July has been a month of celebrations! We have just become parents again to a little baby girl called Jasmine Kelsey who was born on 2nd of July. Our other daughter, Rosemary, who was born on 4th of July, has just turned three. Then on the 24th of July I celebrated my own birthday.
Then, a completely different thing to celebrate happened yesterday, when I went to collect a registered letter. It contained non other than my South African Mountain Guide's badge. It had really been on my husband's suggestion that I went through with the rigmarole of yet more training, mountaineering assessments, 3 hour exams, and a mountain of coursework. The standard set is by no means at half mast, and over the last year there were a number of times I wondered whether it was possible to complete around my other work and being a Mum.
During the course I became pregnant with our second child, and again wondered whether I could really finish it. One particularly draining weekend involved night navigation exercises till 2am in the morning, leading groups through the foot of the Matroosberg, and another exhausting weekend included teaching multipitch rock climbing on Table Mountain and Muizenberg Face, which included walking up with full racks and equipment in searing 30 deg plus heat. I took things steady, and it was all well within my normal limits, but nevertheless found it a challenge.
There are new regulations within the South African Tourism Industry which has helped to formalise all forms of guiding whether it be mountaineering, botanical tours, or wildlife into recognised qualifications that provide one with the ability to guide clients on a number of levels. and within various jurisdictions. South Africa is one of the only countries in the world to operate a system like this and is definitely a forerunner in this respect.
The full mountain guiding qualification requires expert experience in mountaineering, rock climbing, and leading groups in wilderness environments, and expedition organisation, as well as understanding rescue procedures from inaccessible areas, first aid, knowledge of weather systems, and geographical terrain. It was rather daunting to set out on acquiring the various qualifications. Fortunately my previous experience running an expedition company and guiding clients abroad helped, as well as all those mountains and rock faces I had climbed, but never made a formal list of until now... it went on and on.
Then there were the rather tiresome three hour exams on as varied topics as mountaineering equipment (like the construction of a sleeping bag!) to leading expeditions, rescuing injured parties off cliff faces, and describing weather patterns and rock analysis. (Being pregnant I had to keep jumping up to go to the loo. Thankfully the course organiser was sympathetic to my needs!)
Now I can say it was all worth the time and effort. I am South Africa's first accredited female Mountain Guide. My mission is to use my skills and qualification to promote eco tourism in South Africa by empowering young people with knowledge of career options and challenges on their doorstep that they may not have realised were there.
Then, a completely different thing to celebrate happened yesterday, when I went to collect a registered letter. It contained non other than my South African Mountain Guide's badge. It had really been on my husband's suggestion that I went through with the rigmarole of yet more training, mountaineering assessments, 3 hour exams, and a mountain of coursework. The standard set is by no means at half mast, and over the last year there were a number of times I wondered whether it was possible to complete around my other work and being a Mum.
During the course I became pregnant with our second child, and again wondered whether I could really finish it. One particularly draining weekend involved night navigation exercises till 2am in the morning, leading groups through the foot of the Matroosberg, and another exhausting weekend included teaching multipitch rock climbing on Table Mountain and Muizenberg Face, which included walking up with full racks and equipment in searing 30 deg plus heat. I took things steady, and it was all well within my normal limits, but nevertheless found it a challenge.
There are new regulations within the South African Tourism Industry which has helped to formalise all forms of guiding whether it be mountaineering, botanical tours, or wildlife into recognised qualifications that provide one with the ability to guide clients on a number of levels. and within various jurisdictions. South Africa is one of the only countries in the world to operate a system like this and is definitely a forerunner in this respect.
The full mountain guiding qualification requires expert experience in mountaineering, rock climbing, and leading groups in wilderness environments, and expedition organisation, as well as understanding rescue procedures from inaccessible areas, first aid, knowledge of weather systems, and geographical terrain. It was rather daunting to set out on acquiring the various qualifications. Fortunately my previous experience running an expedition company and guiding clients abroad helped, as well as all those mountains and rock faces I had climbed, but never made a formal list of until now... it went on and on.
Then there were the rather tiresome three hour exams on as varied topics as mountaineering equipment (like the construction of a sleeping bag!) to leading expeditions, rescuing injured parties off cliff faces, and describing weather patterns and rock analysis. (Being pregnant I had to keep jumping up to go to the loo. Thankfully the course organiser was sympathetic to my needs!)
Now I can say it was all worth the time and effort. I am South Africa's first accredited female Mountain Guide. My mission is to use my skills and qualification to promote eco tourism in South Africa by empowering young people with knowledge of career options and challenges on their doorstep that they may not have realised were there.
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