Although I have been guiding groups of travellers to remote regions such as the Arctic for more than 15 years, the Wilderness Guide Level 1 course that I took served me a lot, not only because it was a true life experience but also because it changed my way of seeing things and allowed me to acquire knowledge that has improved my work as an anthropological guide.

The Wilderness Guide is not only a training to acquire superior knowledge in guides in nature, apart from increasing your comfort zone tremendously, it is a training where personal growth prevails... Work on that aspect of your life, of your personality in which you need to grow the most: In my case, I learned humility, patience and tolerance for frustration. Although it is true that on many occasions I felt uncomfortable, I realized afterwards that overcoming this discomfort made me grow as a person. Thanks to all the EWES instructors and team for pushing me to the limit and supporting me when my attitude was not the most appropriate, that patience with which you treat everyone, is the key to your success.

Taking part in EWES's courses was in my plans for some years. When I finally decided to start, I discovered it was beyond expectations; I never imagined I would feel so happy to be there and learn so much on so many different levels. It's a challenging yet safe playground, where they push you to be a better version of yourself and each day is more surprising than the one before. Some of the things I’ve learnt in the courses are bushcraft techniques, leadership skills, navigation, first aid, nutrition, survival in different areas and many more exciting subjects. This adventure has only just begun for me!

I was looking for a First Aid Course when I found the EWES website. From there on the adventure just started… I signed up for the whole WG1 course and every day of the course I was challenged, surprised, impressed and most importantly it started me on a new journey. Every guide and instructor was at their best - inspiring, and motivated to help us understand. I have gotten so much more out of these weeks than just skills about being a guide.

Doing the WGA training brought me to another dimension, it was one of the best experiences I had in my life, especially in the human side. I learnt a lot about wilderness techniques, expedition planning, first aid, survival... but what I loved the most was sharing the experience with my colleagues and helping each other to explore the unknown of our inner selves. Definitely it changed my life and I will bring these memories for the rest of my life. Thanks to the EWES team for bringing us this opportunity.

This course is an excellent opportunity for personal growth as a leader and as a person. The circumstances and atmosphere that are being created facilitate a great and safe setting to learn and practice with ‘out-of-the-comfort-zone’ situations. The wide variety of content that is covered makes this course very useful and practical in outdoor and wilderness fieldwork!

I signed up with the idea of learning a few key skills and enjoying some days outdoors. But instead this course turned out to be much more: the amount of information provided was amazing, and it covered fundamental aspects of guiding, survival and outdoor activities that I didn't even imagine before. Not only taught us critical skills to be able to develop ourselves outdoors, but also how to have the right mind-set and to always think out of the box to find solutions to any problem.