Over a three-month period, Simon, Paul and Chris with the park instructors ran a Basic Field
Ranger (BFR) course to select and train the latest batch of scouts for the park (rangers are
referred to as ‘scouts’ in Zambia). The selection phase was a tough boot camp of long hard
days with little sleep. We ended with an equal mix of males and females for the skills
training with 33 in total graduating as fully fledged scouts.
There was a heavy focus on law enforcement, tracking and medical skills as well as the
general BFR patrolling and weapon handling subjects. Once back off leave the scouts were
very soon integrated into the varied roles of the different established units in the park,
based on the reports and recommendations of the instructors.
