Bhejane Nature Training

02/08/2026

Coffee, biltong & droëwors 🇿🇦 Proudly South African!

BushLife

31/07/2026

Books give us knowledge. Curiosity gives us experience. 🪶✨

One of our students read that the red pigment in a Purple-crested Turaco's feathers dissolves in water. Instead of just believing it, she decided to test it herself.

That's the mindset we encourage at Bhejane Nature Training.

One day, your guests won't only remember the facts you shared—they'll remember the stories behind them. "I tested this myself..." is far more memorable than, "I read it in a book."

Never stop asking questions. Never stop experimenting. That's how great field guides are made.

Well done to our Bhejane Nature Training students! 👏🌿
FGASA

LearningByDoing Birding PurpleCrestedTuraco Conservation

08/07/2026

🔥 Successful Conservation Management Burn 🔥

A huge thank you to the Wild Tomorrow Fire Management Team for partnering with Bhejane Nature Training during yesterday's successful conservation management burn.

Before a single match was lit, Head Fire Officer Siya delivered an excellent safety briefing, ensuring every student understood the importance of working safely and professionally around fire. Students received hands-on training in the use of beaters and water backpacks, learned about the three essential ingredients fire needs to burn, and gained valuable insight into how wind influences fire behaviour and how it can be used to conduct a safe, effective burn.

It was an outstanding practical learning experience, giving our future field guides and conservationists real-world skills that simply can't be taught in a classroom.

We'll also be sharing a reel of our students working the firebreak, staying alert and making sure no spot fires crossed the line—a great example of teamwork, discipline, and conservation in action.

Thank you again to the Wild Tomorrow team for sharing your knowledge and helping train the next generation. 🔥🌿👏

28/06/2026

How is this for a size comparison 😉

Size isn’t always easy to judge in the bush… until you get this perspective .

Here we have a Greater Kudu Bull standing almost directly behind a Impala ram. Although the kudu is standing on slightly higher ground and the impala is a little closer to the camera, the difference in size is still remarkable.

A mature Greater Kudu bull can stand around 1.4–1.6 m at the shoulder and weigh 190–270 kg ( some very big ones even more), while an adult Impala ram typically stands 90–95 cm at the shoulder and weighs 50–75 kg.

Perspective, terrain and distance all influence what we think we’re seeing. Training your eye to account for these factors is an important skill for nature guides.

📸 Tegan’s wild life 🐾

24/06/2026

🌊 Inspiring the Next Generation of Ocean Guardians 🐢

A huge thank you to Thonga Trails, together with Mission Blue, Bushlifestyle Manguzi, and our Bhejane Nature Training Marine Guides, for helping make this incredible experience possible. Seeing local children connect with the Kosi Lakes and the marine environment is what conservation is all about. 💙🌍

🐢🌊🌿

24/06/2026

Congratulations Sarah Barratt! A well-deserved Safari Guide of the Year 2026. From all of us at Bhejane Nature Training, well done! 🏆

🏆🌿 WE HAVE A WINNER! 🌿🏆

After five days of intense competition in the heart of the Greater Kruger, Sarah Barratt of Thornybush was crowned Safari Guide of the Year 2026!

Sarah impressed throughout the week, ultimately claiming top honours in the Guided Game Drive and Industry Ambassador & Professionalism categories on her way to the overall title.

A huge congratulations also goes to Otto Scribante of Singita, who was named Runner-Up, delivering an exceptional performance across multiple challenges.

In her acceptance speech, Sarah paid tribute to her fellow finalists, describing it as a privilege to compete alongside such talented and passionate guides.

As SGOTY celebrates its 15th year, this week's competition once again showcased the extraordinary skill, dedication and professionalism that define South Africa's guiding industry.

Congratulations to Sarah, Otto, fellow finalists Samantha Snodgrass, Patrick Kepe and Jordan Davidson, and everyone who made SGOTY 2026 such a memorable event.

Watch this space for a full press release with all the category winners and information.

And what a better venue than the exclusive Klaserie Drift Amani, part of the Klaserie Drift Safari Camps, deep in the heart of the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve .

Photos: Armadillo Media

18/06/2026

Reading the Stories Written in the Sand

At Bhejane Nature Training we believe that great guides are not only wildlife observers — they are interpreters of the signs left behind.

In this video, one of our students demonstrates excellent spoor interpretation skills using her homemade tracking stick, complete with a porcupine quill pointer. The track she is examining may seem insignificant to the untrained eye, but by looking closely at the shape of the spoor and the slight webbing between the toes, she is able to identify it as that of a Hammerkop.

Found around a muddy waterhole, the tracks reveal a bird perfectly adapted to wetland habitats where it spends its time probing the mud and searching for frogs and other aquatic prey.

Spoor and sign awareness opens an entirely new dimension of guiding. Tracks, feeding signs, scent marks, dung, feathers, calls and countless other clues allow guides to piece together the stories of animals that may never actually be seen. As trackers often say, spoor tells the story of what happened when nobody was watching.

Developing these skills not only enriches the guest experience but also builds the observation, awareness and bushcraft abilities that are essential for professional field guides and trails guides alike.

Every track has a story. The skill lies in learning how to read it.

10/06/2026

Golden morning light for a golden birding morning 🌅 🦅

01/06/2026

Early Birding mornings 🤠 ☀️

Here are only some of the things we saw;

1. Greater Pelican
2. African Spoonbil
3. Black-winged stilt
4. Blue-billed Teal
5. Cape Shovelers
6. Yellow-billed Duck
7. Whiskered Terns
8. African Sacred Ibis
9. Goliath Heron
10. African Dusky Flycatcher
11. African Jacana

and many more!

27/05/2026

“⏳ Sands of Time…”

Alexander gave us something truly special during his recent FGASA Level 1 (NQF 2) assessment. Starting with sand falling through his fingers, he used a 24-hour timeline of Earth’s history to interpret the incredible Maputuland Sand Forest biome around us. 🌍

From an aardvark dig to geology, soil formation, plants and ecology, he linked everything together in a unique and engaging way far beyond this level.

As an assessor, I was genuinely blown away by his creativity and interpretation skills. A future FGASA Level 3 Professional Guide in the making. 👏🌿

FieldGuide BhejaneNatureTraining