Field Guide Courses Africa – Become a Game Ranger in Africa's Wilderness

I became African addicted years ago and travelled several times to different southern African countries as a „normal“ tourist. When I got the chance to use the time between 2 jobs I decided to do something MORE …and… a Level 1/Field Guide Course is more than more.

The 55 days program is a very intensive time out in the Bush. Wildlife, Nature and fascinating animal-encounters increased my heartbeat. I’ve been constantly outside for weeks = super!!! The night sky with 2.500 Stars makes you more than wow and when you encounter one of the Big 5 on foot… this it´s a double wow… no it´s a triple ;-)

During the course I’ve learned a lot about Astronomie, Animal-behaviour, Birds (and their calls) and much, much more. After a while you´re realizing that everything linked, nature works as a fine balanced system and you see the Savanna with different eyes.

Daniels Team around Natucate provided an excellent service and kept me always in the loop on what I had to organize before and during the course. Out there is much more to discover than Facebook. I say: Do it!!! and we might meet because I´ll definitely go back…

During the 55 days Field Guide Level 1 course I stayed in Selati and Mashatu and experienced a whole new world for myself! In between jobs, I decided to do something completely different than my usual office work to clear off my head and boy – was that different!

In a small team of 9 students, we learned all about navigating, surviving in the African bush and understanding the environment that surrounded us. We spotted so many amazing animals on our game walks and drives like lions, elephants, hyena, rhinos and my personal highlight – an African fish eagle (somehow the variety of birds really got to me). I was amazed about how fast our small group grew together during the lectures we learned and our time in the bush. Also the support our guide gave us during the stay was very good as he was a patient teacher and you could tell that he was passionate about the African nature. Together we focused on the things our guide showed us and learned step by step to identify the sounds of different animals, got to know their tracks and followed them to find their creator.

At first I have to say that I was a little nervous during the nights, as I grew up in a city with traffic noise and sirens during the night so it was completely new (and unsettling) to me to listen to nature and wild animals while falling asleep. After a While I got used to it and actually enjoyed the peaceful sounds:) In the end it was a once in a lifetime experience and if I got the chance, I would totally do it again!

I can highly recommend Daniel and his team when planning to spend some valuable time abroad. They are enthusiastic about what they are doing, provide you with the necessary information to plan a successful stay abroad and support you no matter if you are still at home or already abroad.
In my case I knew I could rely on Daniel and his team at all times - when there occurred a transportation problem from Johannesburg to one of the camps the other day, Daniel essentially helped to get things settled from back home in Germany.
Also he was never tired to answer all my questions ;-) even if he must have heard them a thousand times before ;-)
:-) :-) :-)