Overview
The ultimate African safari! Experience thrilling wildlife encounters combined with life changing conservation and community projects.
Live at Kwa Madwala, a private ‘Big 4’ (leopard, lion, elephant and rhino) 4000 hectare game reserve, just south of the Kruger National Park, between Swaziland and Mozambique. In the middle of the reserve you'll find the renowned safari lodge called Manyatta, cleverly built into the sides of local kopjes popular for offering elephant and horse back safaris.
Your time will be split between helping run this fantastic safari lodge and their elephant safari's while assisting rangers with animal management and making a real difference to the lives of local people. This diversity will ensure you leave Africa both fulfilled and exhilarated, having made an enormous contribution to some of Africa’s most valued wildlife and their fast-disappearing tribes.
The reserve is soon to be jointly owned 50/50 with the community and local South African shareholders with a percentage of the income going directly to the community.
New for 2010 If you have horse riding skills up your sleeve and a secret desire to gallop over the plains of Africa...Kwa Horse safari, conservation and community could be for you...its a tweak on this original.
How you help
Helping Who
Kwa’s park rangers, lodge managers, local Swazi population.
Helping How
Eco-tourism
- Assist in the safari lodge with waitering, cleaning, housekeeping and general maintenance.
Conservation
- Assist rangers and trackers in all aspects of their duties.
- Venture out on morning or evening game drives (helping with the spotlight at night) and walking safaris.
- Reserve management initiatives – fencing and bush clearing.
- Construct bird hides and viewing decks to help monitor animal movements.
- Assist with the elephant back safaris. Ride the elephants and help look after their diet, enclosures and general welfare.
- Spend a day in the life of an elephant groom.
- Practise riffle shooting.
- Be introduced to 4 x 4 driving - a course will be conducted to cover the basic skills required.
Community
- Help with the student seedling gardens to improve local diets.
- Help in a nearby children’s orphanage at Thembalethu School, a centre for victims of AIDS. This is an amazing place where you can teach and play with the kids, who are very energetic and fun. In addition we have painted murals, carried out maintenance and even built a stage for the budding actors! Community leaders help decide what projects are needed at any given time and direct the micro enterprises such as making gifts, cards from recycled paper.
- Various township community visits with possible activities including: building wells and water holes, teaching English and playing football matches in local Swazi secondary and primary schools.
Your base
The Team
The maximum team size is 30 and min. is 4, aged from 18-27 years. During the day you’ll be split into smaller groups of approximately 10 volunteers to one leader/adult guide.
Accommodation and Meals at Bush House
Accommodation is at Bush House, which is comfortable and simple but for added comfort there is a pool table, table tennis table, darts and TV/DVD. It also has a swimming pool. You will share an en-suite room with up to six other volunteers. There are indoor and outdoor showers, baths, basins with hot and cold water and loos. You will need a sleeping bag for sleeping out on the reserve and optional excursions.
Meals will be cooked at the house and volunteers will be required to assist with meal preparation on a rotation basis both in the kitchen and when cooked on an open fire. Vegetarians will easily be accommodated. A fridge is available and volunteers will have to buy their own beers, soft drinks etc. Fruit juice is available at meals, and tea/coffee is available at all times and will not be charged for. The water is safe to drink but has a mineral taste to it so volunteers often prefer to buy bottled water. Breakfast is usually fruit, cereals and toast, with a cooked breakfast usually once a week. Lunch is salads or sandwiches, and dinner, the main meal, is usually meat, pasta, salads etc. Bush House is exclusively for ‘Leapers’ but all vacant accommodation not utilized by Leapers at Bush House is made available for other clients where necessary.
Wildlife
There is an abundance of plains game like impala, zebra and so on, which you will see on a daily basis. You will also have the chance to see the Big 4: leopard, lion, elephant (both wild and tame) and rhino, as well as hippos, crocodiles and lots of beautiful birdlife. You'll get the rare opportunity to walk as well as drive on safari and whenever a sick or injured animal is found in the reserve you may observe the care given by the vets.
Seasons and Weather
Sept – April Summer: hot (30 – 40 degrees) and fairly wet – you are likely to get the traditional African thunder storm lasting about an hour which clears the air and then you may not get rain again for a few days. It is lush, green and verdant at this time of year.
May – Aug Winter: warm, dry and mild like a Summer’s day in UK but can get very cold at night. You'll want to take a woolly hat, gloves and a thick fleece jacket for the nights/morning.
Time In/Out
Time In
You will all be met at Nelspruit (KMIA) airport and driven to the reserve. You’ll receive an induction and orientation course on arrival.
6 week programmes: approximately 10% on lodge phase, 40% on community projects and 50% on conservation projects.
Activities will take place Monday to Friday for 6 - 8 hours per day, but please remain flexible as every day is different on the reserve and they do not follow a strict timetable.
Time Out
The project team will happily help you arrange transport at weekends to visit local areas of interest, either by local taxi or you can fill a Kwa Madwala mini bus, and pay Kwa Madwala direct.
Top Trips
Kwa Madwala also arrange their own trips and other exciting tours such as paintballing, rafting and canoeing at Sabi. These are not expensive as they get very good rates i.e. visiting Sabi for 4 days is about £80 including transport, fuel, food, accommodation and 3 activities.
Visiting Mozambique for 4 nights is about £200 includes transport, fuel, food, accommodation, visas and 2 activities (snorkelling, diving, whale watching or riding. It is an 11 hour drive via Maputo to Tofo – great beaches, stay in a backpackers dorm.
Microlight over the reserve (insurance permitting), safaris in search of the ‘Big 5’ in Kwa Madwala and Kruger National Park, porcupine watching camp outs in the reserve, 4x4 driving, rifle shooting, visits to neighbouring Swaziland and Mozambique, whale watching, scuba diving.
NB One free microlight flight is included (insurance permitting).
If for some reason the micro-light is unavailable (servicing) or it is unsafe to fly (weather etc) and you are not able to fly, then you will not be offered a refund for the flight but offered instead some compensatory game drives and or bush walks of an equivalent value.
Costs/Dates
Dates
2012 for 6 weeks
2nd July
2013 for 6 weeks
1st July
Costs
Up until 31st August 2012
6 weeks £2050
Up unitl 31st August 2013
6 weeks £2050
Includes:
Donation to the sustainability of the reserve £80 per person.
Selection and briefing on all aspects of the scheme.
24 hour emergency back-up, management and support by UK team and in-country Placement Manager, with reliable communications and infrastructure.
Safety and induction course on arrival.
Elephant interaction and ride. Game drives on reserve.
1 escorted micro-light flight above the reserve (Insurance permitting - Both Kwa Madwala and Global Travel Insurance have appropriate insurance to cover this activity).
KMIA Airport pick up and transfer to and from the placement.
Food and accommodation throughout.
Not included:
International flights, internal flights to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport (KMIA) Nelspruit, visas, travel insurance, entry to Kruger National Park (120 Rand approx £12), bush uniforms:1 pr of trousers, 1 fleece and two shirts (500 Rand approx £35), travel insurance, medical expenses (reclaimable through travel insurance), soft drinks/beers etc.
