Safari career advice

Field guide and game ranger salary: what lodges pay (2026)

Salaries from real 2024 to 2026 South African job ads, what a live-in package adds, and the thin public record elsewhere.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

FGASA levels explained: from Nature Site Guide to trails guide

What each guiding qualification is called now, what it lets you do, what it costs, and where the 2026 changes leave new students.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

How to get your first safari lodge job with no experience

The lodge jobs open without a qualification, what entry-level ads ask for, and the training schools that lead to lodge jobs.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Working at a safari lodge in Botswana or Tanzania as a foreigner: the permit reality

What a Botswana or Tanzania employer has to prove to hire you, the permit fees, and why Tanzanian guiding is citizens only.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

South Africa work visa for lodge jobs: the 100-point test explained

Since October 2024 a general work visa needs 100 points; lodge salaries under R650,976 earn none, so junior roles fail without a Trusted Employer.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Kenya work permits for safari lodge jobs: Class D, fees and guiding

Class D costs KES 500,000 a year, needs a named Kenyan understudy, and tourism employers also need Tourism Regulatory Authority approval for foreign staff.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Namibia employment permits for lodge staff: adverts, fees, renewals

Employers must advertise locally, list the Namibians they turned down and report on training at every renewal, and permits cost N$2,600 a year.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Zambia employment permit for safari lodge staff: fees and guiding

Zambian lodges apply for you, you wait outside the country, and a private-sector Employment Permit costs ZMW 24,000 to issue.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Can a foreigner work at a Zimbabwe safari lodge? TEP, fees, guiding

Zimbabwe has one work permit, a US$500 fee, a named local understudy and a five-year ceiling, and guide licences start with a residents-only exam.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Mozambique foreign worker quotas for lodges: 5% to 15% explained

Decree 88/2024 caps foreign staff by company size, ties labour fees to the tourism minimum wage and limits contracts to two years.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Can a foreigner work at a lodge in Uganda? The G2 permit in 2026

A G2 permit costs US$2,500 for a year, every guide needs a UTB licence, and a new law could close some jobs to foreigners.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Rwanda H2 permit for lodge staff: fees, Irembo and volunteering

In Rwanda you apply on Irembo after arriving, an H2 permit costs 150,000 Frw, and the volunteer class needs a government or international partner.

Updated 17 Oct 2026

Working at a Madagascar lodge: the two-step visa and labour permit

You need a labour inspector's contract visa, a Ministry of Labour work permit and a transformable embassy visa, and we found no official fee list.

Updated 17 Oct 2026