Wildlife Conservation Gap Year Programs

Wildlife conservation gap year programs have always been a popular gap year activity. No matter what your destination, you can be assured that somewhere out there there is an exciting Wildlife conservation gap year programs waiting to temp you into action. With lots of choice available to gapers however, it can be tricky to pick the right project for you.

Decisions decisions… Where to go? Well for wildlife conservation gap year programs the champion is definitely Africa. Africa Gap Year wildlife options are plentiful, as you would expect from a continent blessed with so many game parks and native species. That is all well and good but then you have to decide where in Africa you wish to go, after all it is a large continent with plenty of different projects to keep you entertained in lots of different countries.

When you are sorting out your options, it pays to consider the type of wildlife conservation gap year program that you are interested in. For instance there is a very cool great white shark project in South Africa, however for some, this might be a little bit too scarey as you work very closely with great white sharks.

You may be more into staying on dry land, and trying your hand at training to be a field guide. Field guides are the mainly employed in game farms in Africa, and on various wildlife conservation projects, and are invaluable in conservation work. Field guide programmes are quite expensive, but you get a qualification at the end of the course and can work in the industry afterwards. Not a bad use of your time.

If you don´t relish the prospect of sitting exams on your wildlife conservation gap year (which you would have to so with a FGASA course, then Xtreme Gap Year has some interesting wildlife conservation gap year programs that are an excellent alternative. The Big five conservation project in South Africa for example. This is an awesome project that get you right up close and personal with Lions and Elephants in a huge wildlife reservations. They also have 2 stunning projects in Namibia, working with San bushmen to helpo conserve cheetahs, Lions, and event little cuddly Meerkats.

Then there is the really big stuff, Whale sharks. For this you need to head to Mozambique and don a wetsuit (and undertake Scuba diving training) but for the Whaleshark conservation project it is really  worth it. Whalesharks are the biggest fish in the sea, they grow up to 18 metres and anyone who has dived with one of these bad boys will tell you, they are seriously cool.

Another often overlooked way of enjoying a wildlife conservation gap year program is to complete your Divemaster course. This is a great way to learn about Marine conservation issues and work with customers educating and raising awareness about important issues.

If you are interested in any of these wildlife conservation gap year programs you can find them all on the Xtreme Gap Year Website, or contact them on info@xtreme-gap.com

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