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From humble beginnings way back in 1993, when a handful of passionate
individuals saw the opportunity to provide the tourism industry with qualified
nature-guides, to the leader in this field today.
This is the story of EcoTraining.
For the past 20 years, thousands of people with a deep love for nature,
an appreciation of all things wild and wonderful and a passion for
conservation, have attended our courses in wilderness camps across Africa. And armed with this knowledge, they have gone
on to make a difference and spread the message of reconnecting with nature in a
meaningful way.
Michael
Clark, who trained with EcoTraining more than 10 years ago, is currently in
Nepal, training up young Nepali naturalists.
Says
Michael:
“The variety
of subjects is incredibly diverse and comprehensive, and the practical element
provides you with experiences that are hard to put into words. Anyone who is
serious about a career in eco-tourism or simply wants a sabbatical from work,
the experiences you can have on a course can lead to a whole new way of life,
and provide you with memories to truly cherish.”
Like Marc Lindsay Rea, who says he’s now living the dream, thanks in
part to EcoTraining who has put him in a very privilege position indeed, as a
fully qualified field guide leading people into the wilderness and onto
memory-making adventures.
“I have such a thirst for acquiring knowledge about wildlife and nature
from around the world and I am lucky to have the privilege to guide guests
through these exciting places. I thank and appreciate everybody and every
company that has put in many long hours to help get me to the position I am at
now. Thank you!”
Yes, we are essentially a field guide training company, training guides
for the industry. But with shorter courses and excursions on birding, tracking, photography and bush
survival, and from anything between four and 28 days, we are also catering to
the tourist with a conscience.
Today’s tourist
is a thinking traveler who wants to
have fun while gaining a better understanding of the natural world. And this is
where a company like EcoTraining is stepping in and creating an experience with
a difference.
Like Richard Schmid from Switzerland
who was born in Mombasa and spent the first seven years of his life in Kenya.
He went back to the country of his birth to take part in a 28 Day Field Guide
course in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy.
For Richard there’s no other way to
travel.
“I travel like this all the time, to
go out and actually do something, on a course like this to be directly and
actively involved in something. I now know so much more, my base of knowledge
has broadened considerably and I’m not regretting it for one moment. We have an
ecological responsibility and I think people are becoming more and more aware
of it all the time.”
Through the years the EcoTraining
qualification have become the trusted nature-guide training standard in the
industry, giving people from all walks of life and from all over the globe the
opportunity to become one with nature. We have trained all across the African
continent and also in many other parts of the world.
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And
our wilderness camps in South Africa (Makuleke, Selati, Karongwe), Botswana (Mashatu)
and Kenya (Lewa), is where it is all happening. It’s in these simple unfenced bush
camps in the middle of these great wilderness areas participants truly get to experience
what it is like to live in wild places. Under the guidance of experienced
instructors, countless hours are spend walking or driving in the bush, and an
understanding of our place in the natural world is cultivated.
Africa indeed
just has its way with people. The continent’s wild and wonderful places lure
people from all over the globe, to come and explore and then to return wherever
they are from with vivid memories to last a life time.
You will get
all this, and so much more, on an EcoTraining course.
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But don’t
just take our word for it. From the horse’s mouth, or in this case, Nick Baker,
a former professional field guide course participant:
“The beauty
of this course is the extended time one spends out there, nothing is rushed and
every day one learns something new, building a quite awesome knowledge base… I
miss it today and will miss it every day that I am not there. The experience is
total and is built of a complicated set of components, animals, birds, trees,
plants, insects, soil, water, weather, stars, sights, sounds, smells,
magic… The bush does funny things to
your head. It has got inside mine…”
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Candice Wagener McGuire echoes these
sentiments:
“I guide because I like sharing my passion with those around
me, I love seeing how the bush inspires every single being. My day is made when
I see how people brighten up when they spend their holiday in the bush, how the
smallest things put a smile on their faces. When I guide, I feel like I’m
making a small difference to keep Africa alive in everyone’s hearts.”
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