DAKTARI Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage

Daktari Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage is a registered non profit organisation located in the Limpopo Province, near the Kruger Park in South Africa. It is set in a beautiful nature reserve with granite hills and the most stunning views. It hasn’t got the Big Five, but leopard and hyena do roam around next to the general plains game like impala, kudu, wildebeest, zebra and giraffe. You will mostly work in and around the camp with the children, but if you want to and where possible, the project leaders will also take you for walks and drives in the reserve. The game tends to be shy, but the scenery in itself is more than worthwhile already. Besides, it’s a great opportunity to pick one of the project leaders’ brains and learn from his vast knowledge on the bush and wildlife!

The mission of Daktari is to educate local underprivileged children to care for their environment through the medium of a wildlife orphanage.

Every Monday Daktari welcomes a new group of 8 local under-privileged children for a week. As a volunteer your main tasks will be teaching the children and working with the animals. You will give the children the opportunity to discover, learn and become passionate about wildlife and conservation, their heritage. You will also supplement their school curriculum in very basic English, maths, sciences, geography, life skills, educational games and social issues.

The children are in the 8th grade, but they vary in age from 13 to 16 years old. Their English is very poor and most of the time they need a lot of support with maths. Personal attention is something that they are not used to. That is why they really get the chance to blossom at the project. . They go home as different children and that is also because of the attention they receive from people like you.

No specific skills are required. We need your enthusiasm and dynamism.

It is a two way street. The children will give you back what you put in. Maybe sometimes you think it doesn’t work, but at the end of the week you will see the difference.
The best advice we can give is for you to really enjoy your placement and make it into a two way learning experience. We want you to leave with the feeling that you have achieved something positive for the future of the children and the environment, but also for yourself

Whether you are away from home for the first time or are an experienced traveller, you will love the family atmosphere that is created at Daktari and their excellent food. Your help will make a huge difference in aiding conservation and animal welfare, teaching local underprivileged children and building bridges between local and international people. All in all you will be participating to a worthy cause and having a fantastic experience in one!

Duration / Dates

The volunteer experience starts from 1 week to 3 months and all arrivals and departures are on Saturdays.