Guiding School

Bush Skill Course

7 day course $1750 per person

Is This For you?

This wildlife and ecology course is ideal for those who want to learn the practical aspects of being a guide and to learn some of the key and most interesting facts regarding the wildlife and ecology of the Okavango. It focuses on covering all the practical aspects of nature guiding. This includes conducting game drives, boat excursions, mokoro (dug-out canoe) expeditions, walking safaris, bush sleep-outs and weapon handling. During this we learn the skills of tracking, bush survival, bird and mammal identification and much more.

Acivities

• Theory lectures and power point presentations from qualified and knowledgeable trainers
• Game walks – including approaching big game on foot
• Mokoro (dug-out canoe), poling skills – depending on water levels
• Motor boating – depending on water levels
• Navigation
• Students conduct 4×4 vehicle game drives
• Stargazing & astronomy
• Wilderness sleep outs

Accommodation

Your tent is a 3×3 meter high-wall wilderness style tent with a 2×3 meter en-suite shower and bush toilet and a similar sized verandah. Each tent is furnished with a camp bed, sheets, pillows, duvet and towels. An LED bedside light is provided on a small bed side table. There is a wash basin with a relaxing chair on the verandah.

Qualification

No prior experience is required.

OGS Certificate: This is for students wanting to do the course for personal enrichment rather than pursuing a formal qualification to become a guide. They will receive an Okavango Guiding School certificate for participation in the course.

Here's what you can look forward to

First day – You depart for Kwapa camp from a pre-ordaned point in at 14h00, (students are given time to purchase their drinks other than those included on the course) this is approximately a 2 hour road transfer.

The remainder of this day consists primarily of orientation and familiarization of the camp and course procedures that we will be following during the ensuing week.

Meals – dinner

Daily activities: Every morning you wake-up early and have breakfast and head out into the wilderness. The route taken and the transport we used is based on the movement of the wildlife and the specific targets for the day.

Wilderness excursions are done on foot, by vehicle, by boat and dug-out canoe. You return to camp by late morning for a short lecture on one of the topics. The lecture topics include “wildlife and ecology of the Okavango”, “hydrology of the Okavango”, “fascinating birds”, “mammal behavior”, “African conservation issues” and more.

A hearty lunch is served in camp followed by time for shower, siesta and personal study time.

Tea is served in the mid-afternoon and followed by an afternoon excursion.

During the week at Kwapa you will do a sleep-out where  the bare minimum is loaded and you head out by boat or mokoro to a remote island and set up a sleep-out fly-camp where you sleep under the stars for the night. You return to camp before lunch the following day.

What will You learn?

How to pole a mokoro (dug-out canoe). These canoes are the traditional means of transport in the Okavango and moving noiselessly from island to island allow us great opportunities for finding wildlife.

Driving a 4 wheel drive. The Okavango offers some challenges when it comes to driving around. Deep water crossings and heavy sand are only some of the challenges.

Conducting a wilderness excursion on a motor boat. The Okavango Delta is a myriad of channels, lagoons and islands and in high water the most efficient way to move around is by aluminium-hull motor boat.

Weapons handling and shot placement on potentially dangerous game. This is an essential skill for guides operating on foot with a rifle and a great skill to learn.

The ancient art of tracking. While many think the art of tracking is akin to voodoo it is nothing more than the power of observation and deduction.

Navigating in the African wilderness. While much of the African bush looks exactly the same there are many tricks to determine direction in the wilderness and find your way back home.

Essential survival skills. A basic introduction of what you can eat in the wilderness, how to attain safe water and how to make fire.

Day 7: After morning activity we will return to Maun in time for International departure flights.

Please note – The above is just a broad outline so it can and will change depending on the guests needs, external factors and on some days it has been known to not be followed at all…..

Trails Guide Course (Walking & Weapons)

14 day course $3253 per person

28 day course $6506 per person

Is This For you?

Is this course for you? Training to become a Trails Guide is physically demanding. Every day you will be doing muscle memory drills to learn perfect shooting co-ordination and muscle fatigue is common-place. We spend a large amount of time on foot and some of the walks are long and extend into the heat of the day and often through floodplains that are waist deep.

The physical discomfort aside, this course offers a student an opportunity to experience Africa as few people ever will. The course requires complete commitment from the participants.

Advance Rifle Handling (ARH) will be conducted on the borders of NG30 concession (Kwapa) as part of the Trail Guide Course.

Acivities

• game walks including approaching big game on foot
• game driving skills
• mokoro (dug-out canoe), poling skills – depending on water levels
• motor boating – depending on water levels
• theory lectures and power point presentations on potentially dangerous animal (PDA) behaviour
• tracking, survival techniques and navigation
• basic weapons handling
• practical shooting with a large calibre rifle
• air rifle accuracy training
• muscle memory for shooting co-ordination
• speed shooting drills
• speed shooting assessment
• wilderness sleep outs

Accommodation

Your tent is a 3×3 meter high-wall wilderness style tent with a 2×3 meter en-suite shower and bush toilet and a similar sized verandah. Each tent is furnished with a camp bed, sheets, pillows, duvet and towels. An LED bedside light is provided on a small bed side table. There is a wash basin with a relaxing chair on the verandah.

Qualification

No prior experience is required for Botswana Qualification Authority (BQA) and Okavango Guiding School (OGS)

There are 3 possible qualifications and students may choose to do the FGASA and/or the OGS qualification in addition to the mandatory BQA qualification.

BQA Lead or Back-Up Trails Guide - This is the Botswana Training Authority exam which is the national Trails Guide or Back-Up Trails Guide qualification for Botswana.

FGASA Lead or Back-Up Trails Guide – This is the Field Guide Association of Southern Africa exam and is the national Trails Guide or Back-Up Trails used in South Africa

OGS Lead or Back-Up Trails Guide – The Okavango Guiding School qualification uses the same assessments as the BQA and FGASA Lead or Back-Up Trails guide qualification. The OGS syllabus is in depth and comprehensive and would equate to a level 4 syllabus: taking the guide to a much higher level than others in his field.

Here's what you can look forward to

First day – You depart for Kwapa camp from a pre-ordaned point in at 14h00, (students are given time to purchase their drinks other than those included on the course) this is approximately a 2 hour road transfer.

This first day will consist primarily of orientation and familiarization of the assessment process we will be using for the following weeks.

Meals – dinner

Day 2 – Our week begins with an introduction to weapons and weapon handling and, for those with some experience, we continue with the more advanced muscle memory drills. After the rifle handling, we head out on a foot safari and return to camp for lunch. The afternoon begins with further weapon handling and is followed by an introduction to mokoro handling. These traditional dug-out canoes will be an important part of your walking course, making it possible to get from island to island in absolute silence.

Meals – breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 3 – We wake at the crack-of-dawn to do a game walk. The direction of our morning walk is often dictated by the vocal clues from our quarry at night. When we return to camp we head to the shooting range to see how our shooting skills are progressing. In the afternoon we do weapon handling and review the video of your morning practice. These videos are done in slow motion and allow the trainer and the student to better understand any flaws in shooting technique.

Meals – breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 4 – Another early start for a morning game walk which is followed by a theory lecture on weapon safety, ballistics and/or viewing potentially dangerous game on foot. In the afternoon we head out on the river in our motor boat and find a good area for a walking excursion and we hope to encounter some potentially dangerous game.

Meals – breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 5 – We take a morning game drive to the north of camp where large herds of buffalo often drift through. Hopefully with a few approaches under our belts we return to camp for lunch. In the afternoon we begin with weapon handling drills to hone our shooting techniques and perfect our muscle memory. After our weapons “work-out” we head out on foot and continue to search for game to encounter and approach.

Meals – breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 6 – Yes, you guessed it, the morning begins with another game walk! But the great thing about the Kwapa region is that there is such a diversity of habitat that every walk is different and with each student having the opportunity to lead walks we see the bush through different eyes. We return to camp and before lunch we do a short session of weapon drills. In the afternoon we set out for a great adventure. We pack our back-packs with the bare minimum and walk out to a favorable area where we set up our mosquito nets and make our overnight “camp”. The sleep-out is a chance for ultimate intimacy with nature. With no tents, no artificial light and only the bare minimum of supplies, we enjoy the bush as our ancestors did thousands of years ago. Students take turns managing the fire and keeping guard while the other students get some sleep.

Meals – breakfast, lunch & dinner

Day 7 – We wake up in our wilderness camp and, after erasing any sign of our presence, we walk back to camp. We continue our lessons on tracking, navigation, safe walking techniques and hoping for a few good encounters before a well earned lunch!

We head out in the afternoon on the Kwapa River to the southern part of the concession where we have our shooting range. It is time to assess what everyone has achieved in the week’s shooting drills and practical shooting. After the shooting assessments we head back to camp for dinner.

Meals – breakfast, lunch & dinner

Subsequent days – More of the above.

Last day – After your morning activity and breakfast we will return to Maun in plenty of time for those guests that have international flights.

Meals – breakfast

Please note – The above is just a broad outline so it can and will change depending on the guests needs, external factors and on some days it has been known to not be followed at all…..

Dates

2016

02-Aug to 16-Aug

16-Aug to 30-Aug

25-Oct to 08-Nov

08-Nov to 22-Nov