IFGA PROFESSIONAL SAFARI GUIDE COURSE · SOUTH AFRICA & BOTSWANA

Turn your passion
for wildlife into a
successful career

Live and train in Big Five wilderness, earning recognised field-guide qualifications alongside award-winning guides, gaining real industry experience along the way.
97% employment rate
Employment guarantee
6-month placement
NQF2 + NQF4
IFGA provider
Includes time in Botswana
Starting 7 January & 8 July
January: 5 spaces left · 5 people enrolled in the last 28 days, from South Africa, US & Canada
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DURATIONS & FEES

6 months: £16,095 · 12 months: £16,995

Financing and grants available

ACCREDITATION

IFGA & CATHSSETA (NQF2 & NQF4)

AGE

18+

RATED

No.1 on Trustpilot

Different starting points. One wild career.

Four routes into the same profession. What's your story?

Finishing school leaver starting a career in guiding

Finishing school?

Start a career instead of another classroom-only qualification. Complete practical training and recognised qualifications and real work experience.
Conservation graduate training in the field

Studied conservation?

Turn your degree into employable skills: guiding, tracking, hospitality and guest-facing experience lodges can actually use.
Career changer training as a field guide

Ready for a new career?

Swap the traditional office for a profession built around nature, wildlife and hospitality.
Gap-year trainees on a bush walk

Want the adventure of a lifetime?

For anyone who's ever dreamed of the ultimate gap year experience: real bush, real guests, real stories, alongside people who get it.

Your year with Bushwise

Trainees in the field during months 1 to 6

MONTHS 1–6

TRAIN

Complete the full professional field guide course (NQF2 & NQF4), plus the dedicated Guest Experience & Marketing Essentials lessons covering guest service, content creation and lodge marketing.

Trainee on a guiding placement

MONTHS 7–12 (optional)

PLACEMENT

Put it to work on a six-month guiding placement. Real guests, real responsibilities, real experience for your CV.

Qualified guide at work after Bushwise

AFTER BUSHWISE

BUILD YOUR CAREER

The Bushwise network, known as Bushwise People, connects graduates directly with lodges looking to hire right now.

Qualifications, not just experience

Professional guiding

CATHSSETA Nature Site Guide NQF2 & NQF4

The nationally recognised guiding qualification required to work in South Africa.

International guiding

IFGA accreditation

The International Field Guide Association. An internationally recognised guiding credential focused on the soft skills luxury lodges hire on: storytelling, interpretation and 5-star guest experiences.

Tracking

CyberTracker Track & Sign

Demonstrates fieldcraft and interpretation of wildlife movement and behaviour.

First aid

Wilderness First Aid

Confirms your ability to respond safely in a remote field environment.

Firearm competency

SASSETA firearm proficiency

Required competency for safe operation in Big Five reserve environments.

Guest Experience & Marketing Essentials

12-session strand · Bushwise certificate

Covers guest-facing and marketing skills — handling a guest, creating content and understanding how a lodge or brand markets itself.

Conservation practitioner essentials

12-session strand · Bushwise certificate

Covers the day-to-day conservation skills reserves and NGOs actually use — monitoring, reporting and communication.

Understand the path from training to becoming a guide

Learn how guiding compliance works in South Africa, and where IFGA and FGASA fit in.
Step 1

Train with Bushwise

Train with a provider accredited by CATHSSETA.

Step 2

Get legally qualified

Earn your mandatory NQF2 and register with the National Department of Tourism.

You're compliant

Start guiding!

You're fully compliant and legally allowed to guide in South Africa.

Optional — Go Further

Step 3 - Voluntary
Join an industry association
Join IFGA or FGASA, voluntary industry associations, to stand out to top employers. This is optional, and you can join either or both associations.
IFGA
The International Field Guide Association is a global association focused on transferable soft skills, storytelling, and 5-star guest experiences. This is included in your Bushwise course.
FGASA
The Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA) is a voluntary professional body.
NEW · THE FGASA OFFER
Want FGASA too? Bushwise will pay for it.
FGASA isn't required to legally guide or for our employment guarantee. But, if you finish training and you'd like to join the association anyway, we'll cover the cost of your membership.
Terms & Conditions apply
Ask about the FGASA offer

How placements work

After 6 months of training, 12-month students move into a 6-month work placement — matched to lodges based on skills, performance, personality, interests and aspirations assessed throughout training.

1
Trained & assessed
2
Matched to a lodge
3
6-month placement
4
People
gets you a job

Where Bushwise graduates place, plus 150+ further partners across Southern Africa

Kapama River Lodge
Sabi Sabi
18 on the Hill
Africa on Foot
Babanango
Moholoholo Forest and Mountain View Lodge
Moditlo River Lodge

The field guide course built around getting you hired

Eligible South African graduates of the 12-month program can qualify for the Bushwise employment guarantee.
Employment Guarantee
We're so confident in our training that you'll receive a partial refund if you don't secure employment.
View our guarantee
97%
of our qualifying South African graduates on our 12-month Professional Safari Guide course found employment within six months.

Timothy Raven

Field Guide · Zululand

Alison Sponder

Guide · Katmai National Park

Alex Rivarola

Field Guide · Sabi Sand Game Reserve

See more alumni stories →

Taught by a team with 100+ years of experience

Over 100 years of combined experience across guiding, tracking, birding, rifle handling, botany and conservation. Every trainer is an IFGA assessor in their own right — and every one is training you with one goal: getting you hired, not just qualified.
Head Trainer, Sabi Sabi Campus-Jason

Jason

Head Trainer, Sabi Sabi Campus

13 years in guiding and wildlife operations.

Camp Co-ordinator, Sabi Sabi Campus-Simone

Simone

Camp Co-ordinator, Sabi Sabi Campus

Guiding guests and mentoring the next generation, since she was 19.

Head Trainer, Babanango Campus-Nico

Nico

Head Trainer, Babanango Campus

17 years in guiding, now training the next generation of field guides.

Meet the team →

The Curriculum

MODULE 01

Guiding and hospitality

Hosting guests, planning guided experiences and the soft skills behind a great safari.

MODULE 02

Flora and fauna identification

What makes each plant and animal species unique, and the role each plays in the ecosystem.

MODULE 03

Animal behaviour

Why animals do what they do, so you can interpret it for guests in real time.

MODULE 04

Viewing potentially dangerous game

Reading warning signs and reacting safely to protect your guests, the animal and yourself.

MODULE 05

Vehicle skills & 4×4 driving

Vehicle mechanics, safety and off-road driving. Over-21s will need a PrDP to drive guests.

MODULE 06

Advanced rifle handling

Using a rifle safely and competently, only ever as a last resort. Earn a SASSETA certificate.

MODULE 07

Track & sign and trailing

Reading the "bush newspaper": identifying tracks and sign, and following animals on foot.

MODULE 08

Additional modules

Wilderness first aid, reptile handling, survival and navigation, conservation management and more.

MODULE 09

IFGA training

Top students can qualify to train as an IFGA guide. Bushwise is the exclusive provider in Southern Africa.

The full curriculum is in our brochure.

Field days, not lecture-hall days

5:30Breakfast
6:00Bush walk
9:00Lecture
11:00Lunch
12:00Tourism or conservation session
14:00Tracking
18:00Dinner
20:00Study and relax
No two weeks are identical. Activities depend on curriculum, weather and reserve requirements.

Backed by the largest specialist recruiter in wildlife

Bushwise People recruiter at work
Bushwise People
Bushwise People, our in-house recruitment practice, works directly with safari lodges hiring guides — and with you, to build your career after graduation.
5 years
of Professional Career Coaching are included in your Bushwise Field Guide training fees.
View current vacancies on Bushwise People
Trainees on the Bushwise field guide course

Making Bushwise affordable

  • Flexible payment plans and deposits
  • Grants & scholarships of up to £4,500
  • South African student finance through major banks
See what funding there isEnquire now

FOR PARENTS

Considering Bushwise for your son or daughter?

Qualifications, safety and support, accommodation, fees and inclusions, set out in one place.

View parent information
Parents information session

What people are saying

Bushwise built the fundamentals of my understanding of nature and how to keep learning — and how to actually educate others. The relationships you build with the trainers are ones you take for life.

Carel-Louis Steenkamp

Carel-Louis Steenkamp

Wildlife Photographer and Photographic Guide, worldwide

The 12-month IFGA Professional Safari Guide course pushed me to grow personally and professionally. I moved straight into my placement at Motswiri, where I guide game drives, run the kids’ activity program and support lodge operations.

Kiadara Pillay

Kiadara Pillay

Field Guide, Timbavati

Bushwise prepared me for the realities of guiding — long days, early mornings, staying calm when everything happens at once. I now work as a field guide at Selati Game Reserve, combining guiding with conservation and research.

Tia Bell

Tia Bell

Field Guide, Limpopo

Commonly asked questions

Which Bushwise path is right for you?

BEST FOR SAFARI-GUIDING CAREERS
Professional Safari Guide
Choose this if: "I know I want to professionally guide safari guests."
Guiding · Guest experience · Guest facing · Interpretation
You're here
Practical Conservation Management
Choose this if: "I want to build a strong foundation to enable me to work in conservation."
Research · Monitoring · Ecology
View course
Practical Game Management
Choose this if: "I want to learn practical skills, get my hands dirty and focus on reserve operations."
Reserve operations · Habitat · Practical work · Guiding exposure
View course
Practical Tourism Management
Choose this if: "I want to work in hospitality and guest experience across the tourism industry."
Hospitality · Guest experience · Lodge operations · Marketing · Tourism
View course

Still not sure? Speak to a careers advisor.

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