"Hello ! We are Ophélie and Julie. We are 23 years old and come from Belgium. We stayed at DAKTARI for three weeks. We wanted to volunteer abroad and were looking for a project that was meaningful to us. As future childhood psychologists, we wanted to work with children. Taking care of animals and the environment were other [...]
This month, we renovated the adult mongooses enclosure by adding more logs and plants. The volunteers arranged the enclosure so that it looks more like their natural habitat. Old tyres from the cars were also recycled to make tunnels and provide the mongooses something to climb on. We are adding fresh branches to the enclosure every [...]
Alix comes from Belgium, she is 18 years old and stayed 2 weeks at Daktari. “I was looking for an organisation that would allowed me to work with animals. DAKTARI was the only one that allowed me to feed them, clean their enclosures…And I loved taking care of them. Martin, the cheetah is the most impressive animal [...]
"I decided to come to DAKTARI Bush School with my son, Alexandre,11 years old, to share and experiment with something very different from our everyday life in Europe, through another culture, both with animals care and with children. My best memory at DAKTARI has been to watch my son interact with animals and becoming independent and [...]
"Hello everyone, we are Zoe and Aurea, two 19-year-old french girls who decided to come to South Africa to live the DAKTARI adventure. This place was advised to us by a friend of ours who enjoyed it a lot. We both wanted to volunteer to help people and hearing about this project convinced us. Indeed, having [...]
We recently said goodbye to our Meerkat family. Twelve of our meerkats left DAKTARI to be rehabilitated. Only Gasper and Tikki stayed behind because they are quite old and have lost some of their teeth. Gasper was the first to arrive at DAKTARI in 2010, follow by Tikki (2011) and Madonna (2014). The family then [...]
In my perspective, Daktari’s project represents the future for the next generations of Africa. Before I had even heard about Daktari -along with their project, I already had similar ideas I could see myself building in the future. Reconnecting humans - and especially the children, with their inner instincts, respect, love and bond with nature [...]
We recently received generous donations from South African corporates. L'OREAL donated some beauty and body care products. They will be given to the children who come to DAKTARI as a reward after their accomplishment of the week. It is a wonderful way to encourage them and to learn about hygiene. The leader of the Pet Industry, Marltons, donated some [...]
My name is Karin and I’m from the Netherlands. I’m at Daktari with my husband Gerwin and my two sons Nils (14) and Bjorn (10). When we’re planning this holiday we really like to combine working as a volunteer and meeting other cultures and experience the nature. Daktari offers that. Especially the education program for [...]
"I came to DAKTARI on April 1st 2018. I was looking online for places to volunteer abroad and out of around 20 organizations DAKTARI was the one that seemed to offer the most opportunities and experiences. After I found DAKTARI I spent no time hesitating to prepare for the trip. I bought my plane tickets just a few days [...]
I arrived 3 of March 2018 for one month. My biggest interest to come to DAKTARI was the kids because I would like to work in social services. I always wanted to do a volunteers trip. Furthermore, the perfect place for me is in the middle of the bush to discover the animals and to [...]
I volunteered at DAKTARI for three weeks and it was the most beautiful project of my young life. I had wanted to volunteer for a while but I was more interested in volunteering with animals rather than children. After three weeks at DAKTARI that completely changed and I was so happy to be able to [...]
To sum up I would like to say that my time at DAKTARI was awesome! I had my first volunteer experience at Daktari in September 2017. I was staying for nine long weeks. Before my arrival I was quite anxious and nervous because I did not know if I would like the place or the [...]
This week we had a wonderful child stay with us called Akani. She is 13 years old and comes from Maahlamele School in the Oaks Village. Akani was the only student in last weeks group to receive excellent feedback from the volunteers in all subjects during the week including English, Maths, Politeness & Respect and [...]
Last week we received a beautiful letter from three children describing their experience at DAKTARI. It is always amazing receiving messages like this. Thank you Wesly, Percevierence and Gabriel for sending this to us! The text of the letter is written out below: "To DAKTARI Owners and Volunteers, It is a great pleasure for [...]
Online, DAKTARI's ideal balance of working with children and animals seemed too good to be true. I arrived expecting some sort of catch but soon learned that the website, as well as the rave reviews from past volunteers, are extremely accurate in depicting the curriculum and atmosphere DAKTARI has to offer. Unlike many programs, the [...]
I stayed at Daktari during 3 weeks from end October to mid November 2016. This was not my first holiday volunteering but Daktari provided me with a unique opportunity to both bring some of my experience to children and to be surrounded by nature and animals. Each Monday 8 children aged 12-13 year old came [...]
Such an amazing project with the loveliest people! I have had the most amazing month at Daktari! Daktari is such a great project, what they do is amazing! I've always wanted to go and volunteer in Africa but I wasn't sure if I wanted to find a project with animals or with people and this [...]
... And your money! Orphaned animals and underprivileged children need your love this Valentines Day. They both deserve your loving attention without delay. You spend most of your time with your partner, guaranteed ups and downs. Why not give something to these children and animals and receive no frowns. A contribution from your big loving [...]
We want your help!! We are very close to finishing the funding of our project "Environmental Education for Over 300 Children"!!! All we need is $1.360! Can YOU be part of this success?! On Wednesday May 13th Global Giving is offering us a BONUS DAY... and all donations will be matched during the Entire Bonus Day! This means that you [...]
Our family of 4 has returned from our volunteer time at Daktari... and we miss you and all the animals! We still laugh about finding blind Eeyore outside of the camp, miss Thor your monkey stealing our food and Boy, the bird taking a liking to Alex (15) and attacking him nonstop from behind.... Our [...]