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On Monday 2nd August, Sondela Academy gave the first year private students (as well as some second year Tourist Guide students) the opportunity to become site guides at the Thaba Kwena Crocodile Farm.
The students were told the week before the trip that they needed to do some research about crocodiles. Needless to say, the majority of research happened on the morning of the trip just before setting off to the Pick n Pay, where very hungry students filled their hungry tummies. A noisy bus ride later saw the students entering the mountainous Waterberg District.
Thaba Kwena crocodile farm is about 30km from Bela-Bela and has @ 22,000 crocodiles at any given time. The core breeding stock consists of 40 males and 300 females. The excursion started with a tour conducted by the farm’s local guides. The variants between our information and theirs (i.e. the differences between captive and wild crocociles, enclosures etc.) was immediately apparent and resulted in our first lesson of the day - make sure that your source of information is reliable and credible.
General information regarding the crocodiles was divided into 16 sections, thus giving each student a specific section to research and probe.
Once the students received their individual topics, they first did some research by comparing their notes to the information gathered by their fellow students, before their facts were checked by the assessor. The students then had to design a poster that could later be used to explain interesting information in simple terms.
Everybody was given the opportunity to present their information and to share newly gained knowledge with their fellow students.
There were plenty of mispronounciations and even more laughs - who knew Zenobia’s talent for dancing-while-speaking would surface so long after the gap year?!
This also presented the second-years with a chance to exercise the assessor skills which they had gained earlier this year. The excursion was very unique and successful and the students learnt a great deal.
The students want to thank Thaba Kwena and the Academy for presenting them with such an awesome opportunity. |
