As part of our ongoing Corporate Social Investment initiative, Limpopo Field Guiding Academy (LFGA) recently sponsored a full, two-month, FGASA endorsed Apprentice Field Guide training course for two individuals from local communities in Limpopo Province. Getrude Mmola and Clement Moropane, both from communities bordering the world-renowned Kruger National Park, attended training at LFGA’s Tau Camp during the months of May and June of this year. The flagship product in the LFGA guiding faculty is centered around the CATHSSETA NQF2 (National Qualification Framework, Level 2) qualification, this being the basic legal requirement to start a career as a Field Guide in South Africa.
With assistance from FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa), who sponsored the basic food and accommodation costs, LFGA were able to deliver the full program for the two candidates, both of whom performed admirably over the period and put themselves in the best possible position to qualify as beginner nature guides in the safari industry in South Africa. There was an additional sponsor, Tchagra Trails – a company also based in Limpopo Province, who were generous enough to assist the students with optional extras on course such as the basic First Aid course and the CyberTracker Track and Sign Interpretation evaluation.
Although both Getrude and Clement found the pace of learning and weekly, formative assessments to be challenging, they gave it their all and produced the desired result each week of the cumulative, eight-week program. Each week builds on the previous one and with the expert mentorship of our FGASA-endorsed instructors, learners are guided through 18 different modules, ranging from guiding skills through all aspects of nature knowledge and culminating in summative assessments towards the qualification in the final week on site. There are also skills-intensive weeks within the greater program, such as the birding intensive week, during which students are exposed to as many avian species as possible in the area of operation. Bird identification by sight and sound, behaviour, nesting habits and more are all studied in detail, both in the field and also with multi-media, such that the learner is repeatedly exposed to the subject material and gains in confidence and proficiency each day. Similar exposure is gained in Track and Sign Interpretation, another one of the intensive weeks at LFGA.
Undoubtedly, one of the highlights of the program is the Basic Dangerous Game (DG) intensive week, whereby students have the opportunity to approach the Big 5 and other potentially dangerous animals on foot. This should not be confused with the FGASA Apprentice Trails Guide course, which is a separate process that can only be attended after learners have already achieved the NQF2 qualification. The Basic DG week allows learners who are essentially vehicle based guides, to learn the habits of dangerous animals, how to safely approach them by vehicle and also the basic procedures for encounters on foot.
As this article goes to print, Getrude and Clement are in their final week of the program and are currently being put through the paces of preparation and assessment for the final qualification. Both learners have passed the theory components very well and now its all about the practical testing. This includes conducting a game drive for guests, slide and sound testing and also aspects such as astronomy, whereby learners are required to interpret the night sky for guests.
Stay tuned to our ongoing blog to discover more about the daily life of students at Limpopo Field Guiding Academy and their journey to becoming qualified Safari Guides in South Africa and beyond!
For course enquiries, contact Linky on:
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