African Insight Academy South Africa

African Insight Academy: A Transformative Eco-Educational Business

African Insight Academy, established in 1996 and based in South Africa, is a pioneering eco-educational company committed to inspiring, educating, and empowering young minds through life-changing wildlife conservation and authentic cultural experiences. With over 25 years of expertise, the academy collaborates with international and local educational institutions, offering world-class educational programmes such as field trips, internships, and volunteer projects that provide a unique blend of wildlife, conservation, and traditional cultural immersion.

The mission of African Insight Academy is twofold: to inspire, educate, and empower young people, and to operate a sustainability-driven eco-education business. The founders, Susi and Andrew Anderson, envision a future where humans, creatures, and the environment are respected, valued, and nurtured. The Academy aims to instil a sense of responsibility in young minds regarding environmental guardianship, sustainable living and cultural diversity.

Key Features and Benefits of Our Programmes:

1. Life-Changing Experiences: The Academy provides students with unparalleled experiences by immersing them in South Africa’s protected landscapes and wildlife areas. They work alongside passionate local guides, conservationists, and mentors, gaining practical skills and knowledge in wildlife and environmental conservation.
2. Bespoke Programmes: Each itinerary is customized to meet the specific needs of the participating school or university.
3. Empowering Young Minds: Through these experiences, students learn the vital role they play in shaping a sustainable future. The Academy aims to empower young minds and hearts, fostering qualities such as leadership, responsibility, organization, community, connection, resilience, and empathy.
4. Cultural Discovery: Students engage with local communities, gaining insights into traditional cultures. This enriching experience broadens their understanding of the world and promotes cultural exchange and the value of cultural diversity.
5. Skills Development: The Academy’s programs contribute to the development of crucial global citizenship life skills, including leadership, responsibility, organization, community engagement, connection, resilience, and empathy.
6. Accredited Health and Safety Protocols: The Academy adheres to globally accredited Health and Safety protocols, holding a British Standards Institute BS8848 accreditation.

African Insight Academy is an organization dedicated to catalysing positive change. Guided by a commitment to lead by example the leadership within the Academy underscores the principle that success is gauged by the positive impact and difference made. This commitment extends to establishing a sustainable business model that positively influences both the environment and the communities in which it operates.

African Insight Academy stands as a beacon of eco-educational excellence, offering transformative experiences for young minds while actively contributing to wildlife and environmental conservation and sustainability. With a proven track record spanning over two decades, the founders realise that there is much to be done and are actively seeking investors and business partners to join in its mission to shape responsible global citizens and build a sustainable future for all.

Wildlife experience South Africa
Conservation South Africa
Educational school tour South Africa

• We offer your students an international trip that is relatively inexpensive with the GBPound to ZARand exchange.
• We can offer a programme that caters for a wide range of activities:
  • Authentic conservation and wildlife experiences.
  • Getting up close and personal with Africa’s Big Five and a myriad of other fascinating species.
  • Being guided by seasoned professionals is like having a “front-row seat” opportunity to observe, study, and appreciate the incredible biodiversity of South Africa.
  • Pristine coastal and marine ecosystems
  • Adventure hiking
  • Authentic cultural experiences
  • Music experiences with the world-famous Drakensberg Boys Choir School
  • Sports matches with top sporting schools in South Africa.
  • Bring alive some of the most epic battles of the British Empire on a battlefields tour.
  • Generally fantastic weather.

Our trips are customized to the needs of each and every client.
1. Bush, Beach and Community: The Wildlife Odyssey: Pongola Game
Reserve & Isimangaliso Wetlands Park.

2. KZN Battlefields Field Trip
3. The Drakensberg Mountain Adventure
4. Vic Falls and Chobe Expedition – A Wildlife Extravaganza-
Other programs include areas from Swaziland, Limpopo, and Victoria Falls.

This is very venue specific, and group aims specific. Depending on if the group is coming for a month internship experience or a school group our facilities and educational courses vary. It is best to speak to us personally so we can guide you on the right program. Just a couple examples are:

In The Berg Program:

• Via Ferrata
• Canopy Tours
• Falcon Ridge Bird Show
• Dragon Rocks Reptile Centre
• King swings
• Slack lines
• Archery
• Drakensberg Boys Choir School performance
• Tugela Falls: The highest waterfall in the world

African Insight Academy brings history to life in a powerful KZN Battlefields Field Trip incorporating the:

• Voortrekker – Zulu Conflict and the Battle of Blood River
• Anglo – Zulu War conflicts of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift
• Transvaal War of Independence and the Battle of Majuba
• Anglo – Boer war sites of Spioenkop and Colenso

In the Limpopo Program

• Moholoholo animal rehabilitation program

Pongola + 2 nights kosi bay

• Educational Bushwalks – learning about geology, geography, biology, ecology, and the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
• Bush Skills – covering safety, survival, tracking, medicinal and traditional uses of plants, etc.
• Wildlife Monitoring – the use of radio tracking devices and trail cameras.
• Game Drives – both during the day and at night to observe and learn about animal behaviour.
• Conservation Service-Learning – Getting practical with some physical hands-on projects that will assist the conservation or wildlife management of the reserve.
• Authentic Cultural Experience – there is no better way to learn about a foreign culture than to live and work alongside them.
• Early Childhood Development – using recycled resources to make fun, educational toys that enable young children to learn through play.
• Community Service – Giving back to the community is one of the rewards of responsible educational travel.
• Forest, Mangrove & Estuary Hike – An educational hike through different ecosystems. • Three Lakes Ecosystem Tour – An educational boat trip covering three interconnected lakes ranging from freshwater to saltwater • Traditional Fish Traps – Visit the site of the 700-year-old practice of sustainable fish trapping
• Snorkeling – on a safe reef within the mouth of the estuary

• BS8848
• Volunteering South Africa
• Responsible Tourism

Max 100 people

All our camps are different. Our base camp is a purpose-built traditional tented safari camp  as we want to give our groups the experience of sleeping in nature and therefore we use a lot of high-quality canvas tents. Students sleep in 2-bed safari tents furnished with beds and lights. Linen is not provided; students must supply their own sleeping bags. Tents are grouped in sets of four under canvas roofs and served by shared showers and toilets. Teachers sleep in 2-bed rooms sharing showers and toilets.

In other camps students and teachers sleep in up-market tents with en-suite showers and toilets, electricity, and hot water.

We also can sleep in caves.  We do have camps that are bungalows, open air rondavals, Zulu huts: we have so much variety and all dependent on the camp and the tour we do

All our risk assessments comply with the BS8848 method of assessing risk. We do risk assessments for every activity, every accommodation venue and we are more than happy to provide these to our clients. We provide a portfolio of evidence for our whole trip.

Groups are authorized to take pictures. We also have an in-house photographer and social media specialist. So, we can document the trip for the group and all material will be handed over to the group for their use as they see fit. They are most welcome to take photos and films.

Claudia Slattery

Claudia@africaninsight.co.za

We break our costs down to a per student rate.

An example of what a school’s trip would look like (please remember all our trips are custom made)

ITINERARY

Days 1-3:      Ezemvelo Nature Reserve

Days 4-7:      Pongola Game Reserve

Days 8-9:      Authentic Cultural Experience

Days 10-12: Ismangaliso Wetland Park

Day 13:         Depart

COST PER PERSON: £1,350.00

The above price INCLUDES:

• Accommodation
• All meals
• All activities
• All transport in country
• 1 x facilitator per 10 students
• 1 x free teacher per 10 students
• Emergency Medical Evacuation
• 15% VAT

This above price EXCLUDES:

• International Flights
• Travel Insurance

Due to diverse range in our programs ranging from area to area and schools to university level each trip is different: You are looking at a minimum of £1,350.00 for a 10 day experience.

We offer 1 free teacher for every 10 students.

All our instructors are level 3 First Aid qualified.

We are happy to provide a medic team on site for the duration of the camp.

Emergency Medical Evacuation

• 24-hour security
• The camp has electricity, hot showers, flushing toilets and good drinking water on tap.

Wholesome meals, catering for all dietary requirements, are provided by the camp kitchen and served in a dining tent or around the camp fire in a traditional “boma”.

We do full catering for the duration of the camp – this includes packed lunches for traveling days and days out in the field,or hiking packs.

All our prices include 3 meals a day.

We can accommodate wheelchair accessibility.

We are open the whole year round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlEaXthy9O0

All listed on our website: https://africaninsightacademy.co.za/

PONGOLOA

African Insight Academy’s wildlife base camp is located on Pongola Game Reserve, the oldest game reserve in Africa, and is host to four of the ‘Big 5’ species (no lions). To the east rising abruptly, across the waters of Lake Jozini, is the Lebombo mountain range, the start of the Great East African Rift Valley which extends for 600km northwards until it loses itself in the Limpopo Valley towards central Africa. To the eye, the Lebombo Mountains resemble a great wall rising some 600m above the plains with an almost level summit. This summit is about 5km wide and is relatively cool and humidity-free compared with the steamy plains below that form part of one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. The reserve’s eastern boundary runs along the top of the mountain range. Although Pongola Game was the first proclaimed reserve in Africa, it has had an interesting history and was only in the late 1980s that neighbouring private landowners, with KZN Wildlife and local communities, initiated the idea of a larger cooperative conservation area that included Lake Jozini and surrounding land as one ecological unit. The shared vision was to conserve this large area; making it ecologically and economically viable and socially beneficial through the provision of high-quality tourism. Fences were dropped, cultivated lands were handed back to nature, livestock sold and programmes for the eradication of invader plant species and the removal of man-made structures were initiated. Today the reserve consists of a consolidation of privately owned land which totals 30,000 hectares including Lake Jozini. Beautiful views, glorious sunsets, and therapeutic silence add to the rich and varied authentic African wildlife experience that includes: game drives, guided walks, boat cruises, rhino walks, research projects, behind-the-scenes conservation operations, and authentic Zulu cultural experiences. Re-stocking of the reserve by private landowners began with the re-introduction of larger mammal species such as Giraffe, Blue wildebeest, White rhino, Buffalo, Spotted hyena, and Elephant.

ISIMANGALISO WETLAND PARK – KOSI BAY:

Isimangaliso Wetland Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a wonderland of blue sea, dazzling white beaches, wetlands, fresh and saltwater lakes, and unique terrestrial habitats such as Coastal Dunes and Sand Forests. It is South Africa’s third-largest protected area, spanning 280 km of coastline, from the Mozambican border to south of the Lake St. Lucia estuary, and comprises around 3,280 km2 of natural ecosystems, The Kosi Bay system is located in the northernmost section of the park and is one of the most beautiful and pristine lake systems on the African coast… and most inaccessible. The Kosi System consists of four lakes connected by meandering channels and fringed wetlands and reed channels fringed by raffia palm forests and mangrove swamps before it flowsinto the Indian Ocean via a shallow channel and estuary. The diversity of habitat lends itself to extremely high biodiversity and is also a critical breeding ground for many marine fish species and marine turtles. Our base camp is at the Kosi Bay Mouth entrance to the park. It is community-owned and managed in partnership with a professional tourism partner. From here we enjoy ideal access to the various ecosystems and activities.