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LIST OF PROJECTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA

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South Africans are the friendliest and most hospitable people in the world - without a doubt!  If you're invited to dinner, don't eat for a week beforehand because you'll be overfed, especially if it's a barbecue.  Wine is cheap and good.  The salads are to die for. "Everything here is beautiful and I'm so glad I chose South Africa for my placement. I couldn't have asked for more support or a more beautiful place to live in." Gill Taylor, teaching in Knysna.

Our placements are located in four regions in the country, all very different to each other: Cape Town, Knysna, Port Elizabeth and KwaZulu-Natal.

Our volunteers really do make a difference to our projects. And the impact is mutual! Click here to read a story of one such fabulous volunteer, Annika Rees.

More about South Africa...

"After diving with great white sharks, working with orphans and street kids, animal safaris, zip-lining through jungles, and sky-diving(!!) I have returned fully invigorated and with a new lease on life! Travellers is an amazing organization, I will highly recommend it to everyone ... Thank you so so much for the experience of a life time!" Deeanne Petersen

MORE ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa has everything ...

• Sun, sparkling warm and clear oceans, and the most beautiful golden beaches you will ever see that stretch for miles.

• Excellent surfing, boating, river rafting and fishing

• Mountain climbing, biking and hiking

• The Garden Route, world famous and sheer paradise!

• Outstanding Game Reserves with wild animals in their natural habitat, and symmetric vineyards stretching to infinity

• Ostrich racing! A butterfly farm and the renowned Cango Caves

• Sharks, whales and dolphins, and the amusing Cape Fur Seals.

• Elegant restaurants (indoors and outdoors), barbecues and beach parties, alongside art galleries and museums

• And FRUIT everywhere!

But most of all, South Africans are the friendliest and most hospitable people in the world - without a doubt!  If you're invited to dinner ... don't eat for a week beforehand because you'll be overfed, especially if it's a barbecue.  Wine is cheap and good.  The salads are to die for. "Everything here is beautiful and I'm so glad I chose South Africa for my placement. I couldn't have asked for more support or a more beautiful place to live in." Gill Taylor, teaching in Knysna.

Travellers' projects are situated in four different areas in the country:

1. Cape Town - at the risk of upsetting other cities, this is the most beautiful city in the country, if not the world. It has been voted the world's third most popular holiday destination ... and it is worthy of that title.
   21 October 2010
   "Cape Town has been voted the Best City in Africa and the Middle East in the Cond� Nast Traveler 2010 Readers Choice Awards ... [Cape Town] delivers a better life, in this case: a world class tourist destination that is proudly South Africa. This is the second time Cape Town has won this award, having received the highest number of votes in 2008 as well."
   Here we have work experience placements (including an Adventure Tourism placement that is ... wow!), teaching and sports projects, and some excellent marine conservation projects with sharks and whales. We also have some unbelievably good care projects, working with children with autism or mental or physical impairments - extremely worthwhile and satisfying projects!
   

2. The Western Cape: Knysna, George and Plettenberg Bay. These small towns lie on the world-famous Garden Route and are conveniently placed halfway between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Here we have very worthwhile teaching, care and conservation projects (you haven't lived until you've seen dolphins jumping the waves close to the shore!), as well as one or two work experience placements. This is a very social environment where the majestic Outeniqua Mountain lies to the north and the Indian ocean to the South, giving the town a very moderate Mediterranean climate.
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3. KwaZulu Natal (KZN) - home of some of the most stunning Game Reserves in the world. This is glorious country, exotic, tropical, at once arid and unbelievably lush. Here Travellers has exciting conservation projects on Game Parks, working with animals and plants, and also our monkey rehabilitation project. We have a superb rural teaching placement working with Zulu children and an equally excellent Care project. KZN is the place to be for the true African experience.
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4. Port Elizabeth - Given the title of the �Friendly City� by locals, Port Elizabeth (or simply �PE�) is a major tourist attraction. Lying alongside Algoa Bay on the south eastern coast, PE has a stunning shoreline and longer hours of sunshine than anywhere else in South Africa. With water sports galore, PE is a beach lover�s paradise! Here you can work hands-on with lots of different animals or learn how to survive in the busy on our Discover Conservation course.

The Amazing Namaqualand Flowers:
Every year at the start of spring, the greatest show on earth is displayed in the �Namaqualand� region along the West Coast of South Africa. This incredible event, which lasts around a month, is visited by people all over the world to see the amazing sight of hundreds of thousands of flowers covering miles and miles of usually dry, barren landscape.

About 4000 different varieties of daisies, succulents, lilies and perennial herbs show off their truly spectacular colours after a long, cold winter, usually around September, before the scorching heat of summer comes into full swing. This uniquely special occasion should not be missed, so if you are in or round the Southern Cape in spring time, make sure you plan a visit! See our Photo Gallery for pictures.

Did you know?

• South Africa is regularly voted one of the Top Three Tourist Destinations in the world!

• South Africa is ranked as the third most biologically diverse country in the world

• South Africa has the oldest wine industry outside of Europe and the Mediterranean

• South Africa�s history extends back to around 40,000BC

• South Africa is amongst the world�s top 25 diamond producing nations
• South Africa has 11 official languages

 
VIDEO: Discover South Africa

Got any questions? Please email us:
info@travellersworldwide.com

In Cape Town and surrounding regions, you're spoilt for choice! There are too many to mention, but here are just a few favourites:

• Climb or take the cable car up the majestic Table Mountain for panoramic views of the city

• Visit the Cape Point Nature Reserve and see the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet.

• Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, home of unique flora and fauna. The �Fynos Kingdom� here is endemic to this part of the world and South Africans are very proud of it!

• Take a ferry boat to the notorious Robben Island, where SA ex-president, Nelson Mandela, was imprisoned for 27 years.

• Spend a day - or a few - in the picturesque and vibrant V&A Waterfront and feel the atmosphere of the Cape with live music, numerous malls, restaurants and craft markets. This place really hums!

• Abseiling, sandboarding, scuba-diving and mountain biking, Cape Town has it all for the adrenalin junkies.

• Go wine tasting in Stellenbosch, home of South Africa�s favourite and award winning vineyards. It's also outstandingly beautiful.

In the Cape, around the Knysna area, there's an amazing choice - these are just some of them:

• The Garden Route, possibly the most beautiful stretch of coastline in the world.

• The Cango Caves, a truly awesome cave system and a must on your sightseeing list.

• Whale-Watching in Plettenberg Bay and the Whale Crier of Hermanus

• Oudtshoorn, home of the ostrich farms.

• The Drostdy, the graceful building that houses a museum

• The George Museum

• The Old Slave Tree, a 186 year old oak tree with a chain embedded in its trunk - a reminder of a history best forgotten.

• Victoria Bay and Herold's Bay, renowned for surfing, bathing and fishing.

• Two superb Golf Courses and numerous other sports facilities, including flying, gliding, squash, horse riding, tennis, hiking and mountain biking.

In KwaZulu-Natal (known as KZN for short), you're surrounded by

• Big Five game parks (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino) - Umfolozi-Hluhluwe, Phinda, Tembe, Pongola, Mkuzi

• Beautiful St Lucia with its Crocodile Centre and Wetlands

• Numerous nature parks,

• Fantastic beaches for swimming and diving,

• Lively Durban where South Africans go to have fun,

• The San Art park for a collection of astounding rock paintings,

• And much, much more!

Roads in South Africa are generally very wide and long and a pleasure to drive on. It is very much quicker to cover distances than in, say, England.  For example, many people drive from Cape Town to Johannesburg (virtually one end of the country to the other) for the weekend or just for a party!

Photo taken by a volunteer while out in the field on the Discover Conservation Course

Flowers in Namaqualand, and Jim's dog Skye loving every minute of it !!

SAA pilots give Travellers the thumbs-up!