We love this immersive, educational, and really uniqueand super fun travel experience.
Living at the Mara Training Centre, days will be spent in the classroom and in the field on the Mara Plains. You will learn about safety, guiding skills, tracking and trailing wildlife, animal behavior, wildlife cohabitating with Masai communities, birds, and flora and fauna. You will also study the Kenya night sky to learn how the ecosystem works.
Being a safari guide in Africa requires a love of the land and wildlife, and a respect for the power of Mother Nature. It requires knowledge, dedication, patience, and good instinct. Although you will not be an accredited safari guide, you will certainly be able to say that you experienced one of the most incredible and exhilarating jobs on the planet! And, you’ll have the certificate to prove it.
Day 1 – Arrive Nairobi. Overnight at Hemmingways Nairobi.
Day 2 – Transfer to Mara Plains and Mara Training Centre. Late afternoon walking safari to introduce you to the area and night sky. Overnight at Mara Training Centre.
Day 3 – Situational Awareness and Tacking; track and trail, learn to read ‘signs’ in the bush and to use nature as a tool for navigation.
Day 4 – Bird Identification and Behaviour; use specific birds as a tool when walking and approaching dangerous animals on foot, and various mammal and bird calls.
Day 5 – Animal Identification and Mammal Behaviour; mammal, amphibians, reptile, fish, and arthropods, visit Rhino Sanctuary, and game drive to ID animals and their behaviour.
Day 6 – Basic Navigation and Orientation with Sleep-out; use nature as a tool to navigate in the bush, finding food, using practical and bush survival skills, and stargazing.
Day 7 – Common Trees and Shrubs and Community School; visit a local Masai school, learn of conservation, identify common trees and shrubs, visit a guide’s home for interactive experience.
Day 8 – Sunrise game drive to just ‘Be in Nature” before transferring back to Nairobi. Or, continue to Masai Mara Natural Reserve for safari.
Note: This trip is considered adventurous. Accommodation at Mara Training Centre is basic and one night will be spent in a bush tent.