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 find that you’re always spotting big cats on your gap year projects it could be due to the aftershave you’re wearing. Zookeepers in the Bronx have found that Calvin Klein Obsession stimulates curiosity in big cats. The aftershave was tested against 11 other scents and to their surprise, researchers found that big cats spent more than 11 minutes sniffing and nuzzling up to a tree sprayed with Calvin Klein Obsession. The results were so compelling that there are plans to introduce Calvin Klein Obsession into zoos all over the world. Upon hearing the news, one team tracking jaguars …

On my way back from my wildlife conservation holiday in Hoedspruit, I stopped in to visit my good friend Ditch at at the Moholoholo research centre. Last week, I told you all of how Ditch was rejected by her pride, not once but twice, and how the rangers had resigned themselves to the fact that she had been away from them for too long to ever properly be accepted back. So it was once again that Ditch was returned by pick-up truck to Moholoholo. At the time the animal rehabilitation centre also had another prideless lion living on the grounds, …

After taking a wildlife conservation holiday in Hoedspruit, I decided to stop off at Moholoholo and visit my good-friend, Ditch. Ditch is one of the most interesting animals that I know and she has an incredible story that I thought I’d share with you. While Ditch was hunting on a game reserve close to Moholoholo her left, back leg was caught in a snare. The wire cut all the way through her skin and into her bone and she describes the moment as sheer agony. Ditch was then darted and rushed to the animal treatment centre at Moholoholo for treatment. …

I love my home at Shamwari Game Reserve but sometimes there’s nothing quite like a change of scene so I decided to book myself a wildlife conservation holiday  to Hoedspruit and see what the students there were up to. Hoedspruit is located near Moholoholo, so I’m planning on dropping in on the way back and visiting my friend Thabo, and the lioness, Ditch who has a truly incredible story that I will share you with you someday. Hoedspruit is one of the best places in the world to see cheetahs and has been instrumental in breeding the endangered king cheetah. …