Before I can get started wandering Africa in a khaki uniform that
would make Steve Irwin swoon, I need to get my visa.
This packet has almost everything I need
to turn in and get the process going. Almost all the paperwork is done, got my
new passport, got all my shots. The last things I'm waiting for is the
background check from the FBI ensuring SA that I am not a criminal (Of course
if I was a criminal, and I'm not saying I am, the FBI would never find
out...Just saying).
The school I will be joining is called Bushwise, and in short it's
going to be a lot of work for a very difficult field. It's located in a area
called Limpopo and Kruger National Park (South Africa's largest and most famous
reserve) is right on the border, so day trips will be a regular.
Most of the class work will follow the
Field Guides Association of Southern Africa's (FGASA) guidelines for
professional guides. And this alone makes up a high amount of learning for the
six months.
The list includes...
Guiding in the natural environment and
Creating a guided experience
Geology
Weather and Climate
Astronomy
Ecology
Biomes
Taxonomy
Plants - Trees and Grasses
Arthropods
Fish
Amphibians
Reptiles
Birds
Mammals
Animal Behaviour
Conservation Management
Historial Human Habitation
Basically if any guest has a question about anything: from how far
away is the sun to what colour will their tongue turn if they eat that
poisonous berry, I need to have the answers.
On top of those requirements I'll also get MORE specialized
training from the school which includes...
Vehicle Skills and basic mechanics
4 x 4 Training
Specialist Guest Speakers
Hospitality & hosting basics in a
lodge environment
Principles of anti-poaching
Survival & Navigation
Viewing Potentially Dangerous Animals
Rifles & Rifle Handling
Bush first aid skills
Tracking (Cybertrack Track and Sign)
Wildlife Photography
It's going to be long and it's going to be hard, because not only
do I get six months of this, I then go on to working in a park for six months
to get on the job training and taking visitors out to see all that Africa has.
So soon I'll be down in the Bushveld (Definition:
The Bushveld is a sub-tropical woodland ecoregion of Southern Africa named
after the term veld which is a rural landscape in Southern Africa).
It's interesting to see the different responses from people when I explain I'll
be like those guys in the documentary driving the trucks and having all manner
of wonderful, yet dangerous, animals be literally right there. Half are wide
eyed and ready to come down for a trip, other shake their head and assure me
they couldn't do it.
They look something like this...
Of course there are large animals, poisons
critters hot days and extreme predators roaming the savanah; but there is not
anywhere else I can think of spending my days that could be more exciting. Who
really wouldn't want to see a animal sprint 95km a hour? Or watching over
2,060,000 animals cross during the great migration? Or spend the nights out
where you are miles from the light pollution of a city?
I think whoever does not have a desire to
see or experience nature at it's greatest are not only playing the fool, but
cheating themselves of the most extraordinary and spectacular things our world
has. No city in the world can match the Grand canyon or Vic falls in inspiring
awe, no artist could ever outdo the Aurora borialis, and no video game or movie
could bring the thrill and heart pound as leaping from rock into a ocean below.
"Look deep into nature, and you will
understand everything better." ~ Albert Einstein
