Okavango Delta

The training area within the Okavango Delta

The instructors at the African Guiding Academy train throughout Africa. But the home, Kwapa Training Camp, is on a wild and remote island in southern Okavango.

The Okavango Delta has been declared a World Heritage Site for its pristine ecosystems, scenic beauty, and abundance of wildlife. The Okavango is one of the most scenically spectacular game reserves in the world. The countless crystal-clear canals and animal-rich islands are a unique habitat.

Your learning experience is influenced by the natural beauty of the area and the diversity of habitats. Kwapa consists of a combination of river canals, floodplains, lagoons as well as riparian forests, savannas, mopane trees, mopane forests and grasslands.

Equally remarkable is the fact that this wilderness covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometers unfenced through the Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park, the Caprivi Strip in Namibia, Angola, Zambia and Central Africa.

Southern Okavango, like most of southern Africa, is currently affected by drought. This area is said to be as dry as it has not been for almost 90 years, and for this reason, boat trips and mokoro have been suspended. However, natural dry and humidity cycles are an important part of the balance between populations of lowland animals and species that prefer seasonally flooded floodplains. With constant drinking water near the camp, the area still has abundant wildlife and an incredible sense of wilderness.

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Kwapa Camp

Kwapa Camp has ten 3 x 4 Meru-style tents with private bathrooms with bucket shower, flush toilet and sink with cold running water. Each tent is equipped with a small closet, two camp beds, sheets, pillows, blankets and towels. The tents have battery-operated LED lighting. There is a comfortable deckchair on the veranda.

Because our courses are modular and include an element of self-study, we can avoid a rigid schedule and the trainer can create a weekly training program that is entirely tailored to local conditions, wildlife movements and water levels.

We do everything we can to ensure that every student who takes part in our programs takes part in all of our training courses. This means that every week we do at least one Mokoro trip, a boat trip, a game viewing trip, a hike, an overnight stay on an island, basic weapons training (not for the bush or bird watching course), tracking, navigation, survival training, hydrology, ecology, etc.

The presentations are informal and relate to areas where course participants feel they would like further explanation of the topics covered in the handbook. We prefer to encourage discussion rather than give long, tiring talks.

Please note that flooding in the Okavango is seasonal. The water-based activities during ranger training depend on the water level. Our high tide is usually mid to late August.

There are a few years in which the water doesn't reach Kwapa Training Camp.

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About the African Guide Academy

The African Guide Academy emerged from the Okavango Guiding School. It was registered as the first private training center for travel guides registered in Botswana to train travel guides on both the Field Guide Association of Southern Africa (FGASA) and the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) platform.

The African Guide Academy is owned and run by the Reed family. The well-known Reed brothers Grant and Brent hosted the National Geographic Wild series “Safari Brothers.”

The team of highly qualified and passionate instructors will teach you how to interpret the animals' behavior and understand the complex and fascinating interactions between Okavango species and their environment. The African Guide Academy has a team of safari guide trainers who are second to none when it comes to their qualifications and experience.

The African Guide Academy is just the right place for your ranger training!

Start and finish: Maun International Airport

Maun Airport is the starting point for your trip to Kwapa Camp. Maun is served daily from Johannesburg and Cape Town. There are also a few domestic flights. International flights generally take place at lunchtime, with good connections to and from Europe.

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Meeting Point

The meeting point is at The Duck Café opposite Maun/Botswana airport at 14:00 on the first day of the course. The time is chosen so that international arrivals can be adjusted.

Of course, you can also arrive a day earlier. We would be happy to arrange suitable accommodation and transfers for you.

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Your tour will end here again, on the day of departure you will be back at Maun airport around 11:00 in time to catch international flights. If you would like a follow-up program, we will of course be happy to arrange appropriate arrangements for you.

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