Conservation Tour to South Africa—Greater Kruger Conservation & Culture

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You’ll have a private coach and driver while touring for the next eight days.

Spend time in the Johannesburg area, the economic and cultural heart of South Africa. Known to locals as Joburg, Jozi, or Egoli (place of Gold), Johannesburg is the Gauteng province capital, the country’s largest city, and home to Africa’s tallest building, the Carlton Centre. Your accommodations for the next two nights will be in Johannesburg. While here, your group will enjoy breakfast at the hotel.

Attend an orientation meeting for relevant information and useful tools in familiarizing yourself with the host country and the program ahead.

In the middle of Joburg’s famous hustle and bustle, Moyo’s fragrant meals and tranquil atmosphere offer an escape from it all. Enjoy the deck overlooking Zoo Lake and live music setting the mood for fine (and fun) dining.

"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey Every evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.

Soweto is Johannesburg's biggest township. Your group’s exploration will include Nelson Mandela's former home and the Hector Pieterson Museum, dedicated to the protesting schoolchildren killed in the 1976 anti-apartheid Soweto Uprising.

Be immersed in the Soweto Culture as you meet people and try local food.

Conclude your experience with a visit to the Soweto Law Clinic, the first custom-built law clinic in South Africa, which is intended to provide services to the area that played such an important role in creating the country's democratic society. The law clinic is helping to build a society based on the principles of human dignity, equality, and freedom.

Travel from Johannesburg to Great Kruger National Park via the Panorama Route.

The Panorama Route is one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa, connecting the Lowveld with the amazing geological features of the Mpumalanga Drakensberg. One of the region’s major highlights is the Blyde River Canyon Reserve, the third-largest river canyon in the world and home to spectacular wildlife and birdlife.

The Kruger National Park is one of Africa’s leading national parks and home to an astonishing array of fauna and flora. There are 507 birds, 336 trees, 147 mammals, 114 reptiles, 49 fish, and 34 amphibians within the borders of this world-renowned attraction.

Your base for the next eight nights will be at the Timbavati Safari Lodge, only minutes from the heart of Kruger National Park. The lodge's colorful, traditionally hand-painted Ndebele rondavels are nestled among glades of mature, indigenous trees, creating a truly exquisite ambiance. While here, you’ll enjoy breakfast, lunch, and dinner on-site.

Today will begin with a health and safety orientation from your in-country partners and African Impact, who work together to offer safe and structured service-learning placements where teams contribute to responsible projects run in partnership with local communities and conservation efforts. These partners offer your group a platform to make a positive contribution to the projects and ensure your presence on the ground is in the best interest of the local communities.

You’ll then move on to participate in a conservation service project. During this program, you’ll monitor endangered African animals, with special emphasis on the Big Five (lions, leopards, elephants, buffalo, and rhinoceroses) or large predators, and assist with vital conservation in the area. Service-learning may also extend to community development initiatives, including conservation education at the local Eco Schools.

TThis afternoon, you’ll enjoy an introductory game drive during which you will have the opportunity to spot the Big Five as they journey through Kruger's private reserves. Afternoon game drives also offer a spectacular sundown experience in the African bush.

Continue working on the projects that your group began yesterday.

Moholoholo is a home for many of South Africa's abandoned, injured, or poisoned wildlife and a highly regarded contributor to wildlife education. They also have successfully run a serval breeding project for many years and reintroduced these beautiful cats into areas where they had previously been extinct.

Attend a People of South Africa Workshop, an informative and interactive presentation about the many tribes and cultures that make the country the wonderful place it is.

Continue with your service-learning projects.

The area near Kruger National Park has a high concentration of snakes, making it a prime destination for reptile-related research and education. The Hoedspruit Reptile Centre attempts to conserve local reptilian life and helps to relocate endangered creatures.

Continue with your service-learning projects.

Keep your eyes peeled for any wildlife you’ve not yet seen. Every game drive is completely different!

Continue with your service-learning projects.

A visit to the Nyani Cultural Village starts with the original show, "Limpopo Pathways," featuring the costumes, songs, and dances of many different tribes that influenced the Limpopo history. Your group will be then led to a traditional Shangaan village to learn about the architecture, agriculture, family duties, and customs of the Shangaan people before enjoying a delicious African-style lunch.

Be introduced to the wonders of the night sky by a local facilitator.

Your group will wrap up your project work today.

Go rafting on the Sabie River, which thunders over massive water falls and rapids on its way into the Lowveld. Your trip will be assisted by qualified, experienced river guides.

Today will be a full-day game drive. Covering almost two million hectares of unrivaled biological diversity, as well as historical and archaeological sites, the world-renowned Kruger National Park offers a wildlife experience among the best in Africa.

Enjoy an afternoon football (soccer) match with the locals.

This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape throughout your Conservation in South Africa Tour. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.

Today, you’ll travel from Kruger National Park back to Johannesburg.

Your rewarding and enjoyable Greater Kruger Conservation & Culture program comes to an end as your Tour Director accompanies your group to the airport on your final day.