African Insight Academy On Pongola Game Reserve
September 28, 2022
We create life-changing wildlife conservation experiences for young people
Inspire. Educate. Empower.
Welcome to African Insight Academy,
an eco-educational travel company based in South Africa.
an eco-educational travel company based in South Africa.
For over 25 years, we’ve been working closely with international and local schools, universities and colleges to develop and facilitate meaningful field trips, internships and volunteer projects that give young people a once-in-a-lifetime South African wildlife, conservation or authentic cultural experience. To date, we’ve hosted over 12 000 students.
Features and benefits of our field trips and internship programmes:
Life-changing experience
We take students deep into South Africa’s game reserves where they gain invaluable practical experience by working alongside our passionate and experienced team of local guides, conservationists and mentors.
Unique and bespoke itineraries
Every field trip is customised to meet the needs of the school or university. Experiences include wildlife tracking, bush skills, wildlife rehabilitation and endangered species breeding.
Empower young minds and hearts
Through experiences such as these, young people begin to learn the most important lesson of all; the vital part they play in building and shaping a sustainable future for all.
Discover traditional cultures
Students meet and work together with local communities, where they learn about traditional culture, helping to broaden and enrich their understanding of the world.
Meaningful skills development
Our field trips help students develop important global citizen life skills such as leadership, responsibility, organisation, community, connection, resilience and empathy.
Globally-accredited Health and Safety protocols
We’ve been managing field trips for over 25 years and have developed a comprehensive Health and Safety protocol that holds a British Standards' Institute BS8848 accreditation.
For universities and higher education colleges:
Academic Wildlife, Conservation, Farming and
Equine Field Trips
For schools:
Youth Development, Wildlife, Conservation and Traditional Culture Field Trips
Health and Safety First
African Insight Academy holds international health and safety accreditation from the British Standards’ Institute. We also adhere to the highest possible standard of liability insurance and hold a two-decade incident-free record.
Testimonials
5/5
"We would not conceive of planning our South Africa programme with any other company. With African Insight there is everything one needs to create, and deliver, a first-rate experience/education-rich and a superbly managed field course."
– Dr Caroline Ross and Professor Garry Marvin, Department of Life Sciences, University of Roehampton, London.
5/5
"If ever I was taking students to South Africa in the future, or even a group of tourists, African Insight would be my first point of call."
“I first came across African Insight Academy in 2014 while looking for a new partner organisation to help me deliver the international field trip that is associated with the MSc programme in Ecological Economics that I run. Ecological Economics is a field that is focused on both sustainability and social justice, and so I was looking for a partner organisation who could create an itinerary that would help illuminate both the environmental and social dimensions of real-world sustainability challenges.
I gave Andrew our brief, our budget, and only the shortest of introductions to Ecological Economics, and he and his team at African Insight Academy came up with a fantastic and relevant itinerary that enabled us to explore community-based conservation, and the challenges that come with trying to achieve conservation and human development gains simultaneously. It’s important for me to say that they did this even though it was quite different to the bulk of the student trips they hosted. They were flexible and supportive and really worked with us to create a trip
that was meaningful and impactful for our students. Their flexibility and capacity to tailor trips in different ways – including to radically different sized student groups – was a hallmark of their interactions with us.”
– Corinne Baulcomb, Programme Director for the MSc in Ecological Economics, The University of Edinburgh
5/5
"As a University College delivering the subjects of Animal Sciences and Wildlife Conservation at degree level, we have been taking students on an annual field trip from the UK to South Africa with African Insight for 21 years.
I can tell you without any hesitation that I would (and have on many occasions) recommended African Insight as an academic responsible field trip organisation.
Andrew and the team appoint guides carefully who have the knowledge, experience and communication skills (who can respond appropriately to the demands of the questions) to deliver information at the level required for the trip. The well-structured and risk assessed itineraries are designed mutually to ensure the trip meets the requirements of the courses students are participating on.”
– Maureen Collins,
Programme Leader for BSc Animal Sciences and Conservation Biology,
Canterbury College
5/5
"On these trips our girls are encouraged to switch off technology, disconnect from social media and plug into the environment.
I have seen our girls embrace the opportunity each year to draw from the wisdom and passion of the guides about community service and conservation. This programme works because true education must be holistic. It must reach far beyond the walls of a classroom and because nature has so much to teach us. Our girls come back from this adventure a little muddier, wiser, humbled and braver. They are stretched and challenged by what they see and do, and they grow taller because of it. Being outside a classroom enables girls to work in teams they might not usually gravitate towards and therefore build new friendships, embrace new ideas, think creatively and gain a greater understanding of the role they play in nature and the future of our country.”
– Megan Ham (Educator), March 2020
