If you're passionate about wildlife and want to explore a place unlike anywhere else, Botswana's Okavango Delta should be right at the top of your list.
Home to the largest population of elephants on Earth, this awe-inspiring landscape is also a key migration route for zebra and one of the last strongholds of the endangered African wild dog.
Nearly 1 million acres of wilderness
As a research volunteer in this vast maze of waterways, bushlands, dry pans and Kalahari desert vegetation, you’ll join a team of dedicated conservation experts. You'll have the chance to monitor the movement and populations of key species, according to guidelines set out by the Botswana government. You’ll also find yourself covering some serious distances and picking up a variety of bushcraft skills needed to survive in the wilderness.
A new frontier for conservation
Botswana recently introduced a nationwide hunting ban, and you'll be helping the Okavango researchers monitor the effects on wildlife populations. The insights gained here could have far-reaching impacts for threatened species across the whole of Africa.
"For a full month at Okavango, I had the opportunity to assist in vital research, documenting species presence on the Kwatale conservancy. We had some truly special sightings while there: everything from African wild dogs, to Sable antelope, and even a coalition of three male lions!"
