It’s been just a week since I started my training at Limpopo Field Guiding Academy and the days spent have all been full of emotions and amazement! This is the first time that I have visited Africa, but in reality, I have been attracted to this continent since I was a young girl.
Everything I now experience is new and incredibly fascinating! The first night in my tent was unforgettable; I was in my sleeping bag, writing down some thoughts about the first day of the course when suddenly I heard a roar in the distance that immobilised me. It was the call of a lion, not too far from our base camp, that signalled to the other lions that that this was its territory!
The days here pass quickly – they start with a breath-taking sunrise and then with the first light of day we depart for the game drive training activities. The amazing thing is that every day, twice a day, we leave for the training drive accompanied by experienced guides who share their knowledge with extreme passion. In just one week we have acquired valuable knowledge about plants and their medicinal uses, we have sighted zebra, wildebeest, cheetah, giraffe, buffalo, elephant, lion, mongoose, reptiles and so many bird species! We have observed them from afar and tried to interpret their behaviour in nature. We have studied their signs of passage, their tracks and their markings and every day ends with moments of silence in front of unforgettable sunsets.
The respect and ethics that I have found in our instructors were a confirmation of the choice to leave for this adventure and to come to this Academy. Every game drive and every activity in the savannah is carried out carefully, respecting the animals and the environment, our instructors always try to meet our expectations and train us in the best way. I chose the two-month FGASA training course to become a safari nature guide, it is a theoretical and practical course that issues the CATHSSETA nature guide certification, a necessary recognition for registration at NDT, the National Department of Tourism in South Africa.
In addition to the nature knowledge aspect, there is the human sphere, not to be underestimated. It embraces you every time you share with the other students; the lectures, the meals and the daily tented camp life during the free moments. In fact, this experience offers the opportunity to interface with people from all over the world, to share with them different feelings, emotions and experiences. The incredible thing that unites us is the strong passion for nature, that same nature that makes us excited and that frees us from every mask!
The most significant day for me thus far, was one in which we were lucky enough to see giraffe, buffalo and elephant, but above all, the sighting of a lioness at sunset, which I shall explain. In Italy I work with monitoring of ungulates and carnivores and I carry out outdoor education activities in schools, A few years ago, while at University, I did my thesis at a wildlife recovery centre, where I was in charge of the management of primates and large felines recovered from mistreatment in zoos or circuses. Among these there were also lions. This explains why that day, ending with the sighting of a lioness watching the sunset was so significant, because yes, even animals enjoy the sunset!
My greatest satisfaction, and in fact I would go so far as to say, a liberating experience for me, was that of being able to lock eyes with a free-roaming lioness in her natural environment, without fences or bars to prevent her from living according to her natural instincts. This first sighting of a lion freed me from the guilt and responsibility of being human, the very bond to the people who had forced those felines to live in captivity forever.
I am really satisfied with the path I have chosen and if these are the moments and feelings I have experienced in just one week of the course, I am even more curious to find out what lies in store for us in coming months of training at Limpopo Field Guiding Academy!
Stay tuned for more experiences from the field with Claudia and others.