Our Courses

6 Month Program Six months are spent, watching the African seasons change, learning and beginning to understand how these changes affect the animals and their surroundings. In our six month program we will endeavour to broaden your understanding of nature guiding and all of the related industries, by spending a full 6 months completing theoretical and practical training with our highly qualified instructors, completing many separate certificate courses. This will prepare you for choosing a career within our industry. We have selected outstanding partner companies which conduct various new aspects of our course, the National Professional Hunters School and SMART Solutions for our first aid and fire fighting courses. About our 12 day course covering the aspects of a career in Professional Hunting. This is conducted by Melville du Plessis, a respected hunter, and teacher with nearly three decades of experience in this field. His massive experience with international clients makes his course informative and definitely fun, but very busy with a huge amount of lecture time to learn all that needs to be taught. NB- Please note that at no point on this course will you have to hunt or harm any animal!! You will learn the laws pertaining to this multi-million dollar industry, learn how the animals are measured and categorised, learn how to shoot scoped rifles, learn about CITES and other trade issues, ballistics, hunting ethics and bullet placement amongst other interesting facets. We understand that not everyone is a hunter, or wants to be one but we feel strongly that this highly emotive subject needs to be understood. Education is the key to a wider understanding of this aspect of the nature industries which is here to stay, so let’s learn more about it! FGASA courses offered during this training time include being taught to function as a part of a professional guiding team, and complete the full FGASA Level 1, as well as the theoretical level 2 and Trails components. The THETA NQF 3 will also be done in this process. Our qualified in house SKS and level 3 guiding instructors and national assessors will conduct this component in the world famous Entabeni Safari Conservancy, with elephants, lions and cheetah roaming in and around our camp, amongst many other species. Our accommodation is very comfortable, with ensuite ablutions per room, shared by two students. We will also present a specially designed anti poaching program, teaching the nuances of conservation, active law enforcement, animal protection and arrest procedures including specialist anti-poaching track team operation. A rare and intricate level of man-tracking will be taught to the student over this intensive time period making this an interesting and useful component of the course. Guest lecturers in survival and conservation law will assist with this program. About our Anti-poaching program It is directly based on the man tracking techniques conducted and trained in the South African Army. This is to widen ones perspectives of poaching in South Africa and covers many new skills outside of the standard tracker training. A combination of lectures, practical hours, actual anti-poaching exposure, horsemanship familiarisation courses and time in lectures with Conservation officers who are currently in the field. They will conduct anti-poaching law and also practical scenarios which will result in a better understanding of the how’s and how not to’s of Anti-poaching. As ever the tracking of animals is also important, with emphasis on the Cyber tracker system of evaluation and our own unique training methods. This is a FGASA accredited system, and will be certified as such. We will conduct the Cyber tracker track and sign assessments here on the reserve. We will also complete specialist scorpion and arachnid, snake and snake handling and bird courses certificated during the program, with many well known guest lecturers adding great value to the program (see the guest lecturer’s page). We will also complete the SASSETA assessments and exams covering the unit standard 10750 use of a rifle, as well as the law pertaining. Qualifications and certificates: FGASA Level I Theory (subject to an 80% pass mark) FGASA Level I Practical (subject to passing the theory and being deemed competent on an assessment drive) NQF 3 – this is linked directly to the FGASA practical (THETA Assesment) Cybertracker Certificate (70 - 79% pass – Level I, 80 – 89% pass – Level II, 90 – 100% pass – Level III) FGASA Tracker Certificate – directly linked to the Cybertracker assessment result First Aid Level I & II FGASA Trails Guide Theory (subject to a 75% pass mark) SASSETA 10750 – use of a rifle SASSETA law of the firearms act FGASA Level II Theory (subject to a 75% pass rate) Entabeni nature guiding diploma upon successful completion of our exam sequence Scorpion course certificate Snake and snake handling course certificate Birding course certificate Game capture and animal husbandry course certificate Professional hunting course attendance and results certificate (this does not mean you are a professional hunter, as there are huge experiential components to add to this) Anti-poaching course certificate And more…..  Books and uniform included in course fees: Level one study guide Level 2 study guide Trails study guide and log book The South African Bushveld (Lee Gutteridge) 3 sets of uniform (2 shorts, 1 long pants, 3 shirts, 1 cap)  Things to bring Sleeping bag Pillow Raincoat / Poncho Toiletries Any medication that you need Any luxuries that you would require – chocolates, sweets etc. Water bottles Day pack – rucksack Walking shoes Sandals for around the camp Camera & film Pocket knife (if you have one) Torch Note books & pen Sun hat & sun cream Binoculars Natural coloured clothing Warm jacket for night drives Spending money is entirely up to you – we do however keep a stock of Entabeni Nature Guide Training T-shirts, Fleeces, Beanies, Badges, Caps etc in a small curio shop that you can purchase.

Courses available 25 -day course 6-month program Location All training will take place on the 23 000 Ha Entabeni Private Game Reserve, on the Eastern end of the Waterberg Escarpment... MORE Information Subjects  Download the application form for the 6-month program