"The 8 weeks spent on the Conservation and
Wildlife Management Course were some of the best weeks of my life. I
thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. The content was delivered in a
very well thought out manner and although we were learning we were
having plenty of fun at the same time. The broad range topics covered in
the course has been particularly useful to me as I plan on going into
wildlife and I think Wayne has a complete understanding of nature and
his surroundings and is very passionate about conservation."
I would recommend anyone who is interested in nature, wildlife and the
outdoors generally, to go on this course. Being right in the bush and
away from the stresses of life is a great tonic and you can take time
out to just sit and listen.
Catherine Francis Feb 2008
"Just one year ago, we were
sleeping under starry skies of Esingeni in that huge tent zipping that
zip down every night (my job, I was always last into the bathroom) in
blind panic in case that scarey rain spider (Ray) tried to scuttle into
the tent to join us on a night! Where's the time gone??????
All I can say is that I look upon my time at Esingeni with very fond
memories - I spent a lot of money to get out there but every penny was
worth it and I learnt loads about conservation, the Bush and myself
during the two months there - best career decision I ever made was to
jump ship for a few months and head to Africa!" Cristina
Paternoster, 2006
"Hiya, I can't believe it's been
one year already. Likewise I spent loadsa money getting out there and am
still paying off my credit card that I used but I don't regret it one
bit! The whole experience changed my life cos I certainly wouldn't be
going to Aberdeen Uni and studying Wildlife Management if I hadn't gone
to S.A. In fact I don't think I would even have got on the course at Uni
if it hadn't been for Wayne's course and his reference he gave me so
thank you very much!" Karen Clark, 2006
FEEDBACK ON THE COURSE AND
DESCRIPTION OF A 'TYPICAL' DAY
by Heather Johnston
(Heather is an ex Travellers volunteer who did the
Course in May 2004. She is now working as part of the Course team in South
Africa, helping to look after our volunteers.)
A typical day on
the Wildlife Conservation Course at Esingeni Bush Camp in the Eastern Cape
On Monday morning the weekly schedule is posted and before the first
lecture or activity, Wayne and Heather discuss the weekly schedule to
involve the students and get feedback.
Breakfast is around 8am. Wayne arrives
shortly after and has a meeting with the course assistant about the days
activities. The first lecture starts at 9am, although in summer we begin
at 8.15am or earlier, depending on the activity and weather. Wayne will be
lecturing on a subject such as plant morphology, herbivore grazing
capacity, bird identification etc. Lectures take about an hour and
introduce the students to the basics of the topic and the goals of the
associated activity.
The academic course consists of a
reasonable mixture of theory and practise and activities are listed on the
schedule as: lecture, field exercise, laboratory exercise, debate, data
collection, and guest lecture or field excursion).
After the lecture and a short break, Wayne
and the students then go out into the field to put into practice what they
have just covered in class. Many activities are reinforced continuously on
field trips or nature drives/walks and students encouraged to make their
own observations and deductions after reading up on the topic. Some
activities require students to read up on the topic the day before.
The farm on which the camp is situated is
3000 hectares, so the number of different walks and habitats available is
vast. The area around Esingeni is unusual in that it is surrounded by 6 of
the 7 biomes (or major plant assemblages) and it is situated in the centre
of the most rapidly expanding game farm industry in Africa with Shamwari
Game Reserve on its western border. This area is thus an ideal field
classroom for budding conservationists, biologists, or interested
individuals.
If the students are in camp over
lunchtime, we generally eat at around 1.00 pm. If we’re on a game drive or
visiting another area, we’ll have taken a packed lunch with us.
In the afternoon, we may have a qualified
guest lecturer visiting to cover specifics on their area of expertise
(e.g. History & Cultures of the Eastern Cape or the Setting up and Running
of a Game Reserve).
At least once a week we’ll arrange a game
drive in either Bushman Sands or Shamwari Game Reserve and in addition we
always do a nocturnal game drive.
We encourage the students to keep a
‘nature journal’ of what they did (i.e. practical experience and skills
obtained) and what they learnt through observation and interpretation.
They are given time in the weekly schedule to list and describe all their
observations and read up further information on plant or animal behaviour,
breeding cycles, feeding ecology etc. The inventories they write or
contribute to be needed by the reserve and land managers or owners.
Depending on what
is happening at that time of year, students will be involved in any
relevant conservation activities in the surrounding parks such as game
capture, vegetation monitoring, game census’, alien plant clearing, soil
erosion etc. It should be clearly noted by future participants that game
capture only takes place in the winter months (May-August) because of heat
stress to animals and higher fatalities, although it still occurs
occasionally in summer (e.g. wandering cheetah).
The day finishes
around 5 pm when the students are free to do as they wish. They can choose
to study further what they have covered in the day, as a small field
library is available.
Supper is around
7pm and although the course assistant is happy to cook, the students are
free to cook for themselves/the group or just lend a hand in the kitchen!
There is usually a braai (or barbeque) and social once every other week
that is great except in winter when it’s a bit chilly outside and
everybody migrates to the warmth of the heated lounge, hot drinks and
board or card games.
AGCA regularly gets
requests to do contracts in provincial game reserves and in private
reserves (e.g. Tsolwane GR & Amakhala GR, respectively) involving
conservation and wildlife management. Tsolwana is 45km E of Queenstown in
the Eastern Cape and 4 hours drive from Esingeni. We cannot commit to most
of these requests, as our primary commitment is training students in
conservation and not producing management guidelines from data collected
for a client. However, we see this as one of the strengths specific to our
program that we wish to develop. It will give students a wonderful
opportunity to see other parts of the country and be involved in real
conservation and wildlife management problems. We feel this is one of the
ways in which students can make a difference and contribute to the
conservation of our natural resources.
The involvement of
Kevin and Natasha [two Travellers volunteers] in December 2005 at Tsolwana
provincial Game Reserve with the fire/vegetation management plan is a good
example. Most of the time is spent doing vegetation surveys and preparing
a vegetation map for Tsolwana reserve. They obviously also get a good
taste of science and the scientific method which is a major job provider
in conservation biology worldwide. The students will be exposed to the
world-renowned fire ecologist, Prof Winston Trollope of Fort Hare
University, a colleague of Dr Wayne Vos, who is in charge of the project.
Students will thus learn a lot working with scientists or private
landowners in the field of conservation during such projects. (Please note
that we cannot guarantee that Travellers volunteers will be involved in
this type of contractual conservation project on each course.)
A rare opportunity - helping to relocate a rhino Inside one of the camp tents Volunteers showing Travellers new Assistant SA Manager
around the camp
A DESCRIPTION OF MY WILDLIFE
COURSE
by Heather Johnston
(Heather is an ex Travellers volunteer who did the
Course in May 2004. She is now working as part of the Course team in South
Africa, helping to look after our volunteers.)
Course summary (May-June 2004)
I applied to
do the Wildlife and Conservation course because I was interested in
pursuing a career within the realms of conservation in South Africa. For
this reason I wanted to obtain my Level One FGASA Certificate and gain an
insight into the basics of the natural history of the Eastern Cape.
The course
was fantastic.
I was
nervous of the fact I had never studied sciences further than GCSE, and
hadn’t studied for quite a while, that I’d find that the course was above
my head. However, the lectures were always backed up with a field
exercise, which meant that I was able to apply everything I’d learned an
hour or two before, so the information stuck in my head. Having an
interest in the subjects covered helped as well.
Living in
the camp was great. It means you’re really immersed in the areas you’re
studying & the fact that you have weekends off means you can still get
your ‘civilisation fix’ as well!
The game
drives in Bushman Sands and Shamwari were always exciting. No matter how
many times you see Giraffe, Impala, or Zebra etc in their natural habitat,
they never fail to impress. Of course, seeing the big game like Rhino,
Lion, Cheetah & Elephant is always a bonus as well.
We were
lucky enough to be involved in the capture of Elephant and Rhino from
Shamwari and translocation to Bushman Sands Game Reserve. It was an
awesome experience and then tracking them in the next few weeks to see if
they settled in was a great follow up. The people involved in the
conservation programmes in Shamwari and Bushman Sands are always happy to
answer your questions and get you involved as much as possible too, which
is fantastic.
The course doesn’t just concentrate on the natural history or conservation
projects in the area, but on the human developments and impacts on the
surrounding communities. We had the opportunity to get involved in the
CARE project run from the township outside Alicedale, playing sports and
interacting with the kids aged 5-16. We also visited the lodges in
Shamwari to see how the tourism industry benefits from conservation.
The overnight trail
was great fun, hard work, but very rewarding. Supper cooked on an open
fire under the stars was a magical experience. The use of stars in
navigation and astronomy in general is covered. I would thoroughly
recommend the course to anyone who wants to get actively involved in
learning about the basics behind conservation, the methods with which it’s
put in place and all the benefits it has on the surrounding areas &
communities.
FEEDBACK ON
THE AGCA COURSE (AUGUST 2005) by Cristina Paternoster
What experience do you feel you are gaining? It's really
hard to describe the kind of experience I got from this course with doing it
any justice! This was my career break as a complete break from the hectic
world of pharmaceuticals and healthcare companies and I must say that
jacking in my job and going to SA to do the placements I did was the best
thing I ever did! I learnt so much about the bush, its flora and fauna, how
to behave around wild animals respecting their personal space and also
allowing them to behave at ease and that's definitely the best way to watch
an animal, astronomy and basic bush survival skills, gun handling (which
let's face it, it is very hard to get anywhere near a gun in the UK and I
must admit I was very scared of the gun and just shot it three times just to
get it all over and done with!), game capture etc. I particularly loved the
weekly game drives/walks in different reserves and quickly found that all
the reserves are very different in terms of the animals that they have there
and their habitats differ and as a result, the animal behaviour can vary. I
had encounters with wildlife (e.g. sitting in a game drive vehicle in
Shamwari GR in my first week in Africa and an elephant next to the vehicle
farted really loudly while he was busy eating thorny acacia and I was
immediately downwind of him! What an experience!) which have given me such
fond memories that I will remember for the rest of my life - it's so hard to
put it into words - go and experience it for yourself!
What is the best thing about your placement? I
thoroughly enjoyed living in the bush for two months. I actually lived in a
tent with the other two girls so we were in each other's pockets 24/7 but we
got along fabulously and forged really good friendships along the way. Also,
each week, we were subjected to weird and wonderful people in game parks,
game capture, ostrich farms etc all in the Eastern Cape - to work with
wildlife, you have to have a great sense of humour (or just be completely
mad!) but also a fountain of knowledge too. The people we met were all
experts in their various fields but so friendly and down-to-earth with it
that we learnt so much from them. One of the best things ever is to sit
outside at night in Esingeni and just marvel at the wonderful starlit night
- you could sit there and watch it for hours! I've never seen so many stars
in my entire life! Absolutely amazing!
Would you recommend this placement to anyone else?
I would recommend this placement to anyone of any background or age who has
a thirst for knowledge when it comes to wildlife. You have to be keen to
learn with this course but it is delivered by Wayne and his colleagues in
such a way that learning's great fun and you take more in that way. A keen
interest in Africa would also be a great help.
What type of person do you think this placement would suit? Someone who
can live in a tent and put up with creepy-crawlies and getting dirty and
sweaty. Anyone who is prepared to "rough it" in other words. I found that
what you put in equated to what you got out of the experience and some of my
best times were times when I was hacking at trees with a machete doing alien
plant clearing - all three of us loved that and we really got stuck into it!
It's an excellent stepping-stone to prepare you for subsequent placements in
game reserves/elephant parks, etc since it taught you the basics of
conservation and wildlife and then you could build upon that knowledge with
practical experience with wild animals. I was advised to do this course
first before my next two placements and it was the best advice that
Travellers could offer me.
Can you think of any improvements that could be made to the placement?None
at all apart from make it longer!!!! All three of us were threatening to
chain ourselves to the tent on the day we had to leave! It was heartbreaking
to leave Esingeni and Wayne, his family and Craig and all the other local
friends that we had made. They really made us feel very welcome and part of
their community in our two months there. I guess one thing would be with the
FGASA workbooks: we got our workbooks in our final week so we were
frantically trying to get them all filled in in time to send off to Jo'burg
- not an easy task! I feel that we would have benefited more if we had had
the workbooks at the start of our course and we could have filled them in as
we went along. But since FGASA have now ditched the open book workbooks, I
guess this comment is no longer valid but it's a comment all the same.
Was there anything that you weren’t told before you went away that you think
future volunteers should know? I would
urge all volunteers to take their driving licenses out to SA with them and
definitely hire a car - the transport links aren't great and the Baz Bus
goes nowhere near Esingeni! Hiring a car between 3 or 4 people works out
quite cheap and you can get around to quite a few places at weekends - we
did the Garden Route, Hogsback, Jeffrey's Bay, PE and also to Louis' Bar
during the week for much-needed beers!
Oh - DO NOT
LEAN AGAINST THE ELECTRIC FENCE AT BORN FREE!!!!! It hurts when you get
10,000 volts going through you - all for me to lean in and get a better
photo of a leopard....it worked though - my photo was good and I provided
great entertainment for the rangers and a bunch of giggling German tourists
- so not in vain then!
Can you describe a typical day? Wow - a
typical day....there wasn't one really. This course is also
weather-dependent (e.g. every time we were supposed to be looking for
reptiles, it rained so we had to juggle our itinerary of the week around to
fit in accordingly - we went reptile-hunting in the end in the bright
sunshine and found.......a grumpy gravid Cape scorpion! Wayne prodding her
with a stick didn't do much to lighten her mood!) so you need to be
adaptable. Each week, Wayne would draw up an itinerary and we would stick
with it unless we had to change at the last minute. We would start our day
at about 9am with a nature walk around Esingeni followed by a lecture and
then some practical work. Lunch and then maybe a game drive in the afternoon
or alien plant clearing instead or maybe fishing or shooting a gun - it all
depended on what was happening. Wayne ensured that we covered all the FGASA
course content easily in the 8 weeks that we were there. Usually, our days
were over by about 5pm unless we were doing night walks in the bush to go
stargazing/night drives/camp out in the bush. There really is no typical day
but an easy-going adaptable nature will ensure that you make the most of
whatever the weather/wildlife will throw at you. Be prepared for Wayne to
come tearing into the bush camp in his Combi early in the morning (I know
he's a shocker for punctuality but this DID happen!) shouting excitedly
"There's a burn happening up the road, let's go and see if they need a
hand!" and you have to go, go, go (grab your camera first though....).
The
real plus for this course is that you get a qualification at the end of it
that is recognised as a qualification in Africa so if you did want to
continue with a career in conservation or even job hunt in Africa, it's an
excellent stepping-stone - that factor alone sold this course to me when I
was searching for a conservation course. Wayne is also extremely
knowledgeable - I don't think I could have wished for a better, genuinely
in-love-with-the-bush guy to lead this course - he was the best! We all felt
perfectly safe with him at all times and even with some of the encounters
that we experienced: getting hemmed-in by a curious bull elephant at Bushman
Sands and not being able to move our vehicle until he had gone - he was
sniffing us all with his trunk (scary but what an adrenaline rush all at the
same time!), flatulent elephants at Shamwari, a very grumpy female leopard
just inches from us at Shamwari etc, we knew that we were in good hands at
all times even with a few narrow escapes!
One
of my personal highlights was to see a lionness called Achee at Born Free in
Shamwari. I had seen her plight on GMTV back in the summer of 2004 and she
used to be kept at the Cypriot Embassy in Bucharest and they did this big
campaign to move her from there to Africa and I had tears in my eyes to see
her happy at Born Free with lots of room to roam. She's not totally free but
much much happier and cared for than before. It was very moving for me to
see her there after seeing her plight on the TV like that.
FEEDBACK ON THE COURSE By
Tim Sutton, May/June 2005.
Tim
sent us lots of feedback during his placement!
Hi
everyone!
To be honest I have no idea when I last emailed anybody.. So where to
start
from might be difficult. Starting will be difficult anyway as I am doing
so much there is little time to think about what day it is let alone what
we've been doing. The days are just packed. Speaking of days I've just
been informed it's Thursday - I thought it was Tuesday.. nevermind..
What's
been going on? Well there's been game drives, a weekend away to
Bathurst which was spent wandering across the road, in increasingly
wavering paths, between two old pubs, as well as horse riding on the
beach. There's been time spent in camp (Esingeni) and a weekend in
Alicedale (I doubt you'll find it on a map - it's the closest town to
camp)..I lost a shoe
(just the one though - quite an achievement) and a toenail, on different
days. I've played a round of golf in Bushman Sands, which is also a Game
Reserve, which was so difficult we didn't finish because we ran out of
balls: the Bushmans river has a few extra pebbles... Bongani took us to
his
local bar in the Township in Alicedale which was an experience - we will
probably go again I'm sure. The social life around Alicedale is
surprisingly good for a small town - there are two other, much larger,
student groups based in town which certainly keeps us entertained.
On the
wildlife front I've seen African Wild Dogs in the wild.. very endangered
and very very cool to see. We nearly hit a hippo in the kombi coming back
from Shamwari Game Reserve. Seeing all the stuff we've seen before over
and over and it doesn't get boring.. We were charged by an angry
individual called Aslan at born free (I have a good video of that!) I'm
positive there's a lot I've missed but at the moment it's all a complete
blur of experiences! Maybe that's the cheap beer.. Either way - off to the
bar next door!
All my love to everyone, Tim
At the end of his
placement Tim sent us some more feedback:
What
experience do you feel you gained?
I learnt a great deal about African Wildlife and conservation, moreso than
other student groups in the same area who are only working on the game
reserves. Living in Alicadale (or near enough) is a good place to learn
about African people as well as there is a large mixed community of
Afrikaans, coloured and Xhosa people in a relatively small town.
What was the best
thing about your placement? The practical field work is obviously the
most exciting thing we do but that is very sporadic and we never really
know when we'll be doing any. The best things are the little things -
seeing the Wild dogs outside their den just after sunset was one of the
highlights so far, as was working with the lion cubs for a day.
Would you recommend
this placement to anyone else? Yes - but only if they really wanted to
learn about the wildlife reather than just work with it.
What type of person
do you think this placement would suit? Absolutely MUST be able to get
along with anyone, even if they might not like them. The groups are very
small and living in camp can get very claustrophobic. Luckily anyone who
does this placement should be of the same mindset if they are willing to
learn and sit an exam at the end - at least that is how it has seemed for
this group.
Was
their anything that you weren’t told before you went away that you think
future volunteers should know? Midwinter nights are
VERY VERY cold. Colder than you think they will be.
Can you describe a
typical day? Not really - every day really is different. Sorry!
This is a very good
placement for anyone serious about LEARNING rather than working with the
wildlife. People should know that there is much less hands on work than
with other volunteer placements, it all depends on what you want to get
out of the thing - I've found that practical volunteers know a lot less
about what they're doing than our group does.
Overall a good
placement - sometimes the camp life is a little closed-off from the
outside world but if you are able to get to Alicedale in the evenings
there are the other student groups to meet and interact with. I have had a
lot of fun and really enjoyed myself, but worked very hard at the same
time. Tim
FEEDBACK ON THE COURSE AND
DESCRIPTION OF A 'TYPICAL' DAY
by Steve Slater (Wildlife Course, November/December 2003)
What experience do you feel you gained?
As well as the broader issues of conservation much
emphasis was on practical application in the field e.g. tracking,
survival, firearms handling, camping, animal monitoring and behaviour
and much more. Also South African culture was touched on.
This is an excellent introduction for anyone wanting
practical skills before going on conservation projects as well as anyone
wanting an experience of a lifetime in a wonderful country.
What was the best thing about your placement? It
is very difficult to single out a best thing as it was all so good. The
emphasis was on experiences and that is what you got.
Would you recommend this placement to anyone else?
Yes - without question. Indeed, I hope to get my daughter on it when she
is 17.
What type of person do you think this placement would
suit? Age groups 17 to 30 or older if you are very fit and are used to
mixing with lively teenagers [Steve is 53 years old - Travellers]. Also
a love of outdoors and animals and an adventurous spirit.
Was there anything that you weren't told before you
went away that you think future volunteers should know?
There is physical work and walking/climbing, etc., in the heat so you
need to be fairly fit. Also you need to have access to extra cash to pay for the
weekend activities. Although they are not compulsory, you would be very
disappointed if you missed them.
Can you describe a typical day? (e.g. Start time,
morning duties, lunch hours, afternoon duties, any other duties....)
There is no typical day on this course as every day is different ...
although they have a plan of activities for the week, it is never kept
to. If there is something special happening on the Reserves, they go
straight to see it. This sounds haphazard but it is a strength as you do
not miss opportunities and special sightings.
Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring
Road, Worthing,
West Sussex, BN12 4AP, England
Tel: +44 (0)1903 502595 Fax: +44 (0)1903 708179
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