



Guiding School
Guides training courses for tourists
One of the best safari experiences you can have
Safari Lifestyles has teamed up the boys at the Okavango Guiding School to present you with an incredible opportunity to increase your knowledge of the bush and “bushcraft” with their Guiding School…. Do not be put off by any aspect of tourism here, this is the real deal and you will be attending a course which may have people just like you – like minded, passionate, wildlife people, training right alongside people hoping to become professional guides in the safari industry.
Your trainers will be some of the most qualified guides and guide trainers in Africa boasting degrees in wildlife, the full range of FGASA qualifications and tens-of-thousands of hours experience.
Courses last form 7 to 28 days and you will live, work and breathe in the Botswana wilderness.
This is not a classroom training course. Your training will be right in the thick of the bush… right in the center of the Okavango Delta at the Kwapa Training Camp. The learning experience is influenced by the natural beauty of the area and the habitat’s diversity. Kwapa has a combination of river channel’s, floodplains, lagoons as well as riparian woodland, savannah, mopane scrub, mopane woodland and grasslands.
The safari guide training camp on the Kwapa River is situated in the Okavango Delta of Botswana. The Okavango is one of the most scenically spectacular wildlife areas anywhere in the world. The myriad of crystal clear channels and wildlife rich islands is a habitat unlike any other.
Possibly the most amazing thing about the area is the fact that it is part of a wilderness that stretches unfenced for hundreds of thousands of square kilometres through Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park, the Caprivi Strip of Namibia, southern Angola and southern Zambia.
Is this for you?… are you just an interested tourist?
Absolutely YES…! Some students choose to do the courses purely for enrichment and do not write any of the qualification exams. If you are someone like this then you are not going to get closer to pure knowledge than theses trips.
All the courses are presented in the tabs below, which also give you the start dates and costs. The big thing to remember here is that you will find it difficult to find any Lodge or Mobile Tented Safari at such a low price per night…. especially with the experiences given on these Okavango Guiding Courses. Considering this, these courses really are a bargain.
Guiding School Courses
Summary
The Nature Guide Course (also referred to as the Field Guide Course by FGASA) is a practical and theory based course with a strong emphasis not only on the practical skills of guiding but also the full syllabus used by southern African guides to qualify as a guide. The focus of the course is taking the classroom to the wilderness. While there are informative lectures the majority of the training happens out in nature on foot, in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and depending on water levels, by boat and mokoro (dug-out canoe). The course is modular so you may join the course for 2 or 4 weeks.
Acommodation
Kwapa Camp has nine 3 x 4 meru-style tents with a short passage to an enlarged en-suite bathroom with bucket shower and short drop toilet. Each tent is furnished with two camp beds, sheets, pillows, duvet and towels. A battery-operated LED light is provided in the tents. There is a wash basin relaxing chairs on the covered verandah. Accommodation is on a shared basis with the option of 15% surcharge for single occupation.
Activities
Your typical week
At each meal, duty-guides are encouraged to host the group using acceptable hosting techniques such as leading conversation throughout the meal, making sure drinks are served and “guests” all have what they require before beginning to eat.
12h00 – 13h00: Lunch
13h00 – 14h00: Shower and rest period.
14h00 – 15h00: Presentation by candidates (topic to be discussed with facilitator). Discussion on the content and technique of the presentation.
15h00 – 18h00: Afternoon activity/ training session
18h30 – 19h30: Review of afternoon activity/ training session
19h30 – 20h30: Dinner and daily activities finish Meals – Breakfast, lunch and dinner 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
Whats Included
Summary
The Trails Guide Course is held at our Kwapa Training Camp on the Kwapa River in the southern Okavango Delta. Training to become a Trails Guide is physically demanding. This course comprises of four components:
Acommodation
Kwapa Camp has nine 3 x 4 meru-style tents with a short passage to an enlarged en-suite bathroom with bucket shower and short drop toilet. Each tent is furnished with two camp beds, sheets, pillows, duvet and towels. A battery-operated LED light is provided in the tents. There is a wash basin relaxing chairs on the covered verandah. Accommodation is on a shared basis with the option of 15% surcharge for single occupation.
Activities
Your typical week
Arriving at Kwapa Camp in the late afternoon, the rest of this first day consists primarily of orientation and familiarization of the assessment process to be used for this course. Meals - dinner
Meals - breakfast, lunch & dinner
Whats Included
Summary
The Bush Skills Course is an exciting, new addition to the Okavango Guiding School Courses and developed very much for the international traveler, seeking an intimate African bush experience, full of wilderness adventure and practical information. This 7-night course at our Kwapa Camp in the southern Okavango Delta is a highlights package of the practical and theory aspects of the Nature Guide and Trails Guide Courses. This course is also an ideal introduction for those wanting to do a self-drive safari. While there are informative ‘lectures’ the majority of the training happens out in nature on foot, in a 4-wheel drive vehicle and depending on water levels, by boat and mokoro (dug-out canoe and covers basic survival skills, 4x4 driving skills, walking in the wilderness, animal tracking, dangerous mammal facts, geology of the Delta, astronomy for navigation, birds and useful plants.
Acommodation
Kwapa Camp has nine 3 x 4 meru-style tents with a short passage to an enlarged en-suite bathroom with bucket shower and short drop toilet. Each tent is furnished with two camp beds, sheets, pillows, duvet and towels. A battery-operated LED light is provided in the tents. There is a wash basin relaxing chairs on the covered verandah.
Accommodation is on a shared basis with the option of 15% surcharge for single occupation.
Activities
Whats Included
2021 rates and Dates
14 Nights
USD 3,766 (per 14 nights)
Start dates
April 2nd
April 16th
June 11th
June 25th
August20th
September 3rd
October 29th
November 12th
14 Nights
USD 3,766 (per 14 nights)
Start dates
February 2nd
March 3rd
May 7th
May 21st
July 9th
July 30th
September 24th
7 Days
USD 2,228
March 26th
April 30th
June 4th
June 11th
June 18th
June 25th
July 9th
July 23rd
August 6th
August 13th
August 20th
August 27th
September 3rd
September 10th
September 17th
October 22nd
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