Endangered wildlife conservation in South Africa
Highlights
Daily tracking of wildlife | Wildlife monitoring including cheetah, black rhino, wild dogs & vultures | Radio collaring | Night tracking excursions | Opportunity to explore different reserves on longer tripsTravel Team
If you'd like to chat about this vacation or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
Toll free 1-866-821-6866 Calling from outside the US? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates
2022: 10 Jan, 24 Jan, 7 Feb, 21 Feb, 7 Mar, 21 Mar, 4 Apr, 18 Apr, 2 May, 16 May, 30 May, 13 Jun, 27 Jun, 11 Jul, 25 Jul, 8 Aug, 22 Aug, 5 Sep, 19 Sep, 3 Oct, 17 Oct, 31 Oct, 14 Nov, 28 Nov, 12 Dec, 26 Dec
Volunteer travel - what's it all about
Are you 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'.
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your vacation will help support conservation and local people.

We are painfully aware that our mere presence is a burden on the biodiversity here, and therefore institute measures to limit our impact as much as we can. All of our accommodation is on the reserves within which we work and we endeavour to change and convert the accommodation environment into a sustainable system. While doing so we are continually showing our volunteers the environmentally friendly techniques we are developing and implementing along the way. This includes firstly all those things that can be done by changing just a few things around the house at no major expense and include: energy efficient light bulbs, recycling of waste, geyser blankets to save power, rain water collection, the use of natural based cleaning products, the switching off of appliances/lights when not in use.
The Impacts of this Trip
100% of volunteers money, is put directly back in to our organisation. Each project provides sustainable employment for the staff and allows them to build personal financial security. All food and supplies are purchased locally, and volunteers are encouraged to buy their souvenirs from small village craft outlets.
50% of all our staff employed hail from local communities surrounding the reserves we work in. Along with this we are presently a Satisfactory Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Contributor as stipulated by the South African Department of Environment and Tourism. We strive to support other BEE compliant companies in whatever procurement we may have. Structured within our workforce is a learnership programme, whereby we train aspirant local community members to break into the conservation field, and in so doing build up valuable experience and skills needed to further their careers.


We are painfully aware that our mere presence is a burden on the biodiversity here, and therefore institute measures to limit our impact as much as we can. All of our accommodation is on the reserves within which we work and we endeavour to change and convert the accommodation environment into a sustainable system. While doing so we are continually showing our volunteers the environmentally friendly techniques we are developing and implementing along the way. This includes firstly all those things that can be done by changing just a few things around the house at no major expense and include: energy efficient light bulbs, recycling of waste, geyser blankets to save power, rain water collection, the use of natural based cleaning products, the switching off of appliances/lights when not in use.

The Impacts of this Trip
100% of volunteers money, is put directly back in to our organisation. Each project provides sustainable employment for the staff and allows them to build personal financial security. All food and supplies are purchased locally, and volunteers are encouraged to buy their souvenirs from small village craft outlets.
50% of all our staff employed hail from local communities surrounding the reserves we work in. Along with this we are presently a Satisfactory Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Contributor as stipulated by the South African Department of Environment and Tourism. We strive to support other BEE compliant companies in whatever procurement we may have. Structured within our workforce is a learnership programme, whereby we train aspirant local community members to break into the conservation field, and in so doing build up valuable experience and skills needed to further their careers.

17 Reviews of Endangered wildlife conservation in South Africa
Reviewed on 17 Feb 2020 by Hazel Dykes
A fantastic opportunity. I enjoyed every minute. Read full reviewReviewed on 19 Aug 2019 by Alexandra Bergholm
Definitely worth doing! The type of work and your experience with the organisation depends a lot on the project you’ll be involved in, so familiarise yourself carefully with the info they provide beforehand to know what to bring Read full reviewReviewed on 22 Jul 2019 by Boris Traverso
It was a really interesting experience and I definitely recommend it to anyone who love animals Read full reviewReviewed on 13 Sep 2018 by Anne Brown
This was an amazing vacation and I really did not want it to end. Read full reviewReviewed on 11 Apr 2018 by Ilona Schultz
There were many memorable moments - Finding the wild dogs after hours of scanning and watching them watching us :-) An elephant herd having their veggie dinner in the breath-taking sunset... Observing the pack of wild dogs hunting and sharing the prey like a family... Read full reviewReviewed on 07 Feb 2018 by William Esbjug Gromstad
The feeling you get when you stay a month in the African bush is an amazing experience. Read full reviewReviewed on 28 Mar 2018 by Egle Passante
The money was well spend as the tour operator is trying to do an admirable work. Read full reviewReviewed on 19 Oct 2017 by Sue Shearman
Every day brought something new and memorable. So that's a minimum of 28 new, exciting memories! Read full reviewReviewed on 06 Dec 2016 by Sharon Williams
This was so much more than a vacation and I'd book again within a heartbeat. Read full reviewReviewed on 08 Jul 2015 by Cathy Bisset
It is really hard to decide of many of the memorable and exciting experiences on this vacation which one stands out the most for me. Everyday it seemed that I saw something different in the bush, unexpectedly two male cheetahs appeared one morning, then there was the cheetah with her cub, there were rhinos and rhino babies, one interesting experience for me personally was a close encounter with an Assasin Bug(reduviidae, heteroptera). Read full reviewReviewed on 23 Feb 2014 by Karin van Volen
The most memorable part was all the time we spent in the bush - at least 10h per day. To see the other side of the safari - i.e. not being in a traditional tourist vehicle. Read full reviewReviewed on 22 Oct 2013 by Emma Clifford
Amazing!! Words cannot describe this adventure- over 1500 photos taken and a million memories. Read full reviewReviewed on 10 Dec 2013 by Pankaj Bhudia
Brilliant experience...We were in a Private Game Reserve with no tourists so it was really peaceful and secluded. The scenery was wonderful and the animals were amazing to see. I was also lucky enough to share my experience with a great bunch of people which made the trip even more memorable Read full reviewReviewed on 24 Jul 2013 by Gillian Evans
This is not a vacation…rather an experience. The most exciting part was driving in to a pride of lions at seven o clock in the morning. Read full reviewReviewed on 17 Jul 2012 by Louise Chen
The most exciting part of my vacation was we saw so many lions in the middle of the night, just a few metres away from us!!!!! Read full reviewReviewed on 01 May 2012 by Keith Elliot
Three really memorable groups of experiences, firstly watching the wild pack of dogs close to the pick-up, much more beautiful than I expected close up...A brilliant vacation, really invigorating, and very informative and worthwhile. Read full reviewReviewed on 26 Jul 2011 by Sophie Tanner
Staring into an elephant's eyes makes you feel like they carry the history of the world on their shoulders. Read full reviewOur travel guides
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