From Famous Kruger To Remote Okavango

• Combined experience
• 4 weeks
• 3 projects
• 2 countries

Large, larger, largest

Discover how the size of a conservation area impacts wildlife management and monitoring. From the large reserve of Phinda to the larger protected natural ecosystem of the Greater Kruger to one of Africa’s largest true remaining wildernesses - the Okavango region.

Discover the Okavango

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and RAMSAR wetland, the Okavango region of Botswana is famous for its awe-inspiring landscapes and incredible wildlife. As well as being one of Africa’s largest intact ecosystems, it’s also one of the most biodiverse - giving you the chance to explore a beautiful and untamed wilderness.

Explore some of Africa’s largest intact ecosystems

Large ecosystems like the Okavango region and Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (the wider area in which the Greater Kruger sits), are vital for sustaining large populations of wildlife. Seeing these vast areas might just transform the way you look at the natural world.

Discover a biodiversity hotspot

Phinda is situated within one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots known as the Maputaland Centre of Endemism. Boasting an unusually high number of unique species and rare ecosystems (including a critically endangered sand forest), it is an area of global importance for wildlife conservation.

Track animals on foot

Learning to track animals through the African bush alongside an expert tracker and highly trained anti-poaching dog is a thrilling experience. You’ll be one of the lucky few to visit areas of the Greater Kruger that are inaccessible even to off-road vehicles, where you can completely immerse yourself in the smells and sounds of nature.

Monitor and protect iconic species

Between the Okavango, Kruger and Phinda, you’ll monitor and record information on key species including elephants, cheetahs, leopards, lions, pangolins and wild dogs - you’ll also support vital rhino conservation, including anti-poaching and range expansion programmes.

Make a real difference

As a vital project team member, you’ll make data collection more accurate. You’ll provide an extra pair of eyes to track and observe wildlife. And you’ll lend physical and financial support to projects that partner with the WWF, Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), and Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

Gain knowledge from local experts

Whether you’re learning new skills from professional field researchers, discussing the ethics of conservation on a bushwalk with a master tracker, or joining a project led by one of Botswana’s top lion ecologists, you’ll get the most up-to-date conservation thinking, straight from the source.

You can book this experience as it is. Or, you can customise it to be just right for you.

Okavango Wilderness Project

Week 1

Discover Botswana’s awe-inspiring Okavango region, home to the largest population of elephants on Earth and one of the last strongholds of the endangered African wild dog. In this UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’ll join an intrepid research team exploring a vast intact ecosystem, monitor the amazing species that call this place home - and pick up some real bushcraft skills along the way.

• Meals Provided

The Vikela Kruger Conservation Experience

Week 2

Explore the Greater Kruger Park in a way few others ever do… on foot. Alongside an expert guide, you’ll step into one of the few remaining ecosystems large enough to host a mega population of lions, growing numbers of elephants, plus wild dogs, black and white rhino and other threatened species. Together, you’ll carry out vital practical conservation, monitor iconic species and immerse yourself in the untamed beauty of this UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

• Meals Provided

Phinda Wildlife Research Project

Week 3 & 4

Go behind the scenes in a Big 5 wildlife conservancy where you’ll monitor lions, elephants, rhinos, pangolins and other species in their natural habitats. Part-owned by the local Zulu community, Phinda is a true conservation success story - and plays a vital role in the WWF’s efforts to reintroduce black rhinos across more parts of Africa.

• Food For Meal Preparation Provided

You’ll support the project teams in real hands-on wildlife management and monitoring work. Depending on the monitoring and conservation priorities at the time, this will include a range of the following activities.

Wildlife monitoring & research

You’ll support a range of research and data-gathering activities that contribute to the long-term survival of species and habitats. You could observe or assist:

• Recording sightings and mapping animal movements using GPS to build databases of territories and migration patterns.
• Monitoring population numbers, behaviour and dynamics of key species such as elephants, rhinos, cheetahs, lions, giraffes and antelope.
• Using telemetry to track collared species like pangolins and elephants.
• Surveying predator tracks and conducting waterhole or line transects to assess species activity and ecosystem health.
• Conducting game counts to estimate populations of general wildlife such as giraffe, zebra and wildebeest.
• Surveying giraffe movements and maintaining ID kits as part of long-term monitoring.
• Recording data on age, gender, and feeding, breeding or predatory behaviour of animals.
• Managing and maintaining camera traps, including analysing data and images to monitor elusive species like leopards, hyenas and servals.
• Monitoring key bird species, such as the southern banded snake-eagle.

Wildlife management

Carefully managing wildlife is vital to conservation success across Africa’s protected areas. You could observe or assist:

• Rhino immobilisation and notching for individual identification and monitoring.
• Humane rhino horn trimming as an anti-poaching strategy.
• Wildlife relocations or reintroductions, including pangolins rescued from poachers.
• Contraceptive programmes to manage elephant and predator populations.
• Vaccination to help manage wildlife diseases.
• Habitat management to ensure access to essential resources such as water and food.
• Practical conservation work such as removing invasive species, bush clearing, or maintaining fences.

Hands-on conservation & field experience

You’ll also take part in the day-to-day running of conservation projects and develop essential bush skills. You could observe or assist:

• Bush walks and tracking animals on foot.
• Identifying common trees, birds and animal signs as part of field-based bushcraft.
• Maintaining monitoring vehicles and camps in remote areas.

A broader perspective

Alongside wildlife work, you'll gain a wider view of conservation in action:

• Night drives that reveal the behaviour of nocturnal species like bushbabies, leopards and porcupines.
• A boat safari along the Blyde River Canyon, offering a new perspective on aquatic and riverside wildlife.
• A visit to a local rehabilitation centre working in partnership with conservation NGOs.

You’ll learn about wildlife behaviour, biology, ecology, and conservation issues. Depending on the projects’ work at the time, this will include a range of the following topics.

Behaviour

• Natural animal behaviour in regions with minimal human intervention, such as unfenced wilderness areas.
• Social structures and group dynamics in species including lion prides, elephant herds, primate troops, and antelope.
• Predator-prey relationships and hunting behaviour.
• Differences in hunting strategies between social predators (e.g. lions, hyenas, African wild dogs) and solitary predators (e.g. leopards, cheetahs).
• Territorial behaviour of predators.
• Mating and breeding behaviour of key species including the Big 5, African wild dogs, and other native species.
• Movement patterns of herd species such as elephants, buffalo and antelope.
• Habitat use and movement patterns of elusive species such as leopards.
• Behaviour of monitored species such as rhinos and wild dogs.

Biology

• The physiology and natural diets of the Big 5 and other African species, including lions, leopards, elephants, and wild dogs.
• The differences between white and black rhinos.
• Native African plants, reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects.

Ecology

• The natural environment of African species, including the Big 5, predators and prey, and how species interact with their surroundings.
• The role of different species in sustaining ecosystems, including predator-prey dynamics and keystone species.
• Seasonal changes and their impact on wildlife movement and plant life.
• How various species interconnect to create and maintain ecosystems such as those in the Okavango Delta and Greater Kruger.
• The effect of population growth or decline of species like elephants and lions on broader ecological health.
• The importance of large, continuous protected areas compared to fragmented reserves.
• Smaller, unique ecosystems such as the sand forest in Phinda.
• Current ecological threats, including drought and habitat degradation.

Conservation

• Human-wildlife conflict and how it is influenced by increasing wildlife populations.
• Poaching, with a particular focus on the rhino poaching crisis - its causes and prevention strategies.
• Anti-poaching techniques and field methods.
• Wildlife relocation and reintroduction programmes, such as WWF’s Black Rhino and EWT’s Cheetah Metapopulation Project.
• Metapopulation management through introductions and translocations of species like rhino, lion, and cheetah.
• Building and maintaining ID kits for priority species.
• Use of research methods like telemetry, GPS tracking, and camera traps.
• The importance of protected areas like the Greater Kruger and Okavango for long-term conservation.
• The role of animal rehabilitation centres and how they partner with conservation organisations.
• Funding models and financial sustainability of conservation efforts.
• Historical context such as Botswana’s hunting ban and the challenges of enforcement.

Community

• The importance of community-based conservation models, such as Phinda’s part-ownership approach.
• The impact of conservation projects on employment and livelihoods in former hunting areas.

Bush skills

• How to identify animal tracks and signs.
• Tracking and approaching wildlife safely on foot.
• Identifying local insects, reptiles, birds and plants.
• Using a spotlight responsibly during night drives.
• Medicinal and cultural uses of native plants and trees.
• Core bushcraft techniques, including species identification and wilderness navigation.

Educational talks

• Basic astronomy of the southern hemisphere.
• The role of hunting in African wildlife conservation – historical and contemporary debates.
• Wildlife poisoning and the traditional ‘muti’ trade.
• The impact of drought in ecosystems such as the Greater Kruger.