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Somkhanda Game Reserve
This expedition begins in Somkhanda Game Reserve, a community owned Big 5 game in the Zululand district of KwaZulu Natal. Groups at Somkhanda will spend part of their time in the bush completing mammal distribution surveys from vehicles using DISTANCE sampling and emptying camera traps. Foot based surveys with armed safety officers are completed to assess levels of vegetation browsing and grazing from big herbivores to determine the carrying capacity of the reserve. The bird communities are also being monitored from foot-based point count surveys. The other part of the week is spent back in the camp learning about African wildlife conservation and management and the safety procedures needed to operate in wildlife reserve with large game species. In addition, they will be learning how to track animals, identify some of the main tree, bird and mammal species encountered and helping with analysis of camera trap footage. Thus, some of the students will spend the morning in camp with briefings and lectures followed by the afternoon in the bush, whilst the rest will spend the morning in the bush and the afternoon on briefings and lectures, alternating each day. The schedule is full but there is time for the students, either individually or in small groups, to prepare a short presentation based around information they have learnt across the week and these presentations will be given on the Thursday evening.
The research activities in both reserves include helping with the following:
Operation Wallacea and our partners, Wildlife and Ecological Investments (WEI), coordinate large-scale research programmes to provide an empirical backbone for key conservation projects in South Africa. Our main aim is to assist conservation managers with pressing large-scale issues that they do not necessarily have the resources to address themselves. The South Africa research programme covers a series of reserves across the country, each using slightly different management strategies to conserve wildlife in their reserves. Big game areas in South Africa are fenced to avoid the spread of disease and conflicts between communities and dangerous animals. However, in reserves surrounded by densely populated areas such as Somkhanda Game Reserve, human-wildlife conflict can be a major challenge. Here, our research teams are looking at the extent of this conflict with a special focus on large mammal species. Large mammal distributions are monitored regularly through game transects, and nocturnal mammal distributions are assessed using a matrix of camera traps set up throughout the reserve. By combining this information with our knowledge of areas of dense human activity, we can begin to understand how human disturbance can alter large mammal movement and behaviour.
The restriction of natural movement caused by fences can also lead to locally dense mammal populations with high levels of vegetation impact. Elephants, for example, are ecosystem engineers and their impact can alter vegetation structure and composition. By directly monitoring feeding impact on vegetation and its knock-on effects to other taxa, such as birds, our teams can assist the reserve managers to better understand how elephants can affect long-term change in the ecosystem.
The costs of a school group expedition can be highly variable. There is a standard fee paid to Opwall for all expeditions but the location you are flying from, the size of your group, and how you wish to pay all impact the overall cost.
You can choose to book the expedition as a package (which includes your international flights) or you can organise your travel yourself and just pay us for the expedition related elements.
If you are booking your expedition as a package, you also have the option of being invoiced as a group, or on an individual basis.
Climate
Our South African savannah ecology taster expeditions run in March, which is the transition from summer to autumn in South Africa. While daytime temperatures can reach a comfortable 20-25°C, nights are significantly cooler, often dropping below 10°C. Rainfall is still a possibility, and occasional strong winds can make conditions feel colder than expected. Warm layers and waterproof clothing are essential for staying comfortable in the field.
Fitness level required
Moderate. The wilderness training activities can involve long hikes as the reserve does not have dangerous game. However, the research activities take place in or close to the game-viewer vehicles for safety.
Creature comforts
You will be staying in large safari-style tents with bunk beds. Hot running showers and flushing toilets are provided in a separate block, with large, structured tents used for the kitchen and communal areas. There is very little phone signal in Somkhanda, and the site does not have access to wifi.
Find out more about students can fundraise, as a group or individually
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