Feel the heartbeat and rhythm of Africa at Amakhala Game Reserve. In addition to the king of the jungle the lions – timid leopards, clumsy rhinos, graceful elephants and mystic buffalo make up the Big Five.

A bio-diversity abundance exploding in a variety of antelope and other species such as giraffe, warthog and cheetah roam the plains.

MORE INFORMATION ...
As a conservation volunteer you are the veins and arteries behind the heart beat of Reserve conservation. All aspects of conservation is addressed on this programme, and if you are seeking an experience which will enable you to explore somewhere unique, no matter how short a time, then the place to choose is Amakhala. It is a malaria free reserve boasting the Big Five of South Africa, and after a placement at this beautiful reserve you will leave you in awe of Africa’s abundance, beauty and spectacular scenery. Take in sunlit grassy savannah plains, a mosaic of Valley Bushveld plants (including the Aloe from which Amakhala derives its isiXhosa name) and the gently dappled light of the sand forest, watering holes and the wide spellbinding Bushman’s River. This is home to great African mammals, birds and insects, and it will humble and fascinate you.

The reserve is continuously monitoring and managing game throughout the year, and as a conservation ‘Pride’ volunteer you will assist ‘behind the scenes’ on various ongoing conservation projects and reserve priorities, with the longer your stay the more in depth your experience is. It is our duty is to provide correct and up to date scientific information on the reserve and its animals, which is then given to the people who make important decisions behind the maintenance of the reserve and the many animals which call it their home.

As a Conservation ‘Pride’ Volunteer at Amakhala, your primary responsibility is managing the lions. You will also have the chance to assist with many ongoing short and long-term projects on the reserve. Reserve priorities at any one time may continuously change dependent on many external influences; your involvement in certain projects thus may be affected. Therefore the longer your placement the more in depth your involvement across many facets of conservation and reserve maintenance will be.

This course provides an insight into the environmental issues and management of a game reserve. The main focus is having FUN while doing conservation and rehabilitating the land back to its natural environment. The volunteers are also acquainted with the techniques of collecting, analysing and disseminating information on ecological aspects. The course will also allow participants to interact with each other in a life changing environment whilst contributing towards conservation.

Location Amakhala Game Reserve is situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa only an hours drive from Port Elizabeth, an area historically with an abundance of wild game roaming free. The Eastern Cape is justifiably famous for a number of other game reserves. The great herds of Knysna Forest elephants were almost totally eradicated at the turn of this century, and yet, miraculously, the man most responsible for nearly wiping out an entire species, had a dramatic change of heart and spent the balance of his life fighting for a safe haven for these rare and wonderful animals.

Addo National Park and the Mountain Zebra Park saw almost exactly the same thing happen to the rare mountain zebra. Shot to the brink of extinction, in the 1930s this rare species struggled to come back. Click here to read more about South Africa