South Africa Study Abroad

Volunteer work in South Africa: A helping holiday

Volunteering holidays are a highly enriching and immersive way to experience a foreign culture at the most grass roots level.

A number of exiting and exotic opportunities are now listed on Bootsnall, where you can choose your destination, activities and budget.

Most include accommodation and some include meals and excursions, all look like fantastic life changing experiences.

These selected opportunities currently exist in South Africa:

Animal Rescue society near Cape Town, South Africa:

This centre is a domestic animal rescue organisation located near Cape Town. Their goal is to provide animal health care and sterilisation to the local impoverished communities along with running an adoption programme for abandoned stray animals. Your work here will take on many roles from feeding and caring for the many animals to working closely with staff as they go out into the local informal settlements to collect, return and vaccinate animals on site. There is also the opportunity to work along side the resident vet, who requires assistance daily; this is not for the faint hearted. On quieter days you can get involved with a programme called ‘Open Paw’ which is a training programme to help the dogs understand basic commands helping with the adoption process.

Lion Monitoring Expedition in South Africa:

This is a chance for any lion lover to get up close and personal with these magnificent predators and other African mammals. Work alongside experienced researchers while learning and putting into practice, tracking and research techniques in South Africa. The reserve is based between the small towns of Gravelotte and Mica in the Limpopo Province and covers over 30,000 hectares of African wilderness. It is home to elephants, leopard, white rhino and various antelope species; you will be in the midst of some of the worlds most fascinating wildlife on a day-to-day basis. This is an amazing opportunity to learn about conservation and predator management, while enjoying a truly wilderness area, excellent wildlife viewing and at the same time contribution to African wildlife conservation. Your assistance in actively monitoring a lion pride is vital for the future development and success of this project and would make a fantastic addition to a gap year, sabbatical or annual holiday.

Date: September 13th, 2007 | 2 comments

Goodbye Shelly NU, Hello - ??

Student Blogger Shelly - who came to South Africa on the Northwestern University/Medill School of Journalism study abroad ticket - has departed Africa’s shores for other parts, and SA Logue would like to thank her for her work, and wish her good luck.

View all of Shelly’s posts: Shelly NU.

What this means, of course, is that SA Logue now has a vacancy in its Student Blogger department. Applications welcome!

Date: June 27th, 2006 | 3 comments

My South African Top Ten (10-6)

As I wrap up my last week at The Star, I am already trying to figure out the fastest way to come back to this country. I can’t believe my time here is over, and, as always, it flew by way too fast. As I look back on the past few months it’s not so easy to pick out the top ten highlights of my first trip to South Africa - but here goes…

Date: June 12th, 2006 | No Comments

A Day in Soweto

As the white van turns left off of the M12 into Soweto, South Africa’s largest township, an awkward silence falls over the group of American tourists.

“So Joe, what is it that your government is doing to improve the lives of everybody in your country?” Joe Motsogi, owner of JMT Tours and Safaris, asks himself on his headset.

For Joe - who points out that the government is spending millions of rand on various housing and development projects at every stop - a tour is not only about the sights and sounds of Soweto, but about the future of his country.

Date: May 18th, 2006 | No Comments

A trip to paradise? Not exactly…

After enjoying months without rain, our friends in Cape Town were convinced they lived in a paradise where the sun always shone - and they never ceased to remind us Joburg folk, suffering through a cold, graey winter, of this fact. Yet, as I checked the weather in The Star the morning of our flight to Cape Town, I was shocked to see a forecast of storm clouds and lightning. What terrible luck, I thought, as I placed my umbrella in my hiking backpack and jumped in the taxi to the airport.

Date: May 4th, 2006 | 1 comment