Blog
Best experiences as a Field Guide – Part 3
Picking up from the last blog, we get to the next..... Anton from Manyeleti Game Reserve was a legend… most of our shared stories are not suitable for publication as the two of us together, when left to our own devices in the African Bush, used to amuse ourselves in...
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My Best Experiences as a Field Guide – part 2
Vaughan's stories continue: This was not the only encounter I enjoyed with Sam, there are too many to mention, some of which were even more hair raising (which could explain my thick and luscious locks), like the time we were leading a walk tracking some buffalo. The...
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A Night in the wild
The final week of Semester 1 already! On Tuesday evening, with land rovers and cruisers alike packed up with sleeping bags, roll mats and students, we headed out to Makalali for a much-anticipated sleepout. Our first camp out in a big 5 reserve territory. On the way...
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My best experiences as a Field Guide – Part 1
Those of you who know me will know that my hatred of blog writing stretches further than the reach of an ancient Baobab. I have ducked and dived, bobbed and weaved, crawled and swam, and yet I cannot escape the dreaded responsibility. However, looking back over my...
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An American takes on a manual transmission
An American takes on a manual transmission. Uprooting your life and moving nearly 10,000 miles from home is a lot easier said than done. I have had plans to join Bushwise for two years now and the anticipation for this adventure was at times torturous. Now that I am...
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The week of ‘firsts’
And so the excitement starts…. This was the week of firsts, our first lectures, our first drives and our first test. Our week started off with having an overload of information forced into our brains, from what makes you a professional field guide, to the anatomy of...
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Passing Pangolins
The class of July 2019 started our first day getting to know 22 new names and faces, getting a feel for campus life and starting paperwork. The campus rung out with many “what’s your name again?” as we all settled in and attempted to memorise new slightly nervous...
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In the bush you’ve got to be comfortable with your Neighbours
Creepy crawlies are what we call them in the UK, you read stories as a kid about hungry caterpillars, are told about friendly bees that make honey and sing songs about spiders going up drainpipes. That’s alright for back home, but out here in South Africa the...
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Practical trails course, what an experience
These two weeks at Lowveld trails were to get our apprentice trails guiding. This means that after gaining our ARH (Advanced Rifle Handling) & passing our theory on trails guiding we needed to get some practical experience and assessment. This was done with a 12...
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Fever pitch is high
The mood on campus for the week has been both tense and feverishly ‘busy’. Apart from the last few remaining Advanced Rifle Handling assessments that had to be conducted, as well as the preparation for the upcoming Apprentice Trails Guide exams, all were waiting in...
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