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Lowveld Trails Company

Our Trails Guides

The Lowveld Trails Co. Team of Wilderness Trail Guides have extensive experience and some of the highest qualifications in their field. They are all actively involved in Trails Guide training and leading Primitive Trails on a regular basis, and most of them are FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa) Assessors and Mentors.  

Their curiosity encourages them to continuously learn and develop their own skills by engaging in experientially-based education.

Their passion, knowledge and experience, combined with the ‘soft skills’ that come from years of leading Primitive Wilderness Trails, make our Trails Guides capable of facilitating valuable and meaningful personal and educational experiences.

Passion. Experience. Quality. 

Brenden Pienaar

Trails Guide | Mentor | Assessor

Brenden has been conducting multi-day Trails in the Greater Kruger National Park for the past twenty years. In conjunction with a BTech Nature Conservation and MSc Ecology, Brenden became the tenth person to achieve FGASA Scout status in August 2021. It is the organization’s highest designation, which is a combination of two qualifications, FGASA Specialist Knowledge & Skills: Dangerous Game (SKS:DG) and Senior Tracker (Cybertracker).

Brenden now focuses on facilitating Wilderness ‘Primitive Trails’, Trails Guide Training and Tracking Courses for Lowveld Trails Co.. His relevant field experience (incl. >15 800 trails guiding hours) has acquainted him with the biological diversity and ecological processes of the Lowveld Savanna exceptionally well. It is based on this experience and knowledge that he acts as assessor for FGASA.

Brenden’s calm nature and ability to interpret the inter-connectedness of the natural environment makes him a popular Trail leader. He deeply values the concept and philosophy of Wilderness and it’s associated attributes.

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Wayne Te Brake

Trails Guide | Mentor | Assessor

Wayne is a Wilderness Trails Guide with twenty years of experience in the Nature Conservation and Field Guiding industry. Along with his degree (BTech: Nature Conservation), he has obtained the FGASA SKS Birding, and in August 2023 he became the twelfth person to achieve FGASA Scout status. ‘Scout’, being FGASA’s highest designation; a combination of two qualifications, namely FGASA Specialist Knowledge & Skills: Dangerous Game (SKS:DG) and Senior Tracker (Cybertracker). Wayne also acts as National assessor for FGASA.

For the past decade and a half, the majority of Wayne’s time has been spent leading Primitive Trails and Backpack Trails, or Training aspiring Trails Guides in the Kruger National Park (KNP) and surrounding private nature reserves (part of the Greater KNP). He has accumulated >14 000 walking (trails guiding) hours in his career to date.

Wayne has a calm and relaxed nature, which rubs off on clients and students, making him a popular guide and trainer. With his deep Wilderness connection, and a special interest in tracking and botany, time spent with him in the bush is always enriching and rewarding.

Leighton Barnard

Trails Guide | Mentor | Assessor

Leighton’s story is one of personal and professional growth, fueled by a passion for the bush. He was a student on the first ever Mentorship Trail run by Lowveld Trails Co. and loved it so much that he kept coming back, reveling in the sense of freedom he found while out on Trail. After spending a few years guiding out of lodges and running volunteer research groups, he listened to his calling and found his way back to Lowveld Trails Co. as a Trails Guide and Camp Manager.

With approx. 6 000 trails guiding hours under his belt, as well as achieving ‘Proffessional Tracker’ qualification through CyberTracker, Leighton’s passion has only intensified since he began his Trails Guiding career seven years ago. Furthermore, since a year and a half ago he has become a FGASA-recognized mentor and more recently, assessor.

Leighton is mature beyond his years, appreciating the intrinsic properties that wild areas offer, and delighting in the philosophical discussion thereof. His solid exterior reflects his self-assured bearing which inspires confidence, while his good nature and constant smile puts those around him at ease. Leighton has an infectious enthusiasm for life that makes him a popular guide and a valuable member of the Lowveld Trails Co. Team.

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Jared Dell’Oca

Trails Guide

Jared’s appreciation for Nature and adventure was instilled during happy childhood years in and around Hoedspruit. Jared is always calm and collected, and forms deep one on one connections with fellow trailists. He believes that Wilderness has a powerful presence and is a great environment within which to promote self-awareness.

Following completion of his BSc Zoology degree, Jared decided to pursue a career in guiding. He subsequently guided in the Lowveld for over 10 years, with a few of those years spent conducting Backpack Trails in the Kruger National Park. This experience had a deeply profound effect on him; ‘It was the sheer beauty and splendour of the Wilderness that impacted me most. I felt alive and didn’t want to leave.’

After spending a number of years in the UK for family reasons, Jared returned to South Africa in 2022 and joined the Lowveld Trails team, itching to get back into the wild. Like most of the Lowveld Trails Co. team, Jared’s passion while out in the field is Tracking. He has achieved the Specialist Track and Sign qualification through CyberTracker and is currently fine tuning his Trailing abilities. Along with a FGASA lead Trails Guide qualification and approx. 2500 trails guiding hours, Jared is well equipped to help foster the ‘connection with self’ that spending time in wild places facilitates.

"With a desire to get back into the Trails Guiding 'seat' again, I contacted Lowveld Trails Co. to help. Firstly, I needed to re-qualify for my Advanced Rifle Handling which I did in the days leading up to the Mentorship Trail in Balule. Even after spending countless days on a range myself, it was impressive, to say the least. Professional, precise, and organised. Everyone on the range, those two days, was equally tended to with enthusiasm and professionalism seldom witnessed on this level within the industry. The range was very well run and we all left better weapon handlers, of that, there is no doubt."
Andrew Danckwerts
Andrew DanckwertsJuly 2023 ARH Practice & Assessment
"A very sincere thank you for the roles you all played in the Track and Sign course. It is no mean feat to be able to flick a switch and change location, and ensure that everything goes as smoothly as it did. The group was wonderful, with lots of laughs. And the learning was out of this world. Well done, and again, my sincerest appreciation."
Gavin Thom
Gavin ThomMarch 2023 Track & Sign Course
"Wow, what a trail. Everything about it was far beyond my expectations. The beauty, the journey, the guides; everything was incredible.  The trail had the right amount of tough and technical walking, mixed in with the absolute luxury of lying in the river and soothing our bodies. It was magic.  What Lowveld Trails is doing is priceless - inspiring in us a desire to conserve and care and be part of nature."
Lauren Hibbit
Lauren HibbitAug 2022 Makuya Primitive Trail
"Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to be part of this exceptional Primitive Trail experience. We feel blessed to have been part of it. For both of us it was one of those unforgettable life experiences - altering the inner compass. You have a wonderful product Lowveld Trails Co., I hope to join again in the future, and wish you all the best."
Jobre Stassen
Jobre Stassen April 2023 Kalahari Primitive Trail
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