General Information & FAQs

Foreign nationals do require a visa to enter SA – the most common is the tourist visa, which you can apply for at the South African embassy or consulate in your country of origin. The SA tourist visa is valid for 90 days and will cover the duration of all of our course options, except the 6-month Safari Guide course. If you are attending the 6-month Safari Guide course, the two options are:

• Apply for a student visa; we write support letters in that regard. Duration needed is 6 months.
• Come into SA on a regular tourist visa and then apply for an extension when you are in SA. That extension application needs to be done within the first 30 days of your original 90-day tourist visa.

Summer (September – March) is warm to hot. Night time can get a bit cooler and if there is rainfall the temperature will drop. Although hardly needed in summer, warmer clothes should be on standby. A rain jacket is essential.

Winter (April – August) is cold at night and mild during the day. It does typically warm up enough during the day out in the bush to wear shorts, but always have a jacket close at hand. Cold fronts can occur in winter, in which case it will be cold day and night.

You are provided with course manuals on site, as part of your course. If you have registered independently with FGASA, then we do not provide you with FGASA manuals on site (you would get them directly from FGASA)

If you so choose, you can order extra field reference books through FGASA before the course starts, and they are then able to post them to your own post box. It is best to get all books required before you arrive on course.

Please note that African postal services are notoriously poor in service and long delays can be expected. It may be prudent to order well in advance or alternatively use a global service such as Amazon, for book purchases.

You also have the option to purchase the ground-breaking Pathfinder book (Recommended reading) as an optional extra on your invoice with LFGA. While not prescribed, this book is a great asset and will serve you well in your career ahead.

The best option if you do not have your own transport to camp is to make use of a shuttle service to bring you through to camp. Shuttle service options:

Mr Shuttle – +27(0)827481651 info@mrshuttle.co.za.

Waterberg Transfers: Cell: +27(0)823206515 or info@waterbergtransfers.com

Other options include:

• Hiring a car at the airport – all major suppliers are present. Please note that this would either involve keeping a hire car for a lengthy duration or paying for the hire company to pick it up from our base camp.
• Arranging shared transport with fellow students who also arrive on that day at OR Tambo Airport – please ask Linky at our office to put you in touch with a shared email, if you would like to explore this option further.

Please note that all transport to and from our base camp is not included in course prices and is for your own account.

There is cellular data signal available at our base camp, with the Vodacom network being the better option for coverage.  The signal is a bit sporadic at times. There is also WiFi at the host lodge close by.

Please note that all students are required to be away from base-camp during break week; the camp is closed for mandatory maintenance during those times.

Most students either go home (if SA students) or visit friends. If you are international then your options are to either travel or stay with friends.

A great option for students during the break between course phases, is to visit No Place Like Home (Check out their Facebook page). Based in St Lucia, KZN, this wonderful guesthouse is run by LFGA graduates, for LFGA students. Study for your exams and prepare for your practicals with help from past students. Experience the IOCB Biome and all it has to offer. Spectacular wildlife and scenery at affordable rates make this the ideal venue for your break.

The short answer is no, you do not NEED it. While many guiding jobs in the industry do require it, there are plenty of other options that do not require it.

Yes, you may obtain such work legally, if you have a work permit, critical skills visa or similar. That is a lengthly process and can only be done from country of origin, with the support of an employer. That goes beyond the scope of our courses and such permits are not necessary to attend our courses. It is not necessary to obtain work experience in order to complete our courses.

For those attending the 6-month Safari Guide course, this includes a 10-week practical placement in the greater tourism / conservation industry. That could either be in guiding or in other areas of conservation.

Yes, you do need to register with NDT in the province that you will guide in SA. This is easily obtainable for South Africans, but more challenging for foreign nationals. Foreigners would need a work permit or critical skills visa for NDT registration in SA.

Fortunately, you do not require work experience for your entry level guiding qualification in SA and those doing the 6-month Safari Guide course have options in the conservation industry which do not require NDT registration (see point 9 above).