Australia

Specials / Escorted Tours / Independent Tours / 18-35 year old tours
Active Tours / Budget Tours / Sydney / Cairns / Melbourne / Adelaide
Alice/Ayers Rock / Darwin / Tasmania / Western Australia

Nature Training Courses

We offer the following courses which have been designed to supply the everyday person with an outdoor experience they will never forget. These courses are not only available to people wishing to enter the industry as field guides, but for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge of the Australian outdoors. So whether you’ve just finished school and are on your gap year, or if you’ve possibly taken a career
break or are retired, these courses are for you!

EcoTraining Course 1
This course is an entry level 28-day certification that gives aspirational guides a basic knowledge of guiding. It acts as the first step on a career path into the Ecotourism industry with a free employment service offered on passing the course; resume posting and industry interviews organised during or post the course. Through a carefully structured, yet flexible course syllabus, our head guides introduce all aspects of what it takes to become a guide. We cover all aspects of working in the Ecotourism industry and discuss the exciting opportunities out in the workplace for well trained guides.

Over the month long course students will become familiar with:
• Indigenous culture and history
• Dangerous game of Australia
• Unique marsupials and mammals of the Top End
• Environmental awareness and impact
• Nature of World Heritage listed bio-regions and their importance
• 100+ migratory and resident bird species
• Dozens of native trees and plants
• Bush medicine
• Bush mechanics
• 4WD’ing
• Geology, Astronomy, and Ethology (animal behaviour)

As a pure tourist experience our EcoTraining Course 1 is very popular for those people wishing to experience the beauty of the Aussie bush in a unique way. Although we encourage all our students to take the assessments, as a holiday maker it is not compulsory.

EcoWarrior – School camp
So many people have lost that wonderful connection with Nature which was the founding motivation behind our EcoWarrior program. EcoTraining believes that a positive experience in the bush at an early age can greatly enhance someone’s outlook on life and is essential for their well-being. Our EcoWarrior program gives students an opportunity to learn about the diverse environments of the TOP END of Australia in a fun, practical, hands-on approach to teaching. Combined with the formal learning components our students meet a wide variety of people, interact with our specialist guides, and learn from Indigenous Australians in a very intimate setting.

By the end of the course students will have a basic understanding of:
• Native Flora and Fauna
• Indigenous history and culture
• Environmental awareness
• Bush tucker and camp cooking
• Camping and camp preparation
• Geology
• Astronomy
• Potential work opportunities in Ecotourism after school

The course runs for 10 days, with 9 nights sleeping out in the remote, untouched Kakadu National Park region in the Northern Territory. The tented camp is the ideal location for the students to experience the delights of Nature.

Indigenous Culture – 7 day specialist course
Our head guide and trainer Ian Hutton has 15 years experience working with Indigenous communities in the Top End. Join Ian on this week long course that gives you firsthand experience of Indigenous Australian’s past, present, and future whilst living in a wild bush setting on the Mary River Floodplain, allowing you time to understand this rich, diverse, and ancient culture. Our trained Indigenous guides work alongside our camp guides to ensure all our subject matter is presented in an authentic way.

During the week you experience:
• Bush tucker
• Indigenous bush medicine
• History - past and modern Indigenous culture
• Indigenous art appreciation
• Ancient land management
• Dreamtime story telling
• Local flora and fauna Indigenous names and stories
• Importance of Indigenous land management
• 4WD’ing
• Bush walking
• Birding

Our Indigenous Cultural Week is held at our Mary River Camp, on the border of Kakadu National Park.

Indigenous Birding – 7 day specialist course
The Top End of Australia is one the most diverse bio-regions on the planet and also home to 100’s of migratory and resident bird species found nowhere else. The Mary River floodplain, where our camp is situated, is one of the most important regions in the Top End, home to millions of nesting Magpie Geese, the mighty White-bellied Sea Eagle, Brolga’s, and Comb-crested Jacana’s. We've developed an educational birding week that delivers a basic understanding of ornithology and develops a deeper knowledge on the specific bird species found in the Kakadu region where our permanent bush camp is located. Working with our head guides we invite expert birders from Australia and Africa to share their
knowledge and intimate experiences with the feathered world.

Topics covered in the course:
• Bird identification, calls, and spotting
• Bird classification and basic taxonomy
• General bird habitats
• Environmental factors affecting birds – endangered species
• Unique Australian environments and species
• Bush walking and birding – techniques

By the end of the 7 days you should have identified well over 100 species, be able to identify a few dozen calls, and have a greater appreciation of the need to protect vast tracks of bush in order to preserve Australia’s 883 bird species.

EcoQuest 14 Days
For those not quite up for our full 28-day Field Guide course, we have a very popular EcoQuest experience for those still wanting to experience and learn about the Australian bush. We have picked the most exciting components of our longer courses and compressed them into a 2 week holiday
experience without the exams or higher learning. We still do however hold true to the EcoTraining mission of increasing awareness and responsible tourism, conducting two activities daily, with one lecture held during the heat of the day. At the end of this course students should have a broad understanding of the Australian bush, with a new found respect for the natural ecosystems that are so in need of our help.

On the course activities include:
• Flora
• Fauna
• 4WD’ing
• Overnight camping trip to Kakadu National Park
• Bush walking
• Boat tour
• Dangerous game component
• Night game drives
• Australian marsupial component
• Setting up a bush camp

Where are the courses conducted?
Location: Kakadu National Park Region,
Northern Territory
Distance: 2 1/2 hours drive from Darwin or 25 minutes on light plane
Our camp is set amongst a eucalypt forest on the edge of the Mary River flood plain. The bush camp accommodates a maximum of 20 trainees allowing an all-encompassing experience of the Australian bush. The dining and lecture facility is an open-air structure that forms the centre of the camp with a fire pit and relaxation area nearby.

Kakadu National Park an Australian Natural Icon covers almost 20,000 square km and is 257 km East of Darwin the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Kakadu National Park is a World Heritage listed area that has been listed for its cultural and natural heritage and Kakadu is the largest terrestrial national park in Australia. Life in the park does depends on the water, also in respect to the tropical monsoon climate that produces the downpours of the tropical humidity of the "wet" season, and the milder weather of the "dry" season. Kakadu National Park is the gateway to Arnhemland. The sealed roads from Darwin to Kakadu are via the Arnhem Highway and from Katherine to Kakadu National Park via the Kakadu Highway. The Bowali Visitor Centre near Jabiru in Kakadu National Park is located 257 km from Darwin in Northern Territory Australia via the Arnhem Highway entrance. If travelling by road, you should allow 3 hours travelling time from Darwin.

Kakadu is the second largest national park in the world and and is home to approximate number of species: Mammals: 62, Reptiles: 123+, Birds: 280, Freshwater Fish: 51, Insects: 10,000, Frogs: 25, Plants: 1,275. (Many are rare and occur only in Kakadu) The area boasts the longest continuous surviving human culture in the world. Aborigines have been living in this region for at least 40,000 years. The descendants of these First Australians still live in Kakadu today.

Course Dates and rates (in AU$):

March 2009 31 March – 27 April EcoTraining Course 1 $ 5 600
April 2009 11 April – 20 April EcoWarrior $ 2 200
May 2009 4 May – 31 May EcoTraining Course 1 $ 5 600
June 2009 8 June – 14 June Indigenous Specialist $ 3 950
19 June – 25 June Birding Specialist $ 3 950
July 2009 3 July – 12 July EcoWarrior $ 2 200
15 July – 24 July EcoWarrior $ 2 200
August 2009 31 July – 13 August EcoQuest – 14 day $ 3 350
21 August – 17 September EcoTraining Course 1 $ 5 600
September 2009 25 September – 1 October Indigenous Specialist $ 3 950
October 2009 5 October – 14 October EcoWarrior $ 2 200
23 October – 20 November EcoTraining Course 1 $ 5 600

Rates include:
• Lectures
• Game drives
• Walks
• Accommodation
• Meals
• Tea, coffee & cordials
Rates exclude:
• Transfers/transport to and from the camp, before and after the course
• Any accommodation before and after the course
• Beverages
Please note: Due to continual increasing costs, rates are subject to change without prior notice for un-paid bookings.
Deposit - In order to confirm your booking, we require that a 40% deposit
:he balance of the fees is due 3weeks before the course starts.