Why a Gap Year in Africa?

October 8, 2019 - 4 minutes read

Meaningful, educational, inspirational. A chance to re-define yourself. That’s what recent high school graduates and university students can get out of a gap year in Africa. Make it a gap year you’ll remember for the rest of your life by spending time with EcoTraining.

Gap years are about growing as a person and experiencing as much as possible in order to help you decide how you’re going to spend the next few years of your young life. The should be less about chilling out on beaches and enjoying a year-long party, and more about having a life-changing experience before you embark on your career studies.

 EcoTraining’s most popular gap year programs:

Professional Field Guide (1 Year)

FGASA Field Guide Level 1 (55 Days)

What are the advantages of taking a gap year?

A gap year offers high school graduates and university students an opportunity and alternative to “figure things out” — especially those who are not 100% convinced of their career or study plans or direction their life should take. With so many career choices available these days, it can indeed be a tough decision to plan one’s future.

During a gap year, young people may come across a career opportunity they didn’t consider before and that opens up a whole new world. Or it can purely be seen as a year off, a breather of sorts, a time of personal growth and development that is valuable to any individual.

Why choose your gap year with EcoTraining?

EcoTraining’s one-year Professional Safari Guide course is designed for people either serious about pursuing a career in field guiding or those looking for an educational and meaningful gap year.

During the course, students are exposed to diverse ecological and geological terrain, landscapes, wildlife species and so much more at wilderness camps in remote places like Kruger National Park, Karongwe Reserve, Selati Reserve in South Africa and Mashatu Game Reserve  in Botswana.

Those who finish the course can walk away with CATHSSETA national field guide accreditation, endorsement by the Field Guide Association of Southern Africa, and five months of work experience at EcoTraining’s safari lodge partner. In the process you meet international guests, fellow lodge and guide staff, and gain a heap of essential life and work skills.

A second shorter option for a multi-destination gap year is signing up for a 55-day Field Guide Level 1 course, which provides the fundamentals on safari guiding, conservation and adventure in nature. Certified and endorsed, the course enables participants to fully experience and learn what it takes to be a safari guide and offers stimulating variety to your gap-year itinerary.

EcoTraining offers these advantages:

  • It’s the original guide training school in South Africa, with the largest, most bio-diverse footprint in Africa.
  • Located in 6 pristine wildlife reserves in 4 African countries.
  • Formally accredited courses — the most recognized of any training school in Africa.
  • The only training school situated inside Kruger National Park.

EcoTraining gap years give students a chance to do something rewarding, try out new things and discover what this world has to offer. It will helps them become more mature and confident in dealing with the demands of the “adult world” and shows future employers that they are willing to undertake new experiences.

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