With: Lee Gutteridge and Kersey Lawrence
At: Ngala Training Camp, Balule Game Reserve, Kruger Park Region
When: 20th to the 24th of June, 2018 for four nights in the bush
We will be offering a short, intensive tracking program arriving midday on the 20th until our departure on the late morning of the 24th of June 2018, which includes a CyberTracker track and Sign Evaluation.
Lee Gutteridge has spent all of his adult life in the African bush, with more than 25 years of dirt-time. Lee is currently the highest qualified field guide in Southern Africa (a Scout guide on the FGASA system, with many additional specializations) and the author of six published natural history books. Lee’s company, Nature Guide Training began over fifteen years ago as a training school for field guides in the safari industry in Southern Africa and has a well-earned reputation as an industry leader whose graduates are employed by some of the finest lodges across Africa. As a respected guide and trainer of guides, a Senior Tracker and a wildlife author, Lee will educate and inspire you with passionate tales of African animals, wildlife trails and close escapes.
Kersey Lawrence is the first woman in the world to earn the rank of Senior Tracker in the internationally renowned CyberTracker system, and as such she stands as the sole female amongst the few dozen men who have also earned this rigorous qualification. In addition to her decade of guiding experience, Kersey also has several degrees in science and education, and is currently completing her Ph.D. through the University of Connecticut, where she also received an award for excellence in teaching. Kersey owns Original Wisdom, an education company offering both local programs in the USA and study abroad programs in Southern Africa in ecology, culture and tracking. Courses are custom designed according to the academic requirements and adventurous desires of the visiting faculty, professor, or group leader. Kersey’s passionate approach to interpreting tracks and signs in nature and following trails will amaze and inspire you, as you spend time with her in the Africa she now calls home.
Lee and Kersey have been working together in Africa since 2008, designing and implementing these types of study abroad, ecotourism, and tracking intensive programs. Original Wisdom and Nature Guide Training work closely together to provide you with a truly exceptional, professionally guided, life-changing educational experience in the African bush. Thousands of participants have passed through these schools, and experienced Africa like never before.
The cost per person of only R4250 includes:
Excludes:
Day 1 – 20th June
In the midday, once everyone has arrived, we will begin with a discussion about the CyberTracker System and then head out into the bush around the camp, along the floodplain of the Olifants River, and begin to read our local “newspaper”…
This first discussion will be orientated around what we are trying to achieve, the CyberTracker System, some basic foot morphology and categorisation according to foot structure, mainly discussing prominent mammals and birdlife. We will measure and analyse tracks which are commonly seen along this section of the reserve, and start the learning process.
Common mammal tracks around camp include:
Leopard, Lion, Spotted hyena, Side-striped jackal, African wild dog, Genet, Africa civet, Porcupine, Tree squirrel, Dwarf mongoose, Marsh mongoose, Chacma baboon, Vervet monkey, Giraffe, African elephant, Cape buffalo, Hippopotamus, Nyala, Kudu, Bushbuck, Common duiker, Steenbok, Sharpe’s grysbok, Impala, Waterbuck, Amongst others…
A sand wasp digging and a zebra track
Common birds seen and heard around camp include:
Natal spurfowl, Crested francolin, Water thick-knee, White-crowned lapwing, Blacksmith lapwing, Black-winged stilt, Greenshanks, Arrow-marked babbler, Grey go-away bird, White-bellied sunbird, Yellow-billed hornbill, Trumpeter hornbill, And many more…
These are just some of the many spoor (and animals) we could expect to encounter around the camp itself. An incredible diversity of species and an incredible grade of substrate can be expected. Tracks are often so clear that the ‘finger-prints’ of animals such as baboon can actually be seen!
In the evening we will braai and enjoy some campfire time, discussing the spoor of the day and our tracking experiences…
Arrow-marked babbler spoor and the webbed foot of an Egyptian goose
Day 2 – 21st June
We will rise early and meet for coffee, and discuss the sounds of the animals heard during the night… as interpretation of sound is also part of being a qualified tracker!
Then we will travel out further from camp, following the trails into the quartzite hills, keeping mainly to the ancient elephant paths, as these animals powder the coarse quarzitic sand into fine dust, leaving incredible trackways with amazing spoor detail. We will walk for about three to four hours and return for a nice wholesome brunch.
During the hot midday we will discuss the mornings trail and maybe head out for a swim in the swimming pool at main camp to break the heat. Whilst travelling to and from the main lodge we will probably encounter herds of elephants coming down to drink during the heat of the day. We will take any opportunities we have to get off the vehicle and observe tracks, or even approach a herd or bull on foot if the situation is safe enough to do so.
The spoor of an antelope and a hyena spoor
In the mid-afternoon we will travel to another area of the reserve by vehicle, to find different creatures for our track identification aspect. In other parts of the reserve we could possibly encounter animals such as:
White rhinoceros, Black rhinoceros, Plains zebra, Banded mongoose, Slender mongoose, Klipspringer, Sable antelope, Blue wildebeest, Eland, Amongst others…
We will track into the fading light of sunset, and travel back to camp in the darkness, spotlighting along the way for nocturnal creatures and enjoying the night skies. Upon our arrival in camp, we will sit down to a nice prepared dinner around the camp fire.
A male lion and a young white rhino
After dinner we will conduct a night walk around the camp area, looking for beetles, scorpions and other nocturnal invertebrates whose spoor we see throughout the day.
Day 3 – 22nd June
We will rise early and meet for coffee, and discuss the sounds of the animals from during the course of the night.
Then we will travel out further from camp, following a different route into the quartzite hills, but still keeping mainly to the ancient elephant and hippopotamus paths. We will walk for about three to four hours looking at interesting spoor and return to camp for a nice wholesome brunch.
During the hot midday we will discuss the morning’s trail and maybe head out for a swim in the swimming pool at main camp to break the heat. Whilst travelling to and from the main lodge we will probably encounter herds of elephants coming down to drink during the heat of the day. We will take any opportunities we have to get off the vehicle and observe tracks, or even approach a herd or bull on foot if the situation is safe enough to do so.
In the afternoon we will travel to another area of the reserve enjoying a relaxing game drive and stop for a sundowner drink at a beautiful viewpoint, taking a break from the “pictures in the sand” to freshen the mind before our assessment day.
Day 4 – 23rd June
Today we will rise early, and after a light snack and coffee, we will begin out track and Sign Assessment. This will continue until brunch, for which we will take a small break, and then we will continue in the hot hours of the day.
A frog track, a lilac-breasted roller and an impala with a starling on its head
Our assessment will take most (if not all) of the day, and we will tally up the scores and results once every question is done! This assessment can be a very long process and you will probably be tired by the evening time, but hopefully not too tired to enjoy a celebratory bush braai and an evening around the campfire with your colleagues.
Ox peckers ride the back of a large mammal
Day 5 – 24th June
This will be our departure day, and after morning coffee and a light breakfast and then we shall pack to head home, after a rewarding session tracking in the African Bush!
Our rustic tents at Ngala training Camp and a Nile monitor lizard
This course will be presented at Nature Guide Training’s base at Ngala Tented Bushcamp on the Balule Private Nature Reserve. It is a very simple and beautiful camp, with dome tents, mattress-beds, eco-friendly bucket showers, water heated by donkey-boiler and flushing toilets. We provide generator electricity for only a couple of hours a day for charging up – there is limited signal for cell phones (both Vodacom and MTN). Our camp is situated right on the banks of the Olifants River. It is the perfect environment to immerse yourself in nature and all she offers without the distraction of the outside world and social media!
Reference materials
Some of the books authored by Lee Gutteridge are specifically focussed on the regions tracking and wildlife and can be purchased at camp –
