The World Cup may have brought the Rainbow Nation into the lime-light, but it appears that volunteers on gap year projects have known about the benefits of South Africa for ages. In July, the Year Out Group named South Africa as the most popular destination for structured gap year projects – a prize the country has now won for the last three years running.

This year, Kenya also returned to the top three – up 12 places from last year’s position, which is great news for the continent and of course for us at Worldwide Experience who run structured placements in both Kenya and South Africa.

Richard Olivier, chief executive of the Year Out Group, believes that South Africa is so successful because “it offers such a wide variety of worthwhile projects, ranging from conservation work in game parks, volunteering in health centres and orphanages including HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, and a variety of teaching programmes”.

At Worldwide Experience, we’re lucky enough to offer all these projects in South Africa. We benefit from the fact that our popular conservation gap year projects also combine work in community projects, and that our teaching projects also contain a hint of conservation work, so students can really make the most from their South African experience.

If you’ve chosen to spend your year out taking part in the Wildlife Film Academy gap year projects, then this article from the BBC News might well be worth a read.   During your time at the Wildlife Film Academy, you won’t just take part in a run-of-the-mill film making project, but you’ll be out in the wild collecting footage of animals right from the word go.  However, new research is suggesting that similarly to humans, animals are able to distinguish between behaviour that should be public, and that which should be kept private.  This raises the questions, is it …

The hardest part of any gap year project is choosing which one to go on in the first place, or so people keep telling me, and they must be right! I mean how exactly do you choose from rehabilitating animals at the Moholoholo Game Reserve, or working with the Born Free foundation to protect the majestic lions of Shamwari? I’ve been Shamwari’s resident blogger for ages, but even I’d have trouble choosing; after all they’re both absolutely incredible experiences. To make things a little easier I have devised a quick quiz using some of the skills needed for our four …

I came across something distressing whilst surfing the internet 122 rhinos were killed in South Africa last year and it’s now believed that poaching is on the rise. If these rates carrying on then South Africa’s rhinos could be extinct in the next decade. You can read the full article over at Dallas News, but be prepared as the results are pretty harrowing.   In June, along with some students on their wildlife conservation holidays, I attended a talk at Shamwari Game Reserve given by a ranger about the emergency response situation that rangers must abide to when they hear news …

After sampling all those delicious South African wines, the game ranger students were tempted to head to the nearest bar and show off their knowledge. Unfortunately, they’d have to wait as the senior rangers had something else planned for them, a night of star-gazing under the South African skies. As well as being versed in matters of wildlife conservation, game rangers need to know about astronomy and how to guide using the stars. The star that they use to navigate in South Africa is the Southern Cross which can only be seen in the Southern hemisphere, and is instantly recognisable …