Safari Guide Training
Train to be a safari guide in Kenya!
Twenty eight adventure-packed days training to be a safari guide in Kenya whilst living and learning about nature and ecology from a wilderness camp in the Lewa Conservancy.
During your stay you will take part in a variety of learning activities whilst driving and walking in some of the most stunning areas of Africa. The course is structured to maximize the practical experience of our students in the bush, emerging the
participant in nature. Each day allows for hours spent in the field interpreting the ecology and enjoying the wildlife experience.
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a private reserve in north-east Kenya near Mount Kenya National Park,
Samburu and the Aberdares. The number of visitors to Lewa has been greatly restricted, giving you the opportunity to experience Africa at its wildest. Lewa is malaria-free and is situated at 4,500 to 6,500 feet (1,400-2,000 metres) above sea level.
See the elephants of Kenya on the Safari Guide Training course.The Lewa Downs within the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is a 16,000 hectare ranch that has been the home of the Craig family since 1924. They manage the Lewa Safari Camp and Wilderness Trails lodge. In addition, Ngwesi Lodge, as part of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, is a community run tourism project that has won world acclaim.
Only three other operators on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy offer safaris and only the lodge visitors may enter the reserve. So, when you visit Lewa Conservancy, you will be far from the crowded safari trails and can enjoy the vastness of this beautiful region in tranquillity.
In 1995 the Craig family turned their entire farm on the northern slopes of Mt Kenya into the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, with a mandate to protect and conserve the wildlife of Kenya. They had to convince the local communities to stop seeing animals as competition for their cattle's grazing and instead see them as a source of income. This was achieved and many fences were taken down and old migration routes were reopened to the animals.
Lewa Downs is now an area of outstanding natural beauty with the Lewa River giving life to dense woodland and patches of open savannah providing the perfect habitat for a whole range of Kenya's animals. Community development projects have also proved successful, and nearby areas have benefited from the Conservancy's experience and support. Il Ngwesi is a 16,500 acre (6,677ha) group ranch, which now includes a lodge, is owned and run by the Laikipiak Maasai.
All profits are returned to the community who are now avid supporters of conservation. Kenya leads the way in the transformation of private farms into wildlife reserves and the safari experience in these places is quite unique. Catalyst for Conservation The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy aims to work as a catalyst for the conservation of wildlife and its habitat through the protection and management of species, the initiation and support of community conservation and development programmes, and the education of neighbouring communities in the value of wildlife.
One of Lewa’s fundamental objectives is to conserve threatened species within its area of operation by providing protected habitat for these species under pressure. Lewa is actively involved in promoting conservation both within its boundaries and in the ecologically important community-owned areas to its north. Lewa has been instrumental in the creation of community conservation areas in the contiguous and northern regions to the Conservancy which have helped increase the amount of land under conservation management in northern Kenya to over 3,000 square kilometres since the mid 1990s.
Lewa’s work is creating a sustainable ecosystem approach to conservation through the protection of large areas of land, allowing for the continued migration of wildlife throughout their natural range. The establishment of community conservation areas has increased the protection afforded not only to wildlife but also to people and livestock, a benefit that is paramount to these nomadic pastoralist communities in northern Kenya.
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+44 (0) 845 812 8222 |
Itinerary / Highlights
• Welcome and introduction• Introduction to guiding in nature
• Creating a guided nature experience
• Geology and soils
• Astronomy
• Weather and climate
• Ecology
• Taxonomy
• Introduction to the biomes of southern
Africa
• Botany and grasses
• Vegetation identification
• Arthropods (Insects and relatives)
• Amphibians
• Reptiles
• Fish
• Birds
• Mammals
• Animal behaviour
• Tracks and tracking
• Radio procedures
• Conservation management and
historical human habitation
• Habitat management
• Bush camps
Additional activities:
• Basic 4 Wheel driving for Game Viewing
(Included in course fee)
• Sleep out in the bush
• Fire Arm theory and practical shooting
• Walking trails (Included in course fee)
• Lewa has a prehistoric archaeological site
where you will see stone hand axes, the site
dates back to approximately 1mil years ago
TYPICAL DAILY ITINERARY
A typical daily programme at the camp follows a routine of rising early, usually before sunrise, enjoying hot coffee while you listen to the bush waking up and then leaving the camp for an outing into the wilderness.
The outings are extremely flexible and determined by the unpredictability of what is found during the outing in combination with the subjects that have to be covered. The outing could be a game drive following up on the roar of a lion heard during the night or a walk learning about the plant species occurring in the area. It could be a walk following fresh elephant tracks, learning how to track the animal and finding it or it could be a game drive to a waterhole where animals come to drink.
Learners return to camp in the late morning for a hearty brunch which is followed by a lecture on the subject of the day. Study and rest time is then followed by afternoon tea and another outing into the wilderness until sunset, if walking, or until well after dark if doing a game drive.
Afternoon outings could include night drives looking for nocturnal animals such as owls, bush babies and leopards or it could be a walk looking for and learning how to identify interesting birds. It could be time spent studying the night skies or it could be a time for learners to test their 4x4 driving skills.
It is then back to the camp for dinner, stories around the campfire, discussing the day’s experiences and wondering about tomorrow’s adventures.
The emphasis is on practical day-to-day experiences in the bush. The daily outings are flexible and may focus on specific subjects such as animal tracks and tracking, birds, plant identification or animal behaviour, or may involve game viewing and learning about the ecosystem in general.
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