Sam, first of all, welcome to NE. We've got a lot of great members here.

I don't have an answer for you, but I can tell you that on my first African Safari, my PH was an American from California. His name is Steve Tors, and his father was Ivan Tors, who was in the movie business. Steve came to Africa with his father, who happened to be friends with a well known African outfitter and PH by the name of Jan Oelofse. Jan took a liking to Steve, and upon graduation from high school, Steve took off for Namibia where he apprenticed under Jan, and eventually got licensed as a PH. So, it can be done, but the road to it is laden with detours and speed bumps. Good luck.