Family EcoQuest is an educational program designed to immerse people of all ages into the African wilderness. By providing an inspirational adventurous experience, hearts and minds of both young and old are awakened and slowly yet steadily an army of green warriors is created.
EcoTraining believes that by exposing children at an early age to wildlife, nature conservation and life-giving ecosystems, they will gain a deeper appreciation of our natural world.
As well as the adventure of staying at a genuine African bush camp, EcoQuest exposes children and parents to African wildlife and landscapes. You learn fun and practical life skills including aspects of bush survival. Families discover the wildlife and their habitats on wilderness walks or game drives. The super-dark African sky is also ideal stargazing.
Family Quest takes place at EcoTraining camps in South Africa and Kenya. Families with younger children are normally based at Dunn’s Camp at Selati Game Reserve or Leopard’s Lair at Pridelands Game Reserve, which offer a modern lodge-like stay with air conditioning, swimming pool inside a fenced compound. Families with older kids can opt for “roughing it” in camping-style tents.
Besides the daily nature walks and game drives, Family Quest features many camp activities tailored to the children’s age and interests including:
- How to identify the tracks of various animals and what those tracks tell you about their movements of behavior.
- Storytime linked to animal sightings from that day and quizzes before lunch and dinner that might include facts they learn about animals or their calls animal calls.
- The basics of birdwatching including binocular use and using bird books or bird apps.
- A situational awareness game that helps kids spot things that shouldn’t be there or actually see more in the bush.
- Older participants can participate in a poaching scenario (think Cluedo) during which they examine and learn how anti-poaching units collect data for prosecution and insights into finding and capturing poachers.
0 Comments