Day 1-4

A relentless learning adventure from day one.

Arrive in Cape Town to meet the rest of the group. The thrills begin before you even have a chance to catch your breath. Table Mountain, which overlooks this stunning city, sits waiting to be hiked up by you. Good. Now you’re ready to set off on your ultimate predator experience. In daily lectures, cover the history of South Africa as well as the biology, behavior, natural history, and ecology of South African Wildlife. We take a brief interlude to hunt for African penguins at the African Penguin Colony, then move on to nearby Simon's Town and embark on a Great White Shark adventure. 22 days to go.

Day 5-7

Leave your fear in the boat

In our daily lectures we learn about marine mammals, migrations, ranging behavior and social hunting behavior. Lectures provide context for what we’re about to see in the real world. On these days, it’s some of the world’s largest predators: the whales of Hermanus. Look out for Southern Right Whales, Brydes Whales or even Humpbacks. Ready to enter the shark cage? Thought so. Climb and in and prepare to come face to face with one of the world’s most feared hunters — the Great White. Not long after we descend into shark-infested waters, we quickly discover that these creatures not mindless killers, but beautiful animals worth studying and observing.

Day 8-10

Shipwrecks. Surfing. Dodo eggs.

Dry land. We drive through a wine region, past Cape Agulhas or “The Cape of Storms”, into an area infamously known for the number of ships that have wrecked on its shores, and then on to Port Elizabeth — a world-class surfing destination. If the surfing championships are on, we stay to watch a bit of the action before journeying to Port St Johns. There, we visit a museum known to have the only Dodo egg in the world, as well as Coelacanth that was found after it was thought to be extinct.

Day 11-15

Observe the Great Sardine Run up close.

Port St Johns is where we call home for the next 5 days as we hunt for sardines in the Indian Ocean during the Great Sardine Run. We kill time by snorkeling with Dolphins, Humpback whales, Dusky Sharks and maybe even a few Black Tip Sharks! After full days of endless experiential adventure, we use what little energy we have left to explore the local area known as ‘The Wild Coast’.

Day 16-19

Pay a visit to the Natal Sharks Board.

Next up, Siyafunda, home to a wildlife reserve and research station. On our way there, we visit the Natal Sharks Board in Durban and learn about their shark education and conservation efforts. We may even get the chance to watch a dissection. We spend the night at the foot of the Drakensberg (Dragons Back) mountains, the highest mountain range in Southern Africa.

Day 20-26

Land-based predators.

Siyafunda! The focus shifts to land-based predators as we partake in daily game drives, as well as collect and analyze data for ongoing conservation research. Learn all about animal as well as how a game reserve functions and is managed day-to-day. Thinking back, we realize how much we’ve learned about conservation, threats to predators and how to help mitigate them, animal behavior and ecology, research methods used in the field, and most of all, Africa.