You will take part in a number of hands-on wildlife management and community development projects. As we are responding to real conservation challenges, we involve our volunteers in the work that needs to be done at the time of their trip. Here’s just a few of the ways you’ll help:  

Reserve Work
Join our ranger team for morning patrols to check for incursions and snares (snares are placed by poachers who seek to indiscriminately trap wildlife for meat) or help our Reserve Manager with various work including alien plant removal, transects, game counts and more. 

Rhino Dehorning/Wildlife Management
Reserves in our region are desperately underfunded. We support them with urgently needed wildlife management work. This includes collaring animals for monitoring, dehorning rhinos and supporting rhino orphanages. You’ll have the chance to take part in at least one of these critical conservation activities.

Wildlife Identification
The coat patterns of each giraffe and zebra serve as unique identifiers and enable us to tell ‘who’s who’. You will spend some mornings and sunsets on our reserves, where you’ll walk on foot to photograph & observe our giraffe and zebra to update our ID kits. 

Biodiversity Surveys
You’ll assist our ecologists in biodiversity studies, including camera trap field data collection, bird ringing and game counts. Learn about the elusive leopards, hyena, suni and other shy species that are at home on our reserves.

Community support
For the long-term success of conservation, it is essential that local communities benefit from wildlife conservation. We support two daycare centers and a local group of orphans, supporting their early education and ensuring they have food to eat. You’ll help out as needed, including cooking food at the Saturday soup kitchen and playing games with the kids. 

In addition to the field work, you will also learn about conservation issues and challenges, from our team of ecologists and conservationists.

Elephant conservation in southern Africa: Learn about the issues facing elephants in South Africa, and the conservation programs used to address the challenges.

Habitat Conservation: We’ll discuss the major concepts and scientific principles including habitat loss, fragmentation and the importance of connectivity and its impact on carrying capacity.

Giraffe conservation. Learn about the ’silent extinction’ of giraffes. This will be a great introduction to the giraffe of Ukuwela as you will observe and photograph our giraffe for our ID kit.

Rhino conservation. South Africa has the largest population of rhinos left on our planet (80%) and is under a huge poaching crisis. Learn about the realities on the ground in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa and the anti-poaching methods being deployed.

SAFARI

There’ll also be plenty of time to relax and experience African wildlife on safari. You’ll have the chance to encounter elephants, rhinos, lions and many other species. In addition to Wild Tomorrow Fund's two wildlife conservancies, you will visit:

Hluluwe-iMfolozi Wildlife Reserve. Home to the second largest population of rhinos in the world. You will be in a private game viewer vehicle driven by a local guide. This game drive will provide lots of opportunities to see and photograph breeding herds of elephants, rhino and other Big 5 animals. 

St. Lucia Hippo-Croc water safari. Hop on a boat for a trip up one of the largest estuarine systems in Africa, and South Africa's first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Home to 800 hippos, approximately 1000 Nile crocodiles and over 500 bird species.

Sodwana Bay. Known for its biodiversity, above and below the water’s surface, Sodwana Bay and it’s kilometers of pristine, unspoilt coastline will be the relaxing beach trip you need after some hard work in the bush. The Sodwana reef system may be a fraction the size of the Great Barrier Reef, but it is estimated to contain more than 2/3rds the amount of fish species. If you are a certified diver (or would like to do an express trial course) or would like to snorkel instead, we can arrange for this add-on.

Upscale Big Five Game Drive. Spend a night staying at Bayala Private Safari Lodge and Camp where you can view animals like lions, elephants, buffalo and rhinos amongst beautiful zebra, giraffe and various other plains game with one of their experienced rangers on an open safari vehicle