African Guide Academy

I recently completed a course with the African Guide Academy. The bright spot was definitely the guiding staff—their knowledge of the bush, animal behavior, and tracking was top-notch. These are passionate, skilled professionals, and that part was genuinely impressive. But guiding and teaching are two very different things—and unfortunately, the course itself fell flat in almost every other area. The structure was disorganized. Manuals didn’t arrive until halfway through the course, and we were asked to prepare lessons on topics with very limited access to materials. Internet usage was restricted, which I’d normally support in a bush setting—but when you don’t provide the proper learning tools, it just makes everything harder than it needs to be. International students, be warned: the price you’ll pay is over three times higher than what local students are charged. A slight markup is fair—this level isn’t. The value for money simply isn’t there. The communication was poor from the start. Some students got Zoom briefings before arriving; others were sent outdated or incorrect info (I personally was given a meeting location that no longer exists). When asking instructors about the plan for the day, the answer was often “just follow the schedule”—which they didn’t actually follow themselves. The camp is far south and barely in the Delta, and while the setting is beautiful, the game drives were fairly uneventful. The wildlife experience was nowhere near what the promotional videos implied. There’s potential here, but right now it feels more like a business that sells the dream than a well-run training program. If you’re serious about becoming a guide, you might be better off doing the online course and finding a good mentor to complete the practical with.

Highly recommend AGA to any curious person who wants to immerse and learn about nature. A visit to the ‘real world’. 2 weeks in Kwapa impacted my life and my perception of nature in multiple ways. I am very grateful with JC, Richie, Bernie, Raf and Grant for their support. I am looking forward to coming back in 2025/26. This is KWAPA

Kwapa and AGA, what an incredible offering and place! It far exceeded every expectation I had and I have finally played out a life long dream of mine to do my guide course. All the staff we interacted with were fantastic. The team behind the scenes, the chef, Stan, everyone was so warm and always going out of their way to make us feel at home. Then of course, Godwin and Sevara. What incredible ambassadors for Botswana, Africa, the bush and AGA. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them and learning from them. In their own different ways they created a life changing experience. I cannot speak more highly of them. Their knowledge, skill, passion, commitment, professionalism, sense of humour, energy and more... This must truly be testament to the culture created at AGA and the hard work put in to this incredible learning instituition. Thank you for sharing the magic of Kwapa and the bush with us all!

Very professional training institute. Learned a lot on my nature guide training, not only theoretically but also on the practical side. If you aspire becoming a guide, there’s no better place out there!