Home Page / Courses / Track and Sign

Course: Track and Sign

Prior qualifications:

No prior experience is required.

Duration:

7 Days. Can be extended to 14 days

Group size:

Minimum 4, maximum 8 participants

Locations:

Nxai Pan, Moremi Game Reserve, Khwai community concession

Who is it for?

The Track & Sign Course is designed for anyone passionate about wildlife and the wilderness—whether beginners, aspiring guides, or conservation-minded travelers. It suits those who want to sharpen their observation skills, understand animal behavior, and experience the bush on foot. The course also benefits professional guides, researchers, and photographers seeking to deepen their field awareness and interpretation skills. No prior experience is needed—just curiosity, focus, and a love for the natural world.

Course description

Discover the ancient art of tracking in Botswana’s wilderness. This 7–14 day immersive field course is designed to teach you how to identify and interpret the tracks, signs, and subtle clues left by wildlife. Training takes place in some of Botswana’s most iconic habitats — Moremi, Khwai, and Nxai Pan — combining field theory with extensive hands-on experience in the bush.
The seven days in Khwai are mostly spent on foot, offering an exceptional chance to follow animals through pristine wilderness. You’ll develop sharp observation, patience, and interpretation skills — the foundation of both professional guiding and meaningful wildlife encounters.

Course Components

1. Track identification

Ungulates (antelope, zebra, giraffe)
Predators (lion, leopard, hyena, wild dog)
Small mammals (mongoose, civet, serval, rodents)
Birds (ground birds, waterbirds)
Reptiles (snakes, tortoises, lizards)
Invertebrates (beetles, spiders, scorpions, termites)

2. Sign interpretation

Feeding sign (browsing, grazing, bark stripping, diggings)
Territorial sign (scrapes, scent marks, dung middens)
Resting sites (lay-ups, beds, depressions)
Predator kills and scavenger patterns
Drag marks and carry patterns
Burrows, den entrances, nests

3. Track morphology

Anatomy of a track (toes, pads, dewclaws, hoof structure)
Ageing tracks (sun, wind, moisture effects)
Substrate reading (sand, mud, clay, leaf litter)
Distortion and partial tracks

4. Gait and movement

Basic gaits (walk, trot, run, gallop, bound)
Interpreting stride and straddle
Behaviour from gait (feeding, hunting, fleeing, relaxed travel)

5. Situational interpretation

Reconstructing events from ground sign
Identifying pressure release indicators
“Track story” reconstruction
Safety awareness on fresh predator tracks

Qualifications

Graduates receive a Nomad Guide School Certificate in Track & Sign, recognized within the guiding and conservation industry, and gain a deeper connection to the natural world through the ancient art of tracking.