Rates

Stays of 4, 8 or 12 weeks are available.

4 weeks – GBP £1595

8 weeks – GBP £2855

12 weeks – GBP £3900

Rates are inclusive of

• Local airport pick up/drop off
• Accommodation
• All reserve activities
• Food (breakfast, home cooked lunch & dinner)
• Training week, equipment
• Laundry service twice a week
• Askari t-shirt & baseball cap
• Free, unlimited wifi
• Transport and guides for Kruger park day trip and educational lecture at the Elephant museum (R440 park entrance fee to be paid by volunteer)
• Reptile park short orientation course
• Giant baobab tree visit

Not included

• International flights and domestic flights/transfers
• Travel and medical insurance
• Meals at restaurants in town during weekly town trip
• Cost for safari boat trip during town trip (R450 per person)
• Alcoholic drinks, soft drinks (coke etc)
• Extra weekend sightseeing trips and tours (Blyde canyon, Adventure activities etc)

• 15% discount for return volunteers

Group bookings are welcome for 8 people or more. The price per person will vary from that stated above for exclusivity of the project if less than 10 people.

Dates

Where does my money go?

During your orientation week, you will enjoy a ‘behind the scenes’ look at all aspects involved in the running of our wilderness reserve. This includes a trip to reserve headquarters, the hub of activity and centre for most of our vehicles, equipment and staff. As you continue your time at Askari, data collection will begin as well as involvement in many reserve and monitoring projects. As part of the team you will see just how much work goes in to the everyday operations of the reserve to keep it functioning as a pristine habitat for our flora and fauna. 100% of your volunteer contribution goes into the project and reserve and apart from the accommodation and food costs for your stay, we hope the list below gives you an idea of what else is required to conserve our wilderness. For the operation of the reserve and our wildlife research and conservation, your contribution is invaluable in making Pidwa a benchmark reserve.

As part of our reserve ethos, we are restoring the integrity of all species which should naturally occur on Pidwa. In the past 8 years cheetah, zebra, wildebeest, sable, reedbuck, African wildcat and tsessebe have all been purchased and released to re-introduce the species, increase numbers or enhance gene pools.

Askari is responsible for both its own independent scientific studies and also contributions towards other conservation organisations. In 2013, field work for ‘Project Impisi’, our ground-breaking brown hyaena research was completed. This would not have been possible without the funds to purchase GPS enabled tracking collars and further research equipment such as camera traps and range finders.

For specific species on the reserve, veterinary interventions are sometimes required. This may be due to ill-health, an inter or intra-specific species interaction, for research purposes or even a human induced injury, such as a snare.

Askari is responsible for the breeding camps situated next to the Askari garden which increase numbers of the rare nyala and sable antelopes. These are released onto the reserve to replace past populations, which were lost to habitat destruction and hunting. Supplementary feed and veterinary bills are the high costs involved for this part of the reserve.

All your accommodation, electricity and food are included in the cost of your stay as well as a laundry service twice per week. You can also enjoy the large garden, outdoor furniture, sports equipment and large swimming pool.

During training you will be familiarised with all equipment you may use while on the reserve. This could be a saw or panga during physical work or a pair of callipers to measure tracks, the GPS console to record your data or radio telemetry equipment to track an animal.

During all activities at Askari you will be led by our FGASA trained, highly qualified and competent staff.

The majority of your time will be spent in our 11 seater Land rover open game viewer. We also use a Toyota hilux for the heavy work and trips to town are made in our air-conditioned 9-seater Hyundai ‘Giraffe van’! Around the reserve you will see many other vehicles at work keeping Pidwa operational. These include tractors, management vehicles, graders, diggers, quad and motorbikes. Fuel costs and vehicle maintenance make this one of the most costly areas of the reserve.

Safety is a priority for us at all times at Askari. Regularly serviced fire extinguishers and stocked First Aid kits are kept in all areas and vehicles.

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