Specialist training for lodges and guides
Differentiate your lodge through building capacity, adapability, motivation and professionalism in your team, and by highlighting unique features of the landscape you share with guests.
Your guides will gain specialist knowledge, new skills, personal growth and improved employability, adding new techniques to their guiding toolbox.
Take a professional step forward to help your guides grow and lodge stand out.
Customised courses covering three major areas of upskilling
Geology
This course adds depth to the standard guest experience by helping guides understand and confidently interpret the particular rock formations and landscapes on their reserve.
Advanced Guiding
This course is designed for guides who want to take guests beyond just the big five. It helps them create more meaningful and restorative nature experiences that connect guests deeply with place and nature.
Drawing on multiple guiding approaches, the course emphasises ecological understanding, storytelling, and slowing down.
Nature Therapy
This course introduces guides to Nature Therapy, a growing range of practices and activities rooted in the world-wide realisation that meaningful nature connection is essential for people to live healthy, balanced lives.
Current and Past Partners
Some of ways we enhance the guides skill set:
Looking more closely at the smaller things like spiders and beetles
How to evoke guest interest in something that looks “ordinary”
Giving guests the feeling of wonder and curiosity
Plants and their adaptions
How to conduct a theraputic nature experience for guests
A better understanding of your park geology and the formations of rocks and mountains
Body posture when interpreting something for guests
Customised Geology Manual
Enable reinforcement and ongoing integration of geology into the guiding narrative at your lodge or reserve with a geological highlights manual for a lodge or reserve. This includes descriptions of geo-sites written in accessible language. Examples of previous manuals and costs of compilation are available on request.
Upskilling your guides is just 3 steps away
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Contact John
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We design the training plan you need
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Greatly increase the value your reserve offers guests
The responses we get…
What a great 3 days of intense Geology. John’s infectious excitement of Babanango Game Reserves’ incredible Geology had our guides riveted to every aspect of the training ( even with very wet cold conditions).Thanks you John for opening up our knowledge base on a crucial area of a guides varied interests. This will be a huge benefit to our guests adding another important dimension to their experiences at BGR.
Kevin Johnston
Babanango Game Reserve Head Guide
John allows the Silence to speak and teach
Steve Baytopp
Head, Kamoka Bush School
John Roff’s facilitation is of great value. The Interpretation guide experience with John was of above the expectations of a normal guide.
Pogiso Mahlase
Honestly it was really valuable, it has given me a whole new perspective on things, and something really important it has given me a love of research, ever since I have started really enjoying seeing things I don’t know and trying to find them in books… and it gives me this great satisfaction. I also loved the nature therapy, it has given me a whole new perspective in guiding and in the way I want to indulge and involve my guests into nature.
It was really life changing for me and I enjoyed every moment of it.
Riley Rogan
In this wilderness with John we learned to listen, to read the land, and to guide others through nature’s wisdom with heart and purpose.
Garry Bruce
Head Guide, Singita Lebombo
Our guiding team at Marataba conservation camps had a three day course with John Roff with a focus on plants, geology and all the small species one easily overlooks on a game drive. I personally learnt so much.
I was “re-inspired” to grow myself as a guide and that everyone can master their unique guiding style. The course was a real motivator for all the guides as it also opened our eyes and reminded us of why we do what we do.
Nienke Du Preez
Senior Guide, Marataba Conservation Camps
The Teaching style, the engagement and approach has honestly been the best for me. I was able to connect with nature, learn new things, discover new hidden meanings about nature and I was able to enjoy my walks a lot more because I started to notice things more. I was able to learn about diversity, the colours the variety and interpretation of Nature in a gentle manner. I was also able to learn about myself in the process. You made me discover the healing power of nature especially with sounds and smell. I truly cannot express how wonderful you were and I cannot wait to into your teachings and to pass them on to others
Lehlogonolo Kgaditse
The training and the time we spent with John were unlike anything I’ve experienced before. He carried an aura of calm yet enthusiastic energy that was truly contagious. He listened intently and had a unique way of translating the wonders of nature that resonated on a deeper level—personally reigniting a spark I felt had been fading.
Monika Malewski
Field Guide, Singita Lebombo
John’s love and understanding of Ecology is deeply embodied in his teachings. Through his carefully designed Principles, RE-Connecting with the Earth and Self becomes a whole new experience, one that encompasses curiosity, awareness, and the utmost Respect for our environment.
Kerry Baytopp
Deputy Head, Kamoka Bush School
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to John Roff for his incredible work on Interpreting Nature the way he did. He has installed a curiosity in me which helps with the career that I am in as an outdoor Facilitator. I am really looking forward to putting the lessons into practice and exploring all the Principles that were taught
Lerato Mampa
Thank you for the insightful lessons. The content was well structured and enhanced my understanding of Interpreting Nature significantly.
Sam Gama
Contact us using the details below to book or find out more