aHa Hotels & Lodges has partnered with a field guide training company and Mankwe Game Trackers to fully sponsor the training of approximately 40 local community members and employ them in the group’s lodges around South Africa.

Under the three-year initiative, Bushwise Field Guides will provide the FGASA-endorsed training to eight local students every six months, who will then go on to work at aHa lodges or at Mankwe GAMETRACKERS in the Pilanesberg National Park.  

The first group of eight future field guides started their training this month in the Greater Makalali Game Reserve, home to the aha Makalali Private Game Lodge and Bushwise’s Mahlahla campus.

“We are very excited to have the first candidates arriving. These candidates will go on to become full-time employees in our lodges, and we hope that they will continue to grow with us for many years to come. This partnership is a vital initiative to ensure that the communities which our lodges serve continue to benefit from and be the guardians of conservation in this country,” said aha Hotels & Lodges CEO, Graeme Edmond.  

The training provided by Bushwise will include field guide qualifications, track and sign, trailing, 4x4 driving, guiding ethics, conservation, community engagement, first aid, and more. After graduation, participants will go on to work at lodges aha Makalali Private Game Lodge, aha Thakadu River Camp, Mankwe Game Trackers and Nkambeni Safari Camp.

Uniforms for the trainees are being sponsored by industry-leading South African bush-wear manufacturer Ruggedwear.

“It’s amazing to see our leading tourism brands coming together to create ambassadors of the natural world. What makes this transformation project even more special is that these ambassadors will be given permanent employment,” said Bushwise Director, Eugene Relling.