Game reserve

The official definition of a game reserve is that it is an area of land set aside for the maintenance and well-being of wildlife. Just to confuse you, many game reserves are often referred to as National Parks as well. This definition can make a game reserve sound more like a safari park when, it actual fact, most game reserves cover a huge area. For example the Kafue game reserve in Zambia covers an area roughly the size of Belgium. In this crucial respect the average game reserve is nothing like a safari park and the animals contained in them are one hundred per cent wild. Animals living in a game reserve hunt and scavenge for their own food, just as nature intended. The main reason for creating game reserves is to try and manage the animals' habitat in order to protect them as much as possible from the sadly ever-present dangers of hunters and poachers.

If you want to visit a game reserve then by far the best place on the planet to do so is Africa. Africa has some fantastic game reserves, many of which are home to the ‘big five' wild animals - lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. Visiting a game reserve in Africa and seeing these animals in their natural habitat, rather than behind the bars of a cage in a zoo, is undoubtedly an experience of a lifetime. Real Gap has loads of superb programmes in Africa, many of which give you the chance to get involved with daily life at a game reserve far more than the average traveller visiting the region on an overland tour. If you want to spend time on a game reserve in Africa it's well worth spending some time exploring the ‘Africa' option on the Real Gap homepage in order to read up on all of our programmes. The following list of opportunities to work at a game reserve in Africa certainly isn't definitive, but should provide you with some inspiration and ideas:

Work on a game reserve in Kenya

Arguably the most famous game reserve in Africa is the Masai Mara in Kenya. The Masai Mara game reserve is home to an incredible array of wildlife. Lions roam the game reserve in large prides and it's often possible to spot other big cats too, such as leopards and cheetahs (indeed the Masia Mara game reserve is where BBC television films its popular ‘Big Cat Diary' wildlife documentaries). Visually the Masai Mara game reserve is the classic African landscape of grassy plains interspersed with the distinctive silhouettes of acacia trees. Other than big cats, numerous other animals can be seen at the Masai Mara game reserve - including elephant, zebra, hippopotamus and buffalo.

One of the world's most amazing sights occurs at the Masai Mara game reserve each year in July and August, when the annual migration of wildebeest takes place. At this time literally millions of wildebeest and zebras make their way across the Masai Mara game reserve, having travelled north from the Serengeti in search of better feeding areas. The Masai Mara game reserve is also the setting for some of Real Gap's best volunteer programmes.

Work on a game reserve in South Africa

South Africa is the location of another of Africa's most famous game reserves - Kruger National Park. All of the ‘big five' can be seen at this game reserve and, along with the Masai Mara, Kruger is widely considered - in terms of the range of wildlife it's home to and the frequency with which you see it - to be the best game reserve in Africa. If you really want to experience life on a game reserve then one of Real Gap's best programmes is located in the Kruger area of South Africa - the ‘Volunteer in Africa - Wildlife Conservation Course.' With this programme participants learn the many skills required to work on a game reserve as a ranger. The course combines teaching aspects of managing a game reserve with more practical ‘hands on' skills such as animal tracking. If you think you might want to work on a game reserve at some point, or simply love African wildlife and want to have some fun on an informative course, this programme is ideal.

Work on a game reserve in Botswana

Botswana is becoming an increasingly popular gap year destination. Botswana's best area for viewing wildlife is the Okavango Delta game reserve - the largest inland delta in the world. The Okavango Delta game reserve is an intricate maze of islands and lagoons covering 15,000 square kilometres and teems with a huge variety of birds and animals. If you visit Botswana an excellent option to consider while you're there is Real Gap's ‘Conservation in Africa - Private Game Farm in Botswana' programme. As with the above programme in South Africa, this programme is a great choice for anyone who wants to take their interest in African wildlife a step further on their gap year by learning the skills required to work on a game reserve.

Back to Where to work abroad

Back to Gap Year Advice Main Menu