More Than a Title
Safari Guide of the Year is not your average industry award. Since its founding in 2011, it has grown into the most anticipated event on the safari guiding calendar.
The competition is a week-long event, starting this week, that puts the top five field guides in southern Africa through their paces. Meanwhile, it all unfolds in front of a panel of expert judges.
The idea is simple but the execution is anything but: prove, across eight distinct events, that you are the complete guide.
Getting to that starting line is already an achievement in itself. Nominees must have at least five years of guiding experience, hold both the Nature Site Guide and Trails Guide qualifications at NQF4 level, and be active, paid-up members of FGASA.
Follow the Competition
Want to follow along as the competition unfolds this year? Join the Latest Sightings Updates Group on WhatsApp, where we will be sharing updates from the competition as the week progresses.
From the full pool of nominees, only five are selected after a personal interview with FGASA Director Michelle du Plessis and competition co-founder Mike Karantonis. Making the final five is already a meaningful recognition on its own.
Eight Events, Eight Tests
Once the finalists are confirmed, the week unfolds across eight carefully chosen events. This year, the competition is being held at the Amani Safari Camp, part of the Klaserie Drift Safari Camps. Each event is designed to probe a different dimension of what makes a great guide.
The game drive is the obvious starting point, the bread and butter of the job. Guides are assessed on how they interpret the bush, engage their guests, and respond to what the environment offers them on the day.
Alongside it, the bushwalk tests composure and safety awareness on foot in big five territory, where the margin for error is slim.
The guided photographic experience challenges guides to blend their wildlife knowledge with an understanding of light, composition, and how to get guests into the right position at the right moment. It is a surprisingly technical event that rewards patience and positioning.
Bird slide and sound is a fan favourite for those who know just how humbling bird identification can be. Guides are tested on their ability to identify species from images and calls alone, a skill that separates the truly knowledgeable from those who only know the common ones.
Track and sign follows a similar thread, asking finalists to read the ground and tell the story of what passed through and when.
Get our Best Sightings as they Come in
Advanced rifle handling tests the kind of calm, precise competence that guests on walking safaris are trusting with their lives. It is not glamorous, but it is essential.
Then comes storytelling, where personality, passion, and the ability to hold a room come sharply into focus. And finally, hosting and hospitality round things out, because a great guide is also a great host, someone who can read a group, adapt their style, and make every guest feel like the bush was laid on just for them.
Why It Matters
For a long time, field guiding was not taken seriously as a career. Safari Guide of the Year has spent over a decade quietly dismantling that misconception.
The competition gives the industry a platform to show the depth of skill, knowledge, and dedication that guiding actually demands.
The week ends the way it deserves to, with a formal awards evening where the scores from across all eight events are finally revealed. It is part ceremony, part celebration, and a fitting close to a week that genuinely honours what it means to be exceptional in the field.
For anyone who has ever sat in the back of a game vehicle and felt the landscape come alive through a guide’s voice, Safari Guide of the Year is a reminder of just how much craft goes into making that moment happen.