Conservation holiday in South Africa
| country: | South Africa |
| location: | South Africa wildlife reserves |
| departures: | 2008: 26 Nov 2009: 28 Nov |
| price: | From £740 (15 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK |
the amazing things you'll be doing
The ultimate wildlife experience! Get close up and cosy with some of South Africa's most amazing wildlife - from the smallest spiders to the largest mammals, and everything in-between. This is cutting edge research, working alongside the experts, where scientific history could be made at any moment.
Who we're working with: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is the nature conservation department of the provincial government of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The organisation carries out a wide range of biodiversity conservation management activities of both species and habitats. It is involved with state conservation planning and licensing, ecotourism development and carries out a wide range of scientific research projects.
Where we're working: We're working within the uMkhuze Game Reserve in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The park (formerly the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) comprises the last remaining subtropical area containing its original diverse components of wild plants and animals on the south-eastern coast of Africa, and one of the last remaining in the world. These are exceptional wetlands, terrestrial and marine ecosystems with their full complement of species that include many rare, endemic and internationally recognised threatened species.
The Park lies within a zone of transition between marine, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems and has a near pristine coastline of more than 220 km in length. Lake St Lucia is the largest estuary on the African continent containing South Africa’s largest single crocodile population in one waterbody and the largest concentration of hippos in the country. The Park was proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 1999.
Conducting the survey will be quite physical at times and will require active involvement from everyone. This time of year it’s quite warm and humid but the work is extremely satisfying and rewarding. It’s always a lot of fun to be part of the discovery of rare and interesting species in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. We will be up quite early, but will take some time off during the hot hours of the day and then work again from late afternoon into the night (very exiting…!)
The surveys will be in areas where animals such as buffalo, rhino, leopard, hippopotamus, elephant and crocodile could be encountered. We will work with trained researchers equipped and armed in case of emergency. You will be given a full safety briefing and will receive training on all the potentially dangerous animal species that we might encounter.
Where we'll be staying: We'll be based at Mantuma Camp within the uMkhuze Game Reserve, which has a shop, a small restaurant and a swimming pool. We will be staying in either comfortable tents or in a very rustic hutted research camp. There will be hot showers and flush toilet facilities. Beds and mattresses are provided but you need to bring your own sleeping bag, fitted sheets, pillowcases and mosquito nets (if required). Meals are prepared by the group.
What else is there: There will be opportunity during our time-off to take part in a range of activities offered around the town of St Lucia, at your own cost.
Canoeing on Lake St Lucia Canoeing on Lake Bangazi Crocodile and Hippo tours on Lake St Lucia Whale watching Deep sea fishing Zulu Cultural Tour Game drives to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve
These activities have been developed as small local eco-tourism activities and directly benefit the communities they're run within.
Who we're working with: Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is the nature conservation department of the provincial government of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. The organisation carries out a wide range of biodiversity conservation management activities of both species and habitats. It is involved with state conservation planning and licensing, ecotourism development and carries out a wide range of scientific research projects.
Where we're working: We're working within the uMkhuze Game Reserve in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. The park (formerly the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park) comprises the last remaining subtropical area containing its original diverse components of wild plants and animals on the south-eastern coast of Africa, and one of the last remaining in the world. These are exceptional wetlands, terrestrial and marine ecosystems with their full complement of species that include many rare, endemic and internationally recognised threatened species.
The Park lies within a zone of transition between marine, coastal and terrestrial ecosystems and has a near pristine coastline of more than 220 km in length. Lake St Lucia is the largest estuary on the African continent containing South Africa’s largest single crocodile population in one waterbody and the largest concentration of hippos in the country. The Park was proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 1999.
a day in the life of a volunteer
As part of the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park – Rare, Threatened & Endemic Species Project, we'll be assisting in field research by conducting a rapid survey in various habitats in the Park. This will include two days of orienteering and training, setting the traps for the next few days, having two days off after all the traps have been set and then checking the traps daily, conducting active searches, process specimens caught and recording all data. Conducting the survey will be quite physical at times and will require active involvement from everyone. This time of year it’s quite warm and humid but the work is extremely satisfying and rewarding. It’s always a lot of fun to be part of the discovery of rare and interesting species in the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park. We will be up quite early, but will take some time off during the hot hours of the day and then work again from late afternoon into the night (very exiting…!)
The surveys will be in areas where animals such as buffalo, rhino, leopard, hippopotamus, elephant and crocodile could be encountered. We will work with trained researchers equipped and armed in case of emergency. You will be given a full safety briefing and will receive training on all the potentially dangerous animal species that we might encounter.
Where we'll be staying: We'll be based at Mantuma Camp within the uMkhuze Game Reserve, which has a shop, a small restaurant and a swimming pool. We will be staying in either comfortable tents or in a very rustic hutted research camp. There will be hot showers and flush toilet facilities. Beds and mattresses are provided but you need to bring your own sleeping bag, fitted sheets, pillowcases and mosquito nets (if required). Meals are prepared by the group.
What else is there: There will be opportunity during our time-off to take part in a range of activities offered around the town of St Lucia, at your own cost.
Canoeing on Lake St Lucia These activities have been developed as small local eco-tourism activities and directly benefit the communities they're run within.
volunteer travel - what's it all about?
Are you are looking for an adventurous trip with a purpose, or on a gap year or career break? If you want to make a difference in some of the world’s most important conservation areas - and in community projects - then volunteer trips are for you! Volunteers tend to have a sense of adventure, and come from a range of different backgrounds and from all over the world. Edward Abbey said 'sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul'.
how this holiday makes a difference
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The research is providing greater knowledge of the presence and spatial distribution of rare, threatened and endemic species (reptiles, amphibians, fruit chafer beetles and small mammals) within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. By making this information available to management and the broader scientific community in South Africa, it ultimately helps protecting and conserving these and other species. These holidays will find you immersed in the rich biodiversity of South Africa's stunning wetland parks. But it's not just that you'll see and handle a huge range of unbelievable wildlife, you'll be contributing directly to it's long term protection.
As the UK's biggest environmental volunteering charity, our aim is to make the maximum contribution to the communities and places we work in and we always work with a local partner organisation. These are unique holidays in a unique place. Working directly with the staff, volunteers and local people you'll have the chance to experience South Africa in a way no other holiday can offer. Living, laughing and working as a group, you're not only changing the world, you'll change your life. |
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