Tag Archives: bhejane nature training

What is a FGASA Trails Guide?

2024-04-21 bhejanetribe 1 Comment

Being on foot in wilderness areas, vulnerable to all the elements of nature, including animals big and small, is a very special way to experience our time on earth as humans. Going on a wilderness trail is for many people a deeply satisfying – sometimes life changing – experience, and one that guides need to be very well trained and prepared for to ensure a safe and meaningful experience for everyone. Completing a FGASA Trails Guide Training course with Bhejane Nature Training is the first step on this journey.

Becoming a Trails Guide is not for everyone – it requires a certain skillset and an ability to lead with authority. It is therefore no surprise that it is a quite a long process from trainee to becoming a fully qualified Lead Trails Guide.

Many guides start that journey with Bhejane Nature Training during the FGASA Apprentice Trails Guide training module, that forms part of both our 1 year and 3 year Career programmes.

A trails guide is a highly skilled professional who leads individuals or small groups on guided walking safaris and nature trails in the wilderness, sharing their expertise and passion for the natural world. The Field Guides Association of Southern Africa (FGASA) has been dedicated to setting industry standards and elevating the quality of Trails Guide training in South Africa for many years. We at Bhejane are proud to be an recognised training delivery partner for FGASA-recognized Trails Guide training, offering quality training programs that meet the highest standards.

What does a Trails Guide need to know?

Trails guides are knowledgeable about the local flora and fauna, animal behaviour, and ecological processes, allowing them to provide educational and interpretive insights during the trails. Before starting the process of trails guide training it is therefore essential that you are first qualified as an NQF 2 Nature Guide, to ensure the fundamental knowledge is already there for you to build further upon during your trails guide development.

Apart from interpretation, Trails guides are responsible for the safety of their guests and are trained in tracking and trailing, use of a manually operated rifle, navigation, and first aid.

Trails Guiding in dangerous Game areas can be regarded as a specialist guiding field – although doing the basic training for Trails Guiding, even if you don’t intend on becoming a Trails Guide, is a good way for nature guides to improve their knowledge and situational awareness.

During a Trails Guide Course you will learn the following:

a) Basic Firearm Training (as per legal requirements). In South Africa, nature guides carrying rifles are required do obtain SAPS Firearm Competency. In order to get this you need to complete a PFTC accredited course that certifies you with “Knowledge of the Firearms Control Act”, “Use of a Manually Operated Rifle for Personal use” and “Use of a Manually Operated Rifle for Business Purposes”. PFTC is the acronym for the Professional Firearm Trainers Council.

Some Trails Guide courses will require that you complete this training prior to arriving for your FGASA training. At Bhejane we are fully accredited through our sister company – Zulu Ranger Safaris – to provide all required PFTC firearm training while you are on course. Students are trained on the required manually operated rifle unit standards as required for trails, and have the option at extra cost – to also complete training for other firearm categories such as handgun, shotgun or self-loading rifle.

b) Advanced Rifle Handling – this is a FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) qualification that was developed specifically for guides working with rifles in areas with potentially dangerous game. The qualification consists of a thorough practical assessment carried out with a large calibre rifle (usually .375 H&H) as well as a theory knowledge exam.

c) Knowledge of Animal Behaviour – especially those regarded as potentially dangerous game.

d) Track and sign interpretation – which includes the skills associated with both Tracking and Trailing wild animals in order to locate them or interpret their behaviour.

e) FGASA Examination and practical FGASA Apprentice Trails Mentorship Evaluation

Once the candidate is successful, he or she will be accepted by FGASA into the Trails Mentorship programme as an Apprentice Trails Guide. The process of gaining experience, with a recognised FGASA Trails Mentor now starts. At Bhejane we are fortunate to have one of FGASA’s top Trails Guide’s Mentors, Dylan Panos, on hand to conduct these evaluations on course and where time and conditions allow, provide for students to start logging hours towards their 2^nd rifle experience requirements

Frequently asked questions.

Why do Trails Guides carry rifles?

Trails guides sometimes carry rifles for the purpose of safety and protection. In certain wilderness areas, especially those with potentially dangerous wildlife, carrying a rifle can act as a deterrent or a means of defence against any potential threats.

While encounters with dangerous wildlife are rare, it is important for trails guides to be prepared and capable of protecting themselves and their guests in the event of an emergency. The rifles carried by trails guides are typically used as a last resort and are only used in self-defence situations where there is an immediate threat to life. It is crucial for trails guides to undergo proper training and obtain the necessary permits and certifications to carry firearms responsibly and safely while on the trail.

How long does it take to become a fully qualified FGASA Trails Guide?

Becoming a fully qualified FGASA Trails Guide can vary based on individual circumstances and the training program followed. It is important to note that acquiring a substantial amount of practical experience is a significant aspect of becoming a fully qualified Trails Guide. The requirements for practical experience can vary but typically involve a certain number of hours spent guiding on foot or completing trails-specific tasks, which may take additional time to accumulate.

Overall, the entire process of becoming a fully qualified Trails Guide can take anywhere from six months to a year or more, depending on the training program, personal dedication, and availability of practical experience opportunities.

I am cut out to be a future Trails Guide?

Do our fun quiz by following the link below to find out:)

Click here to do the quiz.

Where can I get more information?

Bhejane Nature Training is proud to able to offer fully accredited PFTC Firearm Training, as well as being a recognized FGASA delivery partner for Trails Guide Training, led by our in-house firearms instructor and trails guide mentor. This makes for a well rounded and comprehensive course, allowing our students to get knowledge, experience, and assessment for all components of Trails Guide Training. Contact us on info@bhejanenaturetraining.com to request the full info pack on our career and trails guide courses.

Bhejane Pride

New Principle Trainer at Bhejane

2023-02-14 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

The Bhejane Nature Training pride has grown with the new appointment of Phillip Wessels as Principal Trainer and Assessor.

Bhejane Principle Trainer, Phillip Wessels

Adding Skill and Experience to the Bhejane Team

Phillip brings with him a wealth of experience and qualifications. Having taught at, and headed up, numerous prestigious wildlife education institutions. He is particularly looking forward to working with the Bhejane students on our three-year Advanced Nature Guiding and Wildlife Conservation course. Bhejane is the only nature training school that offers this intensive course which ensures a well-rounded education for the student.

Phillip is well aware of the limitations with shorter courses, in getting the students industry-ready. He is keen to impart his knowledge to those students looking to make a life-long career in the guiding industry.

With origins in Zambia, Phillip’s lineage has strong links with wildlife. His almost weekly trips to Kruger National Park as a child served to strengthen his connection with the environment.

Phillip’s career in the wildlife industry was launched through a chance encounter with a field guide. More than 20 years later, he has achieved professional status in the industry through the Field Guide’s Association of Southern Africa (FGASA). He is a registered Professional Field Guide, with Specialised Knowledge & Skills (SKS) accreditation in dangerous game and birding, Professional Tracker qualification and proficiency as a Firearms Trainer.

He is also proficient in Wilderness First Aid, well versed in Hospitality and Big 5 Walking Safaris, and intimately involved in Anti-Poaching Conservation. 

As a FGASA Specialist Training Provider, assessor and trails guide mentor qualified to conduct training, Phillip has a burning desire to share this passion and knowledge with learners.

“I am enthusiastic about sharing my vast knowledge with this new generation of nature ambassadors who stand to gain an in-depth understanding of the environment and a passion for guiding,” says Phillip.

About the Bhejane Nature Training Course

The Advanced Nature Guiding and Wildlife Conservation course includes FGASA Apprentice Field Guide, Apprentice Trails Guide, Marine Guiding, Track & Sign and Trailing, Advanced Rifle Handling FGASA Birding and several other specialist courses.

Heading off on a Primitive Trail, sleeping out under the stars.

Bhejane tailor made the course specifically because of the demanding nature of the wildlife guiding industry. The course meets the highest standards possible when it comes to training field guides.

Ideal for school leavers, by the time the student has graduated from the three-year course, they will be 21 years old . This is thee required age to obtain a professional driver’s permit (PDP), which is a necessity for working in the industry.

This opens the student to employment immediately after graduating.

“Over the last 10 to 15 years, we have seen the majority of students who have completed this advanced course remain in the industry and advancing to senior positions.

“Our guides who graduate from the advanced course really stick out above the rest,” said Dylan Panos, Bhejane Nature Training co-founder.

For full info on the course, visit https://www.bhejanenaturetraining.com/nature-guiding-wildlife-conservation-course.php

Your Guiding Career

Nature Guiding: Is It a Real Career Option?

2022-07-15 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

The world is changing and so are our ideas of how to prepare for a career. University training has become irrelevant and outdated in many fields, especially one as dynamic as Wildlife Tourism. If you are interested in nature guiding this is great news.

The World is Your Classroom

Many young people are passionate and ready to take on the world. But who wants to spend years in a classroom before you are allowed to do the work? Nature guiding gives you the opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience.

“Like many young adults that loves an outdoor lifestyle, I was overwhelmed when thinking of how to find a professional job that allows me to be out in nature every day, without having to spend years sitting in a university classrooms or being prepared to volunteer or work for free!”

Nature Guiding — *How about the green hills of Zululand for a different perspective on life!*

“I have always known that I belong outdoors but finding a good -career – one that allows me to help care for wildlife, snorkel along coral reefs, drive through the African bush in an open Landrover or walk in the tracks of Africa’s Big Game seemed like an impossible dream! One reserved just for a lucky few!”

This is the story most of Bhejane’s students tell. Until they attend one of our lifechanging career courses to become a Professional Nature Guide.

Nature Guiding is a Career with Purpose

Despite tourism being one of the fastest growing industries in Southern Africa, most people are unaware of the many exciting career opportunities this industry offers.

Nature guiding is an excellent career choice for outdoor loving young adults who are eager to play their part as the next guardians of our natural wildlife heritage.

People who choose a nature guiding career cannot see themselves in an office job, feeling it would be meaningless to their life. This career choice is for people who are determined to find a bigger purpose in life through their career.

Click here to have a glimpse of what being Trails Guide is all about

or a Marine Guide

Is Nature Guiding a real career option?

Even when learning of all the opportunities, many people still feel uncertain and have many questions like

Is nature guiding a proper career?
Will I earn enough money to have a decent life?
I am not the most confident person – will I be able to do this?
Courses can be expensive, will the return on my investment be worthwhile?

How Pierre’s Life Changed

Pierre arrived at Bhejane Nature Training frustrated with life. He struggling through school and was unsure about his future options. He did not fit the usual mould of those set to work in traditional careers.

English was not his first language. This knocked his confidence and made him doubt his ability to finish a comprehensive education programme. What he DID know, was his love for living with purpose. He loves exploring nature and sharing his experience with others gave him joy and new found energy.

Pierre started a course at Bhejane and found himself surrounded with like-minded individuals. His confidence started growing, he learned to talk to people naturally and… he found his niche. Not just any niche. He found his passion in one of the more difficult fields namely trees. This niche instantly created respect from fellow students.

Today Pierre is a senior guide at a prestigious and award-winning game lodge – and the good news is that Pierre is not the exception. Rather his story is similar to about 90% of students who attend a full-time career course at Bhejane Nature Training.

Why Bhejane Nature Training?

Our courses are different.

You do not work towards one degree or one diploma – you get qualified across a wide range of fields. You will be certified with a range of skills and have knowledge certificates, licenses and permits all required in this dynamic industry!
Your ability to pass a test will NOT be the deciding factor for your success. Many neurodivergent students, suffering from Dyslexia, Aspergers, and a range of learning differences reach phenomenal success on our programmes.

Success comes from your passion, commitment and learning with like-minded people.

Change your life, change our world, and join us to become a part of the Zululand Conservation Legacy.

Find purpose, confidence and adventure with a Career as a Professional Nature Guide.

Your Guiding Career

How to Become a Fgasa Nature Guide

2022-03-31 bhejanetribe 2 Comments

Being a FGASA Nature Guide is a dream job, envied by many. And for good reason. While it is certainly hard work, the rewards are numerous. Nature Guiding as a professional career has evolved steadily over the last two decades. Today it is a much sought-after career option all over Southern Africa.

Fgasa Nature Guide: Find Your Purpose — Is Nature Guiding your future?

Why Become a Fgasa Nature Guide

Fgasa is the most widely recognised standard setting and certification body for nature guides. It is enjoys recognition in Southern Africa and many other parts of the world.

Fgasa Nature Guide qualifications provides the perfect platform to launch your nature guiding career.

Bhejane’s Advanced Flagship Course

The Bhejane Nature Training Advanced Nature Guiding and Wildlife Conservation programme is a unique and comprehensive 3-year programme.

As the first of a new generation of industry orientated learning programmes, you will love you much fun learning is on this course. The programme combines the intimately related fields of Professional Nature Guiding, Conservation/Wildlife Management, Monitoring and Research, and Tourism and Hospitality.

This enables the student to get a quality academic qualification whilst at the same time living and training in the bush. The 3 year programme is a good alternative to short informal bush courses with little value, or a lengthy academic programme that still leaves you unemployable.

At Bhejane our focus is broader than simply training guides for prestigious and upmarket lodge environments.

Wildlife Tourism products are diverse and exciting! It follows naturally that your options for guiding are equally diverse and exciting. Bhejane prepare you as a nature guide so you get to know yourself better and find the correct niche in the industry that suits your unique personal and professional profile.

Do our fun quiz to find out what type of guide you could be.

The Bhejane Playground

Bhejane’s commitment to purposeful career training will ensure that you can now do all of this in one place, gain valuable practical experience and qualify for an industry placement at the same time.

In addition to the benefits stated above, this is the only programme of its kind that prepares the student to work in both terrestrial and marine protected areas. Learn more about our exciting camps and courses here.

Fgasa Nature Guide — Open Water Diving on the FGASA Marine Guide Course

Base in Northern Zululand and bordering the Isimangaliso Wetlands Park the college could hardly be in a better place. Widely recognised as an area of unrivalled biodiversity, this offers the opportunity to live, study and work in one of the most diverse natural environments in Southern Africa.

The programme is suitable for anyone that is interested in working in Wildlife Tourism and Conservation, either as a Professional Nature Guide, Wildlife Monitor, Research Assistant, Conservation Volunteer Coordinator, Marine Guide or Conservation Entrepreneur. The course caters specifically for students that want more than an entry level guiding qualification, and is looking for a more practical training approach than what is available through traditional academic qualifications. Download our Career Fact Sheets here.

Bhejane Nature Training is a fully endorsed FGASA Training Provider. (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa)

Join us today, to become a part of the Zululand Conservation Legacy . . .

For more information contact Bhejane Nature Training at info@bhejanenaturetraining.com or go to our website, https://www.bhejanenaturetraining.com/

Bush Theatre

A Week of Appreciation in the Life of a Bhejane Student

2019-10-31 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

There is something about the bush, the sound of the birds singing early in the morning, the branches breaking in the distance by elephants, the roar of the lion spreading through the mountains. Waking up in the cold winter morning staring ahead with your head peeping out the zip of your safari tent, overlooking the Mkuze River, having breakfast around a fire pit still warm from the night befores boma fire,feeling refreshed and ready for a full day of walking trails – This is how you start your day at Ebandla Camp.

IMGP2779

Working with Colin Patrick and his amazing K9 sidekick (Anne) is one of the best experiences, just by observing them work together, side by side and with a different insight! Trailing an animal gives you the courage to improve your skills. As soon as you find a fresh track, the hunt is on, bundu bashing through the bushes looking for any sign of the animal you are tracking in the sand, in the trees along the river banks – to find an animal you need to think like one!

IMG-20191027-WA0013 (1)

This is such an amazing experience because you can learn a lot about the animals behaviour, By asking things like ‘What type of food it eats? Was it on its way to a specific location? or maybe just wondering around? by looking at the tracks you can see if the animal is relaxed and walking slow or on edge walking fast.

It is hard work and requires a lot of concentration, but the thrill of tracking a wild animal never ceases to excite me!

As the days go by tracking different animals and learning more about ourselves in the process just adding on to knowledge displayed all around us with every step we take. I remember how nervous I was for the assessment day -It was a perfect sunny morning, everyone was standing around the boma and you could just see the stress of test day show on their faces, but the we started walking and I couldn’t help but to look at my surroundings and just seeing how beautiful nature really helped me to calm down.

We walked for a while before Colin stopped us and split us into two groups and briefed us on our task at hand – one group would walk for 15 minutes to get as far away as possible and hide away and the opposing group would have to track the hiders down! The assessment has begun. After 15 minutes one person was chosen to lead the track for the hiding group – As we tracked and trailed we finally found them and it was now our time to hide.

This process went on until everyone had a chance to track spreading this experience on for 2 days! Every moment as exciting and challenging as the next, when we were all done leading, Colin sat us down and the feedback process began.

IMG-20191027-WA0014

After meeting with each of us, we were all happy to hear how well the assessments went.

I was sitting outside enjoying the beautiful view that Ebandla camp has to offer and it just got me thinking of how amazing this week was, how wonderful it is to learn something new everyday and how amazing and thrilling it is to track an animal and become one and more connected with this beautiful country.

I could do this for the rest of my life.

By: Karla Swart (Advanced Course Student)

Bhejane Pride, Your Guiding Career

Reflecting on a year of discovery and growth

2019-10-22 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

By Manuel Weber

The day I decided that I would dedicate my life to the conservation of the superbly beautiful ecosystems that still cover a large part of the African continent, I was only a 6-year old boy that had just moved to Africa, without any understanding or knowledge about the complex world I was about to discover.

But this dream accompanied me over the next 13 years, motivated me every single day, shaped my way of doing things and caused me to collect every piece of information available to me, desperately hoping that it would eventually bring me a bit closer to that big goal. When I found Bhejane, I would never have thought that this would mean the ultimate break-through for me in achieving my dream. At the same time, the course gave me more than just a confirmation for what I always wanted to do: It opened a whole new world for me.

It was like looking for a sparrow and finding a twinspot (I have no issues with sparrows!). In fact, I didn’t even know that twinspots existed. Or what the difference between a sparrow and a starling is. This winter, not even a year after I left Bhejane, I returned and passed my regional birding.

This is only one example for how Bhejane changed my life, my way of thinking and my relationship with nature. The unbelievable perfection and creativity of evolution that Bhejane allowed me to discover still makes my heart beat faster every time I think about it, or realize how crazy it is that spiders can detect stress allelochemicals thanks to the lyriform organs on their legs (first example that comes to my mind). You never stop learning! And there is no bigger honor than working for nature and with nature.

The environment Bhejane is operating in would be more than enough to amaze every lucid-thinking human being. But additionally to that, I got to meet people that think like me. It may sound crazy, but I actually never had considered in the past that there might be other people that share my passion. I probably don’t have to mention that I got to know a large number of special persons that became some of my closest friends and my idols. I had the privilege to meet some people with phenomenal knowledge and skills, to watch them and to learn from them.

It was like coming home. And it will always be like coming home when returning to the places where all this started. Because it’s not going to end soon.

Uncategorized

The Magic Of The Elephant Coast

2019-07-28 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

I am often told, how lucky I am to live where I live, and do what it is I do for a living – I am sure people in similar positions, also often hear this and over time you really get use to being told how privileged you are from someone else’s point of view- so much so that I have developed a pretty standard response – I smile, and then agree with them not thinking about it too much.

After all it is what I do every day, if I had to articulate the way I really feel about this place called the Elephant Coast- I would not know how as it triggers an emotion so immensely strong I can barely control myself and in that moment words become meaningless and the only words I am left with, sound a little something like this..

“It left me speechless”

I write this today, although I have been writing this in my head for the past 5 years, forever letting it linger until I can find the perfect words to be able to formulate a sentence, never mind string them into a story for anyone else to share into this experience, and too be sincere I am not sure I would ever find the right words to describe the impact the Elephant Coast has had on me, this is one of those “see it to believe it” cases and I highly recommend that you do.

The Elephant Coast is a narrow stretch of land, touching home to the vast warm waters of the Indian Ocean & multi diverse Zululand (KwaZulu Natal, South Africa). It is here where you can come to feel the breath of the Sub tropical, it is here where my words become buried so deep beneath the history that these soils contain and spread so far across the floodplains and into the open ocean. The only place in the world where you can come to witness so many different ecosystems, vegetation structures, and climatic character variations flow together in perfect harmony earning the right to be classified under its own biome, namely the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt. A pure example of outstanding ecological processes, superlative natural phenomena and scenic beauty, and exceptional biodiversity and home so many threatened species.

How does one even begin to explain something so diverse, unique and endemic in simple forms?

It is in these sand forests where the last remaining herds of ‘Big tusker’ elephants roamed for centuries and left their mark on the very tips of our tongues. It is here where coral reefs have formed on remains of ancient sand dunes creating one of a kind reefs, home to over 1200 fish species, including the Coelacanth, a fish species thought to be extinct but still lurks in the depths of these waters – described as The Living Fossil. It is here where the largest estuarine system on the African continent, you can come to see the largest population of hippopotamus and crocodile share a space with the Bull Shark that follow the high tide in to feed on any juvenile life hiding among the aerial roots of mangrove trees that stand as guards along the edges of our coastline, giving chance for other habitats to develop, it is here where King Shaka’s right hand man fled to after fearing he too would suffer the same fate and be assassinated- found himself emerged deep in the beauty of the flat, vast and open land with many lakes in 1828– It was the home of the Tsonga people, then known as Tembeland – Upon arriving, the beauty that overwhelmed him set the core for the naming of this region, the name so perfectly chosen for this region ‘iSimangaliso’ meaning miracle and wonders remain as true today, as it did almost 200 years ago.

Magical.

Once it lures you in, it has got you for life. I cannot recall the exact day I fully grasped the magnitude of the words “You are lucky” meant for me. I was raised in the guiding industry, both my parents are guides and passion driven people, passion not only for the natural surroundings, but for creating a community of like-minded people to create, spread and share more moments of magic.

A passion, I guess you can say it is in my blood.

I was born with it and so I will continue to grow with it every day being reminded through a series of moments- like the first time I got to witness a loggerhead turtle emerge from the comfort of her aquatic environment to lay eggs in the coastal dunes of Bhanga Nek, Kosi Bay. That moment upon realizing that this turtle has survived the odds, living through natures natural process and unpredictability, that realization of “Here I am, in her presence, watching her… what a rarity” , even walking back up the beach, with every step brighter than the next as my feet shuffle and awaken the bioluminesence hidden beneath the surface of the faintly wet sand. The first time I ever got to witness a Humpback Whale and her calf swim right by me while diving a spot called Pinnacles in Sodwana Bay, sharing a momentary glimpse of each other as one tail movement sent her meters ahead of me and within seconds they were gone again and just like that, an appreciation for these waters I find myself in. I am quickly reminded that these are not only the breeding waters for whales, but some of the most unique reefs dominated by soft coral and marine life so diverse, significant that with every breathe fueling your lungs as you sink down deeper you become almost instantaneously humbled.

It is in these moments when it becomes clear, how lucky I truly am.

The Elephant Coast captured my heart and became my home and my office – Privileged to share the stories of the past, determined to keep a sustainable present and looking forward to many more once in a lifetime experiences, never failing to appreciate any moment whether I find myself under a blanket of stars on a clear night or even just hearing the rumble of the ocean on a windy day.

Speechless is the only way to describe the feeling one gets upon realizing that every day you get to live and breathe in a place of miracles, a literal heaven on earth, a sacred place.

There really is no place, like home.

By:Nicole Panos

Uncategorized

My Bhejane Hart: Kayla Pieterse

2019-07-21 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

Ek het nog altyd geweet dat my liefde vir die natuur diep binne my gewortel is.

Van die dag wat ek gesien het wat Bhejane vir my kan bied het ek onmiddelik besluit om deel te word van die 3 maande kursus, min het ek geweet dat ek kort daarna sonder huiwer sou aansluit by die 3 jaar kursus. Ek het nie besef ek stap in by een groot familie nie. Ek was eintlik so bevoorreg dat ek so kort nadat ek die grootmens wêreld betree reeds my tuiste kon vind. Bhejane is my huis weg van die huis af. Om te kan wakker word in die getjirp van die voëls & te kan rustig raak in die aand voor die ongelooflikste sonsonderdergange hier in Zulu land, gee net nuwe mening tot lewe want ek dink selde aan hoe baie ek eintlik het om voor dankbaar te wees.

Bhejane Angasi Students taking a group picture while the Zululand sun sets.

Elke gesig wat mens in die oggend sien straal ń ander emosie uit. Emosie van blydskap, emosie van hartseer, emosie van verlange of emosie van liefde. Almal bied altyd ń skouer aan, almal is altyd daar om saam jou bly te wees & daar is altyd ń ekstra handjie wat wil help. My hart word warm as ek besef dat daar steeds sulke goeie mense in die wêreld is.

Bhejane bestaan uit slegs hoendervleis oomblikke uit. Daar gaan nie ń dag verby waar mens nie sê “wow, dis crazy” of “ek het nooit geweet nie”. Jy leer elke dag iets nuut van die natuur & selfs meer as wat jy besef iets oor jouself. Bhejane stel jou nooit teleur as dit kom by die natuur nie. Jy groei & verander saam die seisoene. Ek is bevoorreg om my fondasie in hierdie industrie by Bhejane te kan neerlê, om blootgestel te word in alles waarin ek nou blootgestel word maak my net nog meer opwindend vir wat die toekoms vir my inhou. My huis is waar my hart is & my hart sal vir altyd by Bhejane wees.

IMG-20190405-WA0010 Deur: Kayla Pieterse

Bhejane Pride

Whale out of Water by Laila Rouhani

2019-07-02 bhejanetribe Leave a comment

Waking up to the sound of the waves crashing, the wind rustling through the trees are the best sounds to wake up to.

This is the second year the Bhejane Nkonkoni group have been privileged to be assisting in the Mammal Research Institute with their whale monitoring in Cape Vidal. The aim of this research project is to track the Humpback Whales on their migratory paths from their cold feeding grounds in Antarctica to their breeding grounds up north in warmer tropical waters.

The walk to the whale watching towers definitely gets your heart pumping as it is a steep walk through dense forest, soft sand and torturous stairs. But all of that is worth it because once you get to the towers and see the most incredible view out over the sea through the canopy of the trees you forget about the walk up and how out of breath you are.

Stepping up into the towers and seeing the view is like seeing it for the first time every time no matter how many times you go up into the towers.

If you are doing the first shift of the day you have the pleasure of carrying up the theodolite to the towers which weighs about 10kg. You have to set up the tripod legs, mount the theodolite to the tripod and make it level. Once you have set all that up you are ready to track whales moving past.

The main keys when spotting a whale are blows, breaching, fluking and lobtailing. If you spot anyone of these you pin point the whale in the cross hairs of the theodolite and call time. Once time has been called you read off the horizontal and vertical reading to the person scribing and they plot all that data down on a map. To make all the readings on that group more accurate we try to get five readings on each group with five-minute intervals between each reading before the group moves past.

On a clear day with perfect conditions you can see further than 15km out to sea. From that distance you can see these whales breaching out of the water with the naked eye. Sometimes if you are lucky, they will breach really close to the shore and that’s when you can see how big and strong, they are because they literally launch their whole body out of the water over and over again.

The best thing to do between shifts is to go down to the beach either to swim or to explore the shoreline.

One of the best memories I have from last years whale monitoring was seeing a mother and calf humpback whale swimming past the towers just beyond the breakers. This calf was still a new-born because it was so small and you could see that it was still testing out the waters.

As the last shift draws to an end it is time to start packing up the theodolite and all the data sheets from a bust day’s work. Before we head down, we take about five minutes to enjoy the sun getting ready to go down behind us over the dunes while enjoying the final view over the sea for the day.

Then it is time to face the stairs back down to where the bakkie is parked waiting to take us back home for the night only to start this all again tomorrow.

By Laila Rouhani

Bhejane Online