top Achiever Award and to Becca Elliott for the Best All-Rounder Award! Congratulations also go out to all the remaining students for their individual achievements, your hard work has finally paid off, well done.

In closing, a special mention should go out to young Ryan Norwood for the prestigious “Dung Beetle” Award. This title was hotly contested by the group throughout the course; however it was fitting to present it to Ryan as he proved to be the worthy recipient after many a hilarious incident that provided the laughter and banter that the students have shared over the last 6 months.

Until next time, Happy Trails all!

Blog Trevor Myburgh

#fieldguide #trailsguide #Exam #bestallrounder #topacheiver #Awards #bushwalks #graduation

There are so many variables in field guiding, previously known as a game ranging or game ranger, and possibly the biggest of these is your guests!

Thus, the field guide’s attitude and enthusiasm are most important as guests spend at least 6 hours each day with you as their field guide, and at some game lodges you join your guests for dinner so you could be spending up to 10 hours per day with them. If you are not passionate, pleasant and enthusiastic it’s going to be an awkward experience for both you and your guests.

It is of key importance that you have a passion for nature, conservation and preservation. Then comes people skills, an encyclopedic knowledge of natural history, of animal behaviour and having the ability to interpret this information to your guests. These being some of the many areas we at Bushwise field guides focus on to provide the exceptional, above average and experienced Apprentice field guides.

Like anything in life, you get people who are better at what they do than others. So, what makes an exceptional Field guide?

This is a difficult question to answer, because the difference between a good field guide and an exceptional field guide often lies in the subtleties of a gifted individual. All field guides, as a minimum requirement, should communicate well, be polite, approachable, knowledgeable, professional, attentive and respectful of the environment. These basic qualities are essential to any decent safari experience. The key characteristics are not necessarily skills, but rather the personal traits of the individual. One of these being humble, there is no place for an ego in the guiding industry. What many field guides and even guests do not realise, is that going on safari is not only about facts regarding animals or the bush – books and the internet offer ample information, what everyone is really after is what you cannot experience in a book or online – a genuinely wild safari adventure.

In addition, what makes a field guide truly exceptional is your attention to detail, sense of humour, story-telling ability and total infatuation with the African bush. Your enthusiasm should be contagious, infecting all within hearing distance, and deep respect for wildlife should be evident in everything you do. These qualities elevate an experience from the enjoyable to the unforgettable. As a field guide with these qualities, you will lead your guests through the wilderness with complete confidence. Not lecturing, but creating an interactive experience focused on your guests and their specific goals. This is to ensure total comfort and enjoyment as you explore the many mysteries the African bush has to offer.

A passionate curious nature, coupled with constant learning and challenging yourself as a field guide will ensure that you retain your passion, a practise we as trainers at Bushwise field guides strongly encourage throughout our 23 and 50 week courses that we conduct. You should continually learn because it becomes impossible to be enthusiastic about facts if you have been regurgitating the same facts for the last 10 years.

Lastly, become a ‘finder’ field guide, the field guide that tends to go out earlier, rather than being a ‘follower’ field guide. Go out 30 minutes earlier on drives or walks, from my experience most guests do not mind getting up earlier. By adopting this attitude, you and your guests will be rewarded with the better sightings which gives you the advantage of providing the best field guided experience ever. The proactive, committed field guide will suggest this to guests while the ‘follower/clock-watcher’ won’t, (sadly most field guides have become ‘clock-watchers’).  ‘Clock- watchers’ will spend no more than the suggested 3 hours on each game drive. They have fallen into a rut and are purely performing a task as they have not adopted the simple practise of self-improvement outlined above.

If you find yourself in this predicament, SNAP OUT OF IT! Spend time on some self-reflection and remind yourself why you became a field guide in the first place. Spend less time with negative people and influences, and rub shoulders rather with dedicated professional field guides to rejuvenate the passion for the great outdoors and work at lodges that honour and respect this quality in their field guides.

Find out more about Bushwise courses.

Blog by General Manager & Trainer, Trevor Myburgh

#fieldguide #gameranger #training #working

This has been a bit of a varied week for most people. We started off the week with the final few assessment drives – everyone passed! All the practice drives, hotbox packing, fact learning, extra research, 4×4 training, route planning, branch clearing, map studying and vehicle cleaning all finally culminating in this last crucial 4 hours. Such relief and joy around campus; all our hard work at last paying off.

On Tuesday we had a nice relaxing day off to celebrate… yeah right! We had a full day of reserve work, working to block off the road either side of a broken dam wall and clearing branches from overgrown roads. Kind of an irony that we did this after we just used those same roads for our assessments! But it was a good day hauling around rocks and branches, getting tangled in thorn trees and picking black jacks out of each other’s hair- it’s nice doing something that feels useful for the next people who drive through.

Then the rest of the week we have variously been doing our Advanced Rifle Handling Assessments, and going out on walks on Makalali with Gerhard and Ed. Now that we’ve done our FGASA Level 1 exam and assessment, we’re gearing towards our Trails Guiding exam next semester and then most of us will be going off on a 12-day Lowveld Trails course. Six people a day did their ARH Assessments, and the rest went on morning or afternoon walks to try and accrue some walking hours and dangerous game encounters to count towards our Trails Guide Assessment on the Lowveld Trails course. The walks have been awesome, a few lion encounters and a cheetah with cubs (albeit very far away)! We’ve been developing the skills to walk whilst simultaneously looking for tracks, looking for animals, keeping an eye out for danger, looking for trees or termite mounds we could climb in an emergency, watching you don’t trip over, and listening hard for any signs of animals! Seems overwhelming at first but practice makes perfect!

Without our ARH qualification we cannot be assessed by Lowveld Trails as a Back-Up Guide (although we can still log hours and encounters on the course) so everyone was pretty keen to get the ARH under their belts. The ARH results have been mixed- it’s a notoriously difficult qualification to get, as even those who are great shots can be put off or unnerved by the tough time limits imposed, especially with the pressure you put on yourself to pass. The drill that has inevitably been catching the most people out is the simulated lion charge- having to shoot a “lion” target charging at you at 22 meters/sec is pretty stressful, let alone having to yell at it, and “manage your clients” at the same time! It’s a tough thing and no shame to anyone who doesn’t pass first time- hopefully reassessments next semester will prove fruitful.

I think everyone is looking forward to a well-earned off week next week, and will come back ready to ace the Trails exam and take on two weeks of walking!

Find out more about Bushwise courses.

Rebecca Elliott