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ALEX-BOOKS
Currently for sale on Amazon Kindle.
http://www.amazon.com/Alex-Coutts
Guide Culture
Nature and Adventure Tours
About the cover painting:
The best way to learn the practices and ethics of
guiding, as well as the cultural and natural history of
a region, is through listening to, and observing, an
experienced guide while walking through the live
environment. That is how I first learnt the skills as a
young man.
The guide was Hugh Dent, a remarkable icon of the
conservation movement, who guided at the
Hluhluwe-Umfolozi nature reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. Hugh
interpreted the behaviour of wild creatures with
unsurpassed brilliance, and knew a great deal of Zulu
and ‘Western’ history besides. The excursions with Dent
became great adventures in space and time. He
interpreted culture and nature as integrated entities
reinforcing each other, an approach that prompted the
cover painting done by the author.
The painting shows a synthesis of ‘culture meeting
nature.’ It depicts the historical Zulu King Shaka as a
man of action leading his army across an African river.
The imaginary clash shows the character of the king
pitted against the threat posed by a powerful wild
creature defending its riverine territory. Should the
encounter have been real, the king’s life would no doubt
have ended there. Accordingly, it is a symbolic
representation. Our modern world is yet to experience
the full backlash from nature. Interpreting culture and
nature in an intelligent synthesis is a benchmark of
good guiding.
Copyright:
As the author/artist who created them, Dr. Alex Coutts
holds copyrights to the cover picture and all text of
the book Guide Culture, Nature and Adventure Tours.
About this book:
Whether the tourist guide is thoroughly experienced
after many years in the profession, or a baffled novice,
he or she will find much of interest in the book. So
will any enthusiastic traveller. It encompasses the
practical management of diverse tours and excursions.
The writer has focused on a wide range of interests,
including culture, nature, adventure, mountains and
battlefields. It also includes a section on organizing
and ‘guiding’ your own tour or holiday.
While some chapters deal with the theory and ethics of
guiding as a profession, others deal with the minutiae
of managing oneself and guests on tour to meet physical,
social and mental needs. A further section deals with
operatorship and guiding viewed from the perspective of
business. It accordingly touches on marketing,
accounting and drawing up a business plan.
The author is an award-winning trainer of guides who
co-wrote the motivation that won Tourism KwaZulu-Natal
and South Africa the United Nations Ulysses Award for
Tourism in 2007. South Africa was the first African
country to do so.
Disclaimer:
This book provides condensed information only, and is
designed to provoke thought by complementing,
supplementing and amplifying other texts and records.
You are urged to read as much other available material
as possible and tailor the information to your
individual needs. Every effort has been made to ensure
that this book is as accurate and complete as possible
within space constraints. There might nevertheless be
errors, either content or typographical.
The author and Alex Educational shall have neither
liability nor responsibility to any person or entity
with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to
have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the
information contained in the book. The text is therefore
to be used as a general guide and not as the ultimate
source of information on the topic.
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