Bring Something Back From Your Gap Year Projects - By: Mark Bottell

At the end of a holiday, a souvenir often provides the perfect memento. This is an object that you can put on your mantelpiece and instantly be transported back to those two weeks in Rhodes where you ate calamari for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and spent the evenings drinking retsina in a local tavern. However, if your holiday is slightly longer than the average two weeks then you may want to take home something a little more meaningful than a tacky straw donkey. So while on your gap year projects, forego the usual souvenirs and take something really special home with you- like a qualification.

A handmade sculpture of your favourite African mammal....

You may think that a handmade sculpture is a nice idea, but it’s perhaps a little too costly to bring home with you; after all, gap year projects often require stringent budgets. However, if you spend your gap year making the sculpture, with the esteemed artist Bruce Little, then taking the sculpture home with you afterwards is the perfect memento. On your gap year projects with Bruce, your days will be spent in between the Hopewell Game Reserve and the studio. On game drives you’ll photograph and sketch the animals before returning to the studio to work on your sculpture. There’s no course like this anywhere in the world and you can be absolutely certain that no one else has the same sculptured leopard taking pride of place on their souvenir shelf.

A Wildlife Documentary That Would Put David Attenborough to shame....

If the extent of your camcorder skills is a few heavily dubbed home videos on YouTube, then there’s no need to despair; after all, where better to learn film making skills then on gap year projects in an African Game Reserve? At the Wildlife Film Making Academy you can take a one month intensive course in wildlife film making, and whether you intend to make it a hobby or a full time career, the course covers all that you need to know. As well as filming around the game reserve, you’ll receive lectures by renowned film makers and conservationists and you’ll also learn the business skills required to market your own documentary. At the end of the course, you’ll return home with a professionally edited wildlife documentary that your friends and family will probably be required to sit through again and again.

A Qualification....

They say that the most important things you’ll learn on your gap year projects are independence and valuable life lessons, but it can’t hurt to come home with a qualification as well. Whether you want a change of career, or you want to do something purely for yourself, a qualification as a Game Ranger is definitely rewarding to return home with after six weeks in South Africa. The Level One Game Ranger Training Course gives you a practical insight into what it means to be a field guide in an African game reserve. The extensive syllabus covers everything from first aid to wine tasting, and although there are no qualifications needed to sign up, the course does require you to hold a valid driving licence and an interest in conservation.

About the Author

Mark Bottell is the General Manager for Worldwide Experience, an online tour operator offering extended breaks on gap year projects and other holidays for adults.

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Mark-Bottell/95891

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