Wildlife Experience in Kruger National Park South Africa - 12+ Projects!

Name: Wildlife Experience in Kruger National Park South Africa - 12+ Projects!
Brand: Hamba Africa
SKU: 255041
Rating: 5 (8 reviews)

Read 8 reviews

5.00 Rating

Leave a Review

Location

South Africa
- Hoedspruit

Length

2 to 4 weeks

Project Types

Agriculture Childcare Climate Change Building Projects Conservation Environmental Conservation Wildlife Conservation Elephant Conservation Education Tourism Veterinary Service +1

View Other Details

Program Details

Language

English

Age Min.

Age Max

Timeframe

Summer Winter Year Round

Housing

Hostel Lodge Rondavel

Groups

Small Group (1-15)

Travel Type

Budget Solo Women

Pricing

Starting Price

1300

Price Details

Please note: the cost for your placement actively supports the projects we run, allowing us to invest in more equipment, diversify our projects and help other conservation groups!

Placement includes:
- Airport transfers
- Accommodation
- Transportation in South Africa
- Guides/tour leaders
- Food and drink – (excludes any personal extras)
- Entry to sites
- All itinerary/activity equipment
- Wi-fi
- Over 12 projects and other activities
- UK Meet and greets
- Fellow volunteer contact list sent prior to departure
- 24-hour emergency onsite support
- TTA member so 100% financial security

What's not included:
- Flights
- Travel insurance
- Any visa's
- Any vaccinations needed for travel
- Optional activities

What's Included

Accommodation Activities Some Activities Airport Transfers Equipment Meals Some Meals Transportation Wifi

What's Not Included

Some Activities Airfare Domestic Airfare SIM cards Travel Insurance Visa

Last Updated: Apr 22, 2024

Last Reviewed: Feb 23, 2022

Wish List

29 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

4-week wildlife placement working on conservation projects in the greater Kruger National Park. If you want to volunteer and make a real difference to Africa’s wildlife, gain new ecology and conservation skills, or just enjoy an unforgettable gap year adventure, this is the perfect travel experience for you!

Work as a team of fellow volunteers and students from all over the world and help protect African wildlife.

When not taking part in planned conservation work, you'll be able to explore the surrounding area that makes up blyde river canyon, the worlds largest green canyon!

Request Info

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

Get to the frontline of conservation – As a volunteer and or gap year traveller, you’ll play a crucial role with over 12 incredible and important conservation projects. And if you’ve got your own ideas or ambitions we can help implement them!
Get adventurous – During your travels, you’ll stay in new places and locations. Witness the breath-taking beauty of South Africa and its natural wonders. Plus exciting activities like mountain hikes, microlight flights and white water tubing.
Get helping the experts – Help vets with emergency call outs responding to injured animals, work at wildlife rehabilitation centres with orphaned animals, nursing, feeding, health checking and handling them.
Get involved – Work with rural communities; Improve and uplift, helping break the poverty cycle and creating more sustainable livelihoods and futures. Work with local groups to protect wildlife.
Get up close and personal – A life changing experience awaits. Meet Africa’s iconic and enigmatic wildlife via safari viewer and on foot as you explore the reserve you’ll be based on and the world renowned Kruger National park.

Program Impact

Through our wildlife volunteer placements, Hamba Africa’s goal is to actively protect and safeguard nature for future generations whilst inspiring our adventurers in the process.

The diversity and number of projects mean we can protect and have a huge impact on today’s environments. But through our ongoing research and data capture, our projects also help us better understand how tomorrow’s ecosystems will flourish.

We also work with various local groups, rehabilitation centers, endangered breeding centers, charities, and environmental experts, helping their projects and ensuring that conservation is a thriving industry. It’s vital to support and encourage local communities to take ownership of their natural habitat, and to become its guardians for their own long term security and success.

Our goal is also to invest in YOU!

As you work on your projects, you'll learn all aspects of ecology and conservation development, how projects are designed and implemented and if you've got your own ideas, your guides can help you to develop these.

We hope you will leave inspired and with new transferable skills to take away with you and apply in your academic studies or as a stepping stone into a career in conservation.

Related Programs

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating

based on 8 reviews

Leave a Review

Rating Spread Gap Year Volunteer

5 rating 100%
4 rating 0%
3 rating 0%
2 rating 0%
1 rating 0%

Housing 4.85
Support 5
Fun 5
Value 4.85
Safety 4.85

Impact 5
Support 5
Fun 5
Value 5
Safety 5

Good for Groups, Photographers, Adventure travelers

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 reviews

A wonderful experience.

I had a great time in South Africa and Harry was a fantastic, and very knowledgeable guide! He is truly passionate about wildlife and much more beside and I can't recommend this highly enough. I learned so much new information and interesting facts, his passion is infectious and really creates a great atmosphere and energy.

South Africa is beautiful country and I can't think of many better places to spend a month. Do yourself a favour and make the journey of a lifetime

Can't fault the project! Very well organised, the whole adventure ran smoothly. Getting to see the natural beauty of the country was my personal highlight, and the wide range of activities kept us busy and always having a good time!

My guide was highly experienced, knowledgable and passionate - the most reliable person to teach you about the wildlife and natural environment out there. Getting involved with ecology and conservation work was a humbling and inspiring experience.

Big thank you to all involved and can't wait to come back again!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

Go for it! It's truly a unique experience so make the most of it

The african wilderness is such a wonderful place and how the guide is very welcoming and you can tell is really passioante about nature.

We were able to see loads of animals, birds and other wild life. I enjoyed the information that came with the guides, as I was able understand the balance between nature and humans interactions with them.

Thank you for the experience
I enjoyed ever second and learnt much from the experience. Especially from the lead guide Harry, who has put this thing together quite nicely.

What would you improve about this program?

Not sure, they could do with improving there info online as I wanted to find out more after the trip.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. I had the time of my life, and absolutely want to go back. It was an incredible way to see an amazing country. My guide was so knowledgable, and made it easy to get the most out of my time there. We saw so many animals I've always dreamed of seeing in the wild, and the conservation work was truly inspiring. The passion and dedication of the people I met was so special. If you are looking for a terrific way to learn more about South African wildlife (and yourself) then look no further. I learned so much and had so much fun doing it. Deciding to take this trip was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

If you did this all over again, what's one thing you would change?

I would extend my time. I saw so much, and had such a wonderful time. My only regret is that I wasn't able to see and do more.

I went on a 10-week programme in South Africa with a group of 10, and it was honestly the best couple of months of my life. It was an amazing opportunity to see rural SA, and the animals and people who inhabit it. I learnt so much about conservation projects and SA's natural environment, largely due to the knowledge and experience of Harry and the other guides. I became incredibly close with my group, we still keep in touch 5 years later, and we all wish we could go back and experience it all again!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?

Don't hold back, make the most of your time in SA!

A trip to South Africa was a great way to fill a gap in between school and uni however South Africa will stay with me in my heart forever, the experiences, the people and the sights. It was made even better by our guide Harry, he was very knowledgable, welcoming and talented. He made my experience 10/10 with his on going commentary of wildlife and his wealth of information. I would thoroughly recommend anyone considering this, once in a life time opportunity to have fun and help the local people!

What would you improve about this program?

Maybe the accommodation however I had no issues with it. It was comfortable and clean!

Thank you Harry for being the most amazing guide! South Africa is the most beautiful place, I've totally fallen in love with it. We learned so much about animals, birds, even the stars! Not to mention we had the funniest time and made life long friends. Kruger national park was incredible, we were lucky enough to see a cheetah which is really rare! We went on game rides on our own back door as well, which makes it even more amazing, reminding us we were staying right in the thick of the animal's habitats. Everyone should go to Africa, it'll completely change you!

I can't recommend this programme more highly. The head guide is amazing and his love and knowledge of the bush is infectious. Guaranteed you will fall deeply in love with ecology and conservation while being thoroughly entertained by sharp, witty humor. It was a privelage being shown around, while being able to get hands on with conservation - I learned so much but every step of the way was an absolute blast!
All in all, you will be doing yourself a favor by going on this tour. Ample opportunity to learn, a lot of fun and great scope for you to figure out for yourself exactly where your passion lies for you to pursue it further.

Questions & Answers

Staff Interviews

These are in-depth Q&A sessions with program leaders.

Harry McGrath

Program

Wildlife Experience in Kruger National Park South Africa - 12+ Projects!

Job Title

Director

Harry is an avid conservationist and all-round nature enthusiast. Following his animal behaviour, management and welfare studies in the UK, Harry traveled to South Africa where he lived and worked on and around the Kruger National Park for four years, qualifying as an FGASA (Field Guide Association of South Africa) guide at the Limpopo Field Guide Training Academy in 2014. Since then, he’s had the good fortune to work in the environmental sector in many different roles.

His passion for conservation is reflected in his life choices; as the senior environmental writer for a digital magazine, coordinating diving tours in Cyprus and helping to rehabilitate predatory birds in the UK, to name a few. Now you are likely to find him in the wilderness of Southern Africa developing environmental research projects, leading tours and generally staring in awe at elephants.

What is your favorite travel memory?

Now that is a very hard question...

I've been blessed to have had some absolutely incredible experiences, too numerous to count. But if I had to pick a specific moment it would have to be tracking leopard in the north of the Kruger National Park.

Myself and a couple of close friends (one of whom had never visited South Africa before) set off on a 4-day camping and safari adventure. Naturally, we were determined to get the very best sighting of every iconic African animal possible, even if that meant setting off at sunrise and returning to camp after sunset.

We were doing well, watching hippos on foot from the banks of a river, sipping our morning coffee, baby hyenas nibbling our tires, feasting our eyes on a near black, ancient-looking giraffe, herds of elephants complete with old bulls and their young, and more colorful and exotic birds than we could ever imagine. Good stuff!

But we were missing something, probably the one animal everyone wants to see the most... the elusive leopard.

There was plenty of evidence. We had been tracking them for days as we drove, hanging over the edge of the game viewer and scanning the dirt roads for footprints. We even found the remnants of a 12ft rock python (someone’s supper the night before)!

But still nothing...

On the final night as we drove back to camp we resigned ourselves to the fact that as the masters of stealth, spotting a big cat wasn’t to be... "We'll just have to come back!" we joked.
Then a radio call from a nearby guide... "Mother and cub Ingwe (Leopard), on the road towards the canyon".

It was dark now and the road in question was a good 20min drive away. It was a long shot but we took it. We drove as fast as we could through the dense bush, hyper-focused on the road, spotlight scanning ahead at all times to make sure we didn’t run into anything big and hairy and holding onto the bars of the game viewer so as not to fall out when we hit a bump or came round a corner.

The adrenaline was pumping.

We got to the site where the radio spoke of and we could smell blood. The mother leopard had obviously made a kill. We were close. We passed another vehicle but they hadn’t seen anything.

Another 30 minutes of searching, peering into the black brush with torches, but still nothing.
Anyone who has looked for leopard before will know trying to spot one in the day is one thing, searching for one at night is next to impossible. And with young cubs, even less so... We were about to call it. But before we did we thought we would try one last thing...

We pulled the car up next to the road, turned the engine and all the lights off and kept as quiet as we could. Pitch black in the bush with only the stars poking through the tree canopy and silence broken only by the odd cricket.

After 5 minutes of sitting silently and somehow in unison, almost unnaturally, we all instinctively turned our torches on and shone the light to the left of the car.

There she was. A beautiful mother leopard so close we could have reached out and touched her. It was almost a shock, to see nothing but blackness only for the veil of darkness to be lifted and be face-to-face with a big cat less than a metre away!

After staring us down for a bit and deciding we weren’t a threat, she turned to a bush and a young cub came out and joined her. They walked on ahead of the vehicle further down the road; we followed them for about 15 minutes, snapping a few photos as best we could until they finally disappeared again under a bush and into the night.

Sometimes nature does save the best for last but I can tell you it was cheers and beers all around the camp on that final night!

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

As director of Hamba Africa, I’ve become very much more aware of the opportunities and responsibilities I have open to me and how I can use both to make a positive difference in the natural world.

Ultimately creating my personal vision through Hamba Africa means I’ve been able to reflect on how my actions will impact both the environment and people, so it has been hugely rewarding setting goals with conservation projects, fulfilling life-changing experiences for our guests and ensuring the positive contribution Hamba Africa will ultimately deliver.

Now I find myself wanting to continue to do better not only for me but also for others who would not be able to have such an experience without a ‘Hamba Africa’ to help them realise it.

View Entire Interview

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

My favourite story is, of course, the one where past students or friends I’ve ‘guided’ or led on safari tours, continue to be involved in conservation work. To know that somehow their shared experience has inspired them to carry on such important work gives me immense joy and satisfaction.

Guiding people who may never have experienced nature at this level before or worked so closely with wildlife, who perhaps didn’t realise the severity of certain issues like poaching or orphaned animals and watching them realise their passion for it. It makes this all worthwhile. When I get updates saying "I’m currently working at this wildlife sanctuary" or "I’ve just finished my degree in zoology", it is really special to me because I feel in some small way Hamba Africa has helped them realise their own aspirations and ambitions.

Also watching (maybe sometimes helping) a holiday romance to blossom and to hear later that they are still going strong.. Very cute.

I’m still waiting for that wedding invitation, though!

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

The 4-week wildlife adventure placement with travel week. 100%.

It’s the best of both worlds in my opinion.

You get to live in the heart of the African bush on the banks of Olifants river which is an absolutely serene and tranquil living experience with the sunsets, the sound of the bush at night and every morning waking up and checking out the river bank to see who’s popped by for a drink.

Unbeatable.

Plus the conservation workloads of fun, although there’s no doubt it can get sweaty and dirty too!

So rewarding!

And even as a qualified FGASA guide you are always learning and discovering something new each day; for us guides, the bush is the ‘never-ending classroom’.

And travel week is a great adventure, South Africa is a beautiful country with so much to see and do that is simply too good to miss out on.

New locations, new experiences, exploring unknown environments – the perfect way to really get to know the country. There’s an opportunity to try activities and locations that it has taken me years of living and exploring South Africa to discover, for example, the temperate rain forests in mountain valleys.

And of course, the close friendships you forge with your group will make travel week an exceptionally unique experience, one you’ll always remember.

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

Our goal and commitment towards supporting conservation are key, but so is investing in our guests and volunteers.

I like to think the two are mutually beneficial: the more passionate and engaged the volunteers are, the greater our conservation work benefits. The better the conservation work, the greater the opportunities for volunteers.

Hamba Africa was created and designed so that our placements include a diverse range of projects. Not only to ensure the positive impact on conservation but to enable everyone who joins us the opportunity to get involved, to learn and develop skills in all aspects of ecological management, zoology, and socio-economic development.

We believe there is always a Hamba Africa project that resonates with every guest/volunteer.

And what makes me most proud of my team is always keeping that goal at the forefront of their minds.

From the moment we receive your inquiry, to long after you’ve departed, I know our team will ensure you maximize your time and experience with us. I’m proud to know that my team is helping others to develop their own potential.

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

I believe it’s having a clear ethos, especially in the travel and conservation sector. I think today, young people want an experience that is fun and adventurous but they also want something they can take pride in and feel a sense of achievement and accomplishment.

The more authentic your company is to your ethos, the more like-minded individuals who share that ethos will be drawn to joining and they're for supporting you.

Location

Location:

Hoedspruit

Currency:

South African Rand

Weather:

Jan-Mar

81 F / 57 F

Apr-Jun

68 F / 46 F

Jul-Sep

66 F / 45 F

Oct-Dec

77 F / 52 F

Airports:

Hoedspruit Airport

( HDS )

Hoedspruit is in the Limpopo province in Big 5 country, which refers to the Game Lodges and Private Nature Reserves. This town is agriculturally oriented and the majority of activities involve wildlife, environment, and people.

About Hamba Africa

Travel on the frontline of conservation; We're and eco-tour operator that provides the thrill and personal reward of travel with the opportunity to get involved with over 12 important conservation projects. Learn valuable skills, protect wildlife and have an incredible gap year or travel experience.

Wildlife Experience in Kruger National Park South Africa - 12+ Projects!

Program Details

Pricing

About Program

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

Program Impact

Related Programs

Volunteer Programs in South Africa with African Impact

Volunteer with Children and Animals in South Africa

Community and Conservation Volunteer - Rural communities - SA

Program Reviews

A wonderful experience

Experience of a lifetime

My time in SA

Amazing Experience! 100% Recommend

Probably the best 10 weeks of my life ...

South Africa volunteering trip

South Africa is incredible!

Knowledgeable, caring and incredibly fun guides!

Questions & Answers

Staff Interviews

Harry McGrath

What is your favorite travel memory?

How have you changed/grown since working for your current company?

What is the best story you've heard from a return student?

If you could go on any program that your company offers, which one would you choose and why?

What makes your company unique? When were you especially proud of your team?

What do you believe to be the biggest factor in being a successful company?

Location

About Hamba Africa

Volunteer Programs in South Africa with African Impact

Wildlife Conservation Volunteering with African Impact

Volunteer with Children and Animals in South Africa