THIS COURSE IS EXCELLENT. It's
an outstanding opportunity to learn and experience first-hand how to
conserve African wildlife. Practical Fieldwork on Nature Reserves on the
management and conservation of African Wildlife. These courses can be done for 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 8-weeks
and consist of practical work on a
selection of Game Reserves where you'll learn practical conservation
skills. The information given below is based on the 8-week course.
The management and conservation of our wildlife and
the environment is very important.
Without these components, life would simply not be able to sustain
itself. It is therefore important to gain the correct insight and
knowledgeinto CONSERVATION
AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.
►SUMMARY
FACTFILE
Start Dates
All year round - there are set
start dates which are listed below in the description of the course.
Duration
Minimum stay 2 weeks and up to 1 year, subject to visa
requirements
Requirements
No qualifications needed, just a
big dose of enthusiasm for conservation and the outdoors.
Price
From £1,195 for 2 weeks, ranging to £3,495 for
8 weeks.
Full Price List
What's included
►Course
fees and some materials
►Accommodation
►Food
►Full pre-departure support
►Local in-country team support
and backup
►24-hr emergency support
►Free
SA Sim Card for your mobile/cell phone.
What's not included
Flights, Insurance,
Cost of Visas (if a visa is required, but we'll provide necessary documents and
assistance),
pick-up and return transfer to
the airport.
Who can do this Project?
All our projects are
open to all nationalities.
Unless otherwise stated, you need to be aged between 17 and 70+
COURSE OVERVIEW These
courses are based about 8 km outside
Alicedale and have been developed to educate people worldwide
about the importance of conservation and how to manage wildlife and its
natural environment. The courses cover many different
areas of conservation and wildlife management, depending on the length of
course you choose. For example, the 8-week course includes:
South
Africa and African cultures
Conservation
Plants
Animals
Animal
behaviour
Interactions and interrelationships in nature
Camping
and Trails
Orientation skills
Mammal,
bird, insect, reptile and plant identification
Spoor
identification and tracking skills
Wildlife
research, data collection and scientific methodology
Animal
diseases
Game
reserve establishment and maintenance
You will
receive an African Global Conservation Academy certificate on completion
of the course
"Just
two days ago we had the opportunity to see the same team of guys
capturing two White Rhino with the vet which I am sure that most of us
will never have the chance to see again.Being literally feet away from
these huge beasts is just breathtaking. Very cool."
Volunteer's Report
COURSE DATES
(for more dates in 2009 and 2010, please
contact us)
8-week Wildlife Management &
Conservation course: 4 May - 26 June 2009
29 June - 21 Aug 2009
7 Sept - 30 Oct 2009
*2 Nov - 18 Dec 2009 * Note this course is only 7 weeks long
11 Jan - 5 Mar 2010
4-week ‘Introduction
to Conservation’ Course Start Dates: 4 May - 29 May 2009
29 June - 24 July 2009
7 Sept - 2 Oct 2009
2 Nov - 27 Nov 2009
11 Jan - 5 Feb 2010
2-week Discover
Conservation course:
4 May - 15 May 2009
29 June - 10 July 2009
7 Sept - 18 Sept 2009
2 Nov - 13 Nov 2009
11 Jan - 22 Jan 2010
Course dates are subject to change. Please check availability.
Brief Summary of likely Contents and Outcomes of the 8-Week Wildlife
Management & Conservation Course:
(If you'd like to read a detailed breakdown of the
various sections of the course, please
click here.
1. Orientation
2. General Knowledge
3. Conservation
4. Knowledge of Animals
5. Knowledge of Plants
6. Interactions and interrelationships in nature
7. Camping and Trails
The experience will focus on the
practical components allowing you plenty opportunity to apply your knowledge
from the classroom and to have good fun doing so.
Local cultural involvement is a key part of the programme,
this will be achieved by assisting the local schools and communities in
their projects (students have found that bringing discarded clothes and
shoes, like trainers and school stationary are gratefully received by the
community), some eco education work at Born Free on Shamwari.
An opportunity to do an amazing Wild Coast African Heartland
trail (highly recommended) is available mid way through the programme.
Read
Volunteers' Feedback of the Course, plus a description of "A Typical
Day" - it will give you a good 'feel' of what you can learn and experience
on this very worthwhile and enlightening Course.
What qualifications could I obtain?
Certification: The
Nature Site Guide (NQF2) or Field Guides Association of Southern Africa
(FGASA) Level 1 course is a South African National qualification.
The FGASA certificate is well worth having: it is the national standard
for working as a nature guide or ‘ranger’ in the wildlife and tourism
industries in South Africa.
In our eight-week course you write the theory part of the NQF2/FGASA
Level 1 course. We can also prepare you to be examined/assessed on the
practical component of the course. To do this you may need to
stay longer (at extra cost) to get enough practical experience to pass
the practical exam and so get the full qualification. The FGASA theory
exam dates do not always coincide with our course dates so you may need
to stay in the country longer in order to sit the exam. Usually 3 exam
sittings annually.
The cost of FGASA registration and membership, and of sitting the FGASA
theory exam, is not included in the cost of the course. If you wish to
take the exams, you will need to pay for them.
A first aid course through St John’s Ambulance costs approx. R750 per
person, and is only required if you do the NQF2/FGASA Level 1
practical exam or the full qualification.
Most people only manage to complete the theory part of FGASA Level 1 in
an eight-week course. Please let us know before you arrive if you wish
to do the FGASA theory exam, so that you can arrange membership before
arrival.
Nature Guiding Level 1 (NQF2)
This course runs together with the
Conservation & Wildlife Management course and the content is very
similar. After two months you should be ready to sit the theory exam. If
you decide to do the full qualification, you may need more training in
the field, to prepare you for the practical exam/assessment.
"The hardest part of this month has been saying goodbye to everyone.
Unfortunately we have to leave tomorrow and our attempts to get
people to adopt or marry us so we can stay have proved unsuccessful. Once
you get here you will never want to leave as it is so wonderful."
Volunteers'
Course Report
"On one day
we saw a traditional Xhosa dancing display which was
fascinating and a cultural highlight! On one weekend we went to Cintsa and took a day trip to the Transkei. This was really great, we
went cliff diving, visited a traditional Xhosa village, had a taste of
some traditional stomach ache medicine brewed for
us by a witch doctor. We finished on the cliffs
watching the whales and the sun set over the Indian Ocean
whilst drinking a cold beer!!"Volunteer's Report
Photo taken during an educational trip - one of a
selection that you may go on during the course. Darting from a helicopter during a game capture in order to
tag the game for monitoring
HOURS OF WORK AND TYPICAL DAY
You’ll generally be working on week days but
also sometimes at weekends. Days generally start at 08h00, finishing
roughly 18h00. The work can be quite physical at times, with hiking for
up to around 3 hours, so you need to be fairly fit and healthy.
A typical day might be something like the following, but please note
that this can and will change at different times on the course:
07h15 – Breakfast
08h00 – Briefing for day’s scheduled activities
08h30 – 11h00 – Nature walk with binoculars and field guides
11h30 – 12h30 – Lecture on alien plant control and impacts,
including safety and the use of equipment
12h30 – 13h30 – Lunch in camp
13h30 – 16h30 – Leave camp to cut alien trees, clear up
16h30 – Start trip/walk home
17h00 – Return to camp, discuss the day’s activities and review
what was learnt, and be briefed on the next day’s schedule
18h30 – Supper; then you can play board games, study, relax, or
go to bed
As part of your wildlife management
training, work on the reserve will often involve developing trails,
counting game, fixing fence holes, removing snares, chopping out alien
trees, or soil erosion control.
Less strenuous tasks may include collecting flowering plants for the
species list, calculating wildlife stocking densities, or monitoring
habitat conditions by means of a grass survey.
As part of your nature guide training, you may be asked to work with
tourists or school groups visiting Esingeni camp by taking part in the
environmental training or setting up camp.
Apart from these general points, it is hard to describe a ‘typical’ day!
There is a wide range of activities, so the schedule is rarely the same
from course to course. However, the core course topics are covered on
each eight-week course, and you will go on nature walks at least three
days a week.
There are at least three one-hour lectures a week, following by field
exercises (such as observation or data collection). Other activities
could include game capture, guest lectures, fire fighting, or a visit to
the Albany Natural History Museum in Grahamstown. Our flexible schedule
allows us to go on field trips at a moment’s notice – for example, when
something exciting is happening, or when we need to avoid bad weather.
Please note that the course content and schedule will vary, and
is often dependent on the weather. But we try to avoid major changes in
the schedule, and these are always discussed with you beforehand.
ADDITIONAL
ACTIVITIES YOU CAN DO WHILE ON THIS PROJECT:
5-DAY OR 7-DAY SAFARI from
Cape Town up the renowned Garden Route: taking in Dolphin and Whale
Spotting, visits to many tourist attractions, such as a visit to a
brewery(!), the Bloukrantz Bungy Jump (reportedly the highest in the world),
and a guided tour of the Cango Caves.
1 WEEK WHALES, SHARKS AND DOLPHINS
Project: This is
an extraordinary and exciting project in a beautiful location, surrounded
by white beaches and blue ocean. And two hours from the world's third
favourite city - Cape Town.
What more could anyone want?
PARAGLIDING COURSE: Soar over the impressively beautiful Drakensburg
Mountain. You'll get a licence at the end of the course which qualifies you
to do solo paragliding around the world.
5-DAY BUSH
SURVIVAL COURSE: This is a fantastic experience and opportunity to
see lots of wild animals in their native habitats in Game Reserves. You'll
learn a lot and you'll really enjoy learning some bush skills in the great
outdoors!
Winter
accommodation Olive House
YOUR
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation will
vary, depending on the activities and also on other circumstances on the
ground, but will likely be as follows for periods during the course:
As befits an African
Wildlife course, you will be camping out in the bush in tented
accommodation, but these are no ordinary 2-man pup-tents. They are large and
fairly luxurious, with proper beds and small verandas out front where you
can sit in the evening and look out at the beautiful views.
You’ll
share a tent with 1 to 3 other people and there is a shower and ablutions
block on the site, as well as a kitchen.
The camp is situated
in a small valley with ridges on either side. There is a river running
through and the site is very African and beautiful. It is very rustic with a
mixture of tents and thatched stone buildings for the lecture room, kitchen
and ablution block.
The camp is located
on a working farm, part of which is given over to wildlife as a conservation
reserve. This means that you
could be woken up in the morning to the sounds of cattle lowing, or you
could stroll around and see buck and other smaller wildlife roaming in the
bushes close to your camp.
As our
September/October volunteers said, "Living
in this truly wilderness camp is wonderful (although the road into it is a
tad bumpy). Waking to the sound of birds singing and nothing else is bliss.
Having the opportunity to see the night sky in all its glory without the
light pollution is an opportunity seldom presented in the UK. A visit to the
5 star lodges in Shamwari Game Reserve was great but they are not as special
or private as our wilderness camp. Food on camp is splendid! Our wonderful
cooks Violet and Nozuko will prepare delicious meals through the week and
their cake and bread is to die for!"
Food:
All meals will be provided( and
we have had comments from previous volunteers that the cook is very good!).
Meals will usually consist of light breakfast, lunch/packed lunch and supper
is the main meal. Food will usually be typical Western food. During
practical outings, packed meals will be provided.
You will have access
to the kitchen while in the camp so that you can make yourself a hot drink
and/or snacks.
Laundry:
There is a laundry service in
the village which will cost you about R20 a week, but some people choose to
do their washing in the basin on site.
Activities:
Given that this is a camp site, there are no city-type amenities like TV,
etc., but there are facilities in
Alicedale (a very small town about 8 km away), such as
Internet, swimming pool, café, shops, etc., ... and
Louis' Pub!
Communication:
There is no land-line in the camp site but you will have limited access to
email facilities. Cell phone communication is normally available but while
you’re in camp, you will need to climb to the top of the ridge in order to
get reception.
Location:
The location of the campsite is
close to the rapidly-developing small town of Alicedale, in the Eastern
Cape. Alicedale is 90 km (approx 70 miles) from
Port Elizabeth and 20 km
from the university town of Grahamstown. Shamwari Game Reserve is fairly
close by, as is Burchills and Bushman Sands.
Translocating a rhino - this was a
very rare opportunity to experience transportation of animals between
Reserves - not part of the project but a wonderful experience that
happened to arise during the time of the course!
Volunteers re-enacting periods South Africa's history,
during their cultural heritage lesson. Seen here portraying different
costumes of different tribes and periods in history
TRAVEL:
You'll fly into Port Elizabeth. You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Limited, ATOL No. 6856.
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
VISAS:
Visa’s are not required for a stay of 90 days if you are a British Passport
holder. If you're from another country, we'll liaise with you about
your visa requirements, if any, and make the Visa process very easy.
Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our
volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination
country.
Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa
and the level of your air ticket,
of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavor to get
a changeable ticket.
To read about the excellentSupport
& Backup we provide before you leave and during
your programme,
please click here.
We can also arrange your flight
dates
to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a
fascinating and wondrous country!
Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring
Road, Worthing,
West Sussex, BN12 4AP, England
Tel: +44 (0)1903 502595 Fax: +44 (0)1903 708179
Email:
info@travellersworldwide.com
.
+44 01903 502595
