Expansion into Botswana

[Corne Schalkwyk]

EcoTraining expanded its Africa operations into Botswana. The New Training and tourism camp will be located in the land of Giants in the Tuli reserve in Botswana.

EcoTraining will teach students for the Botswana lodge industry. Field guide training has always been the cornerstone of its operations and this New Camp will be no different. The first Field Guide course will run from the 15^th of November 2010 and is already fully booked. Botswana will open up a new market for EcoTraining and they will also provide research and conservation courses in Mashatu. EcoTraining plans to expand into the Okavango Delta shortly.

EcoTraining is the first company to conduct formal training programmes for nature guides. They are known in the industry as the pioneers and leaders in their field. Having started in 1993 they are now conducting training across Africa for industry as well as for the tourism market. Training is done onsite for the industry or from their wilderness Camps throughout Africa and Australia. Collectively EcoTraining has access to 139 000 hectares of true wilderness areas. They also plan to run trails guide courses in Mashatu similar to their programmes in Kruger National Park in South Africa.

EcoTraining’s accommodation facilities and game reserves are authentic, with as little clutter to dilute the relationship between nature and our learners as possible. While learners are at our camps, we want them to co-exist in the environment, when sleeping we want them to hear elephants browsing on leaves and nightjars call right outside the tents at night. EcoTraining stands for an honest comfortable safe experience. It’s all about the bush.

EcoTraining Mashatu camp is located in the Tuli Reserve of Botswana bordering South Africa. Tuli forms a key part of the proposed Greater Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area. In the easternmost corner of Botswana, Tuli is the collective name for several privately-owned game reserves including the Mashatu, Ntani and Tuli Game Reserves, covering all the land north of the Limpopo River.

A wholly preserved and untainted wilderness in Botswana, at the confluence of the Limpopo and the Shashe Rivers. The ample plains range from savannah, to riverine forest, marshland and sandstone outcrops amongst giant baobab trees. Mashatu truly embodies all that defines Africa. This land of giants offers vast open spaces, making it almost impossible to take it all in, with an array of wildlife from the miniscule to the gigantic. With a quietness so loud it thumps at your heart. Expect an unexpected adventure beyond the game drives or the walks that will make you feel alive again. Truly mesmerizing, this Africa is real and tangible and at its best!

The head instructor at the Camp is Clinton Phillips – Clinton Phillips has been instrumental in facilitating a new era of Professional Nature Guiding within Botswana.Clinton is qualified with FGASA Level 3, SKS Dangerous Game Guide, a Trainer and Assessor Botswana - Professional Guide, Accredited Trainer and Assessor with BOTA and Trainer with MTTC.