MARINE GUIDE COURSE FINAL WEEK
Megan joined our Ulovane family in January this year, for the Field, Trails, and Marine guide courses. She is here to share the last week of their time on the marine course!
Last week of marines and my last week at Ulovane! It’s hard to believe we have reached September and the end of my journey on the courses here at Ulovane.
The weeks go by so quickly, but they are all jam-packed full of knowledge and incredible experiences. The last week of the courses are usually filled with our final theory and practical assessments, so on Monday this week, we had our slide and sound exam as well as the beach observation. Mid-week we wrote our mock exam, and this too was the last night we all had at the beautiful beach house in Kenton-on-Sea. We packed the bus and headed back to Ulovane campus early Thursday morning.
Our marine guide final exam was written on Friday morning, it was quite a challenging exam, but we used our day well all of Thursday to prepare for it. It was a very stressful week with all the final assessments going on, that determine whether we pass or fail the marine guide course, but we all managed to make the most of it and give it our best.
I have had a wonderful time on marines, I thoroughly enjoyed it. My favorite experiences on the course were snorkeling, the canoe trip and the boat trip!!
Of these three, however, the boat trip was my absolute favorite. Having Bottlenose dolphins and Long backed Common dolphins swimming right there alongside you, were magical! It was amazing to see so many of them and just so close! Seeing penguins in their natural habitat was amazing! It’s so much better than seeing them in aquariums. They were swimming in the water and wow; I just can’t express it enough!! Having an Indian nosed albatross flying over us was something exciting to see too!
The canoe trip was so peaceful. Paddling up the Bushman’s river until you don’t see that much civilization in the form of houses anymore; just paddling and listening to the birds, always trying to spot Kingfishers and Fish eagles. We did see a feather duster worm which is a pretty fancy and phenomenal looking worm – I must say!
Snorkeling was great in that it brings a world alive that you wouldn’t notice otherwise, seeing all the small things in the pools like algae and shells, as well as all the beautiful fish too!
It’s been a really great course, a very busy one, but even so, we managed to have a lot of fun in between.
Thank you, Shani, for everything.
Megan.
“You’ll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and leap before you look. Dance as though EVERYBODY is watching. March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit in.”
―