SOUTH AFRICA – All Out Africa

Dune Lodge

BrandBarn — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:10:04 +0000

DUNE LODGE

Relax with our award winning accommodation!

ACCOMMODATION

Dune Lodge has a truly stunning view over Hout Bay beach and local shops, markets, restaurants and amenities are all within walking distance.

Cape Town centre is a short bus ride away, with stops outside the backpackers. You will be accommodated in shared dorms with communal bathrooms with bed linen and pillows.

There are communal living spaces, DSTV, kitchen and terrace for you to use, and staff will help you organise trips and excursions to local sights.

Hout Bay is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometers south of the Central Business District of Cape Town. It is bordered by Table Mountain and a white sand beach.

Hout Bay has one of the busiest fishing harbours in the Western Cape with an established fishing industry, and great fish restaurants.

MEALS

Volunteers, interns and students receive 3 meals a day when joining an All Out Africa experience. These meals are provided at Hout Bay Backpackers and are eaten together on the communal decking area in the summer or in the dining room during winter.

Breakfast is self-service from a selection of items including cereals, bread, fruit, yogurt, eggs and spreads. Volunteers are responsible for preparing and cleaning up after their own lunch and dinner. Groceries are supplied and volunteers can add their requests to the weekly shopping list.

Vegetarians and most food allergies can be catered for.

In order to fully support you during your experience, please advise us at time of booking if you have any food allergies or dietary requirements.

If your preferences/requirements are quite restrictive, we may require you to pay an additional fee to allow us to cater for you.

LOCATION

Hout Bay is situated in a valley on the Atlantic seaboard of the Cape Peninsula, twenty kilometres south of the Central Business District of Cape Town.

It is bordered by Table Mountain and a white sand beach. Hout Bay has one of the busiest fishing harbours in the Western Cape with an established fish industry, and great fish restaurants.

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All Out Africa goes to Royal Jozini

All Out Afica — Thu, 21 Apr 2022 15:10:56 +0000

The beautiful kingdom of Eswatini has some exciting news for our Interns! We have secured a new conservation project placement at Royal Jozini which is nestled between the magnificent Lubombo Mountains and spectacular Lake Jozini in the southeast of eSwatini (Eswatini), a low-risk Malaria area just 9kms from the South African border.

Breathtaking views of the Jozini Lake

The Royal Jozini’s vegetation is predominantly mixed acacia bushveld; fever-tree riverine forest, Marula forest, open savannah plains, craggy mountain escarpment and the seasonal flood plains on the shore of the lake which offers wonderful game viewing.

Interns on a game drive learning to identify various wildlife at Royal Jozini

The diverse topography from the top of the Lebombo mountains to the lake results in a wide variety of habitats and ecosystems that support an abundance of biodiversity, including 450 species of birds and larger wildlife, including elephant, buffalo, leopard, rhino, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, waterbuck, bushbuck, kudu, jackal, hyena, crocodile and hippo.

Herd of elephants at Royal Jozini

What activities will the intern be involved in?

Interns will experience hands-on field research relevant to the conservation of the savannah ecosystem of Eswatini within a larger trans-frontier conservation area. Participants in this project may assist with a range of activities depending on the time of year. The project is focused on ecological research and hands-on conservation, in the private Royal Jozini game reserve. Activities will include biodiversity surveys concentrating on rodents, ungulates, predators, birds and vegetation as part of a long-term savannah monitoring program. This will involve field walks and drives into the bush to set up camera traps or Sherman live traps and other harmless biodiversity surveying techniques and then revisiting these and recording information on the animals and plants observed.

Interns having a bonfire night

Hands-on conservation tasks may include fence patrols and maintenance, erosion control, alien invasive plant removal and community outreach.

Interns removing alien invasive plants at Royal Jozini

Other activities may include threatened species surveys and computer data entry and assisting with camp chores. Participants will learn wildlife field survey techniques, learn to identify various wildlife, gain conservation experience and will have the opportunity to observe and discuss a range of current issues facing conservation in Africa.

Accommodation and meals

Participants will be living on-site in a private camp on the reserve, accommodation will be in 2-man tents, fitted with mattresses and pillows. Three meals a day will also be provided, some on a self serve basis and others cooked for them.

2-man tent, fitted with mattresses and pillows at Royal Jozini

If this looks like an internship that you would like to be a part of, email us at bookings@alloutafrica.com with a little bit more about you along with your CV. We would love to meet you and get started!

Please note that this internship is a PAID experience, in which participants pay a fee to participate. The fee includes the cost of accommodation, 3 meals a day and All Out Africa Staff support from qualified personnel.

Safaris in Kruger National Park from Eswatini (Eswatini)

All Out Afica — Thu, 04 Mar 2021 11:09:34 +0000

Our safaris in Kruger National Park from Eswatini (Eswatini) have not been possible since the start of Covid due to closed borders and other travel restrictions. With the daily infection rate currently dropping in both South Africa and Eswatini (Eswatini), we will likely be able to start running Kruger Safaris from Eswatini (Eswatini) again.

Kruger National Park showing a herd of elephants.

Over the lock-down periods, we have had a lot of interest in our Kruger Safaris from people living in Eswatini (Eswatini) who have never been to Kruger before. As soon as the borders open up again to leisure travel we are going to be offering special rates to Eswatini (Eswatini) residents who would like to go and experience a 2 – 5 day Kruger safari.

Kruger National Park showing two rhinos

Guests will be able to choose from a low-cost camping safari or a mid-range bungalow safari. All trips will be run in our open safari vehicles with our qualified and experienced wildlife safari guides, offering a true, authentic safari experience. Kruger is the best place in the whole of Africa to spot the famous Big 5 (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and buffalo) but there is also so much more to see.

Game drive in Kruger National Park.

All the camps are safe and comfortable with shops, restaurants, swimming pools and excellent ablution facilities.

We offer private safaris for closed family units which means you can have the safari vehicles and your accommodation all to yourself, offering extra Covid safety and true exclusivity.

Game drive by the dam

If you would like to explore Kruger please send us an email tours@alloutafrica.com and we’ll get in touch to design the ultimate tailor-made Kruger experience for you and your group.

Meet the volunteers-Juliette Hulshof

All Out Afica — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 12:21:30 +0000

Where are you from?

Hi! I am Juliette Hulshof, from the Netherlands.

What project did you sign up for?

I signed up for the Kruger to Coast project. I participated for 6 weeks and in the mornings I helped the youngest kids with sports. We danced, we sang and we played a lot!! We did some competitions to challenge the kids. In the afternoon I helped older children with their homework. English, reading, maths, science and chemistry. when we were done with that, there was time for games with the other children.

What do you do for a living?

I have a gap year and I work at a restaurant. I finished high school and I wanted to see more of this beautiful world! I will start with the rest of my school career in September 2020.

What does volunteering mean to you?

It means a lot, it makes me so happy that I can help people. The smiles on their faces, it’s beautiful! Happy to help making other people happy too!

Reason for choosing All Out Africa?

I actually signed up via Activity International, a Dutch company, so I didn’t really choose for All Out Africa. That doesn’t mean I am not happy that my trip was organized by AOA. Everyone was so nice and lovely!!

Your experience as a volunteer, did it had any positive impact in your life?

Yes it had! I am more grateful for the things I have in life. Yes, you can be happy, even if you don’t have everything you want. I still think a lot about my trip and it makes me smile every single time. The pictures, the memories, everything!I don’t regret a moment of my experience!

Want to know more about our SPORTS DEVELOPMENT email bookings@alloutafrica.com

Planning your finances for your trip to Eswatini and beyond

All Out Afica — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 11:46:29 +0000

Not sure what to do about your finances when you travel to Eswatini and beyond? Here are some tips from our Team that will help with your planning:

Cash and foreign currency

Emalangeni is the local currency but South African Rand (ZAR) is widely accepted. It’s a closed currency so you cannot purchase it before you arrive
We strongly recommend arriving with ZAR especially for your first few days
Emalangeni cannot be used outside of Eswatini so make sure you spend / change your money before departing
Changing foreign currency is possible for GBP, USD and Euros but it can be difficult for other currencies. The process is time consuming and they don’t change some currencies (such as New Zealand Dollar).
Change your money before you travel or ensure that you have an ATM card to withdraw cash as needed during your trip.
Changing money at airports is normally at a lower rate than currency exchange centres and travel shops (Heathrow has shocking rates!). Buy your currency in advance to get the best rates.
If you are obtaining a visa for onward travel to Mozambique whilst in country you will need to pay in cash. ZAR is the best way to pay but Euros and USD are accepted.
If you are planning a trip to Mozambique is also has a closed currency so you cannot purchase Meticals before you arrive. ZAR is accepted in many places. However, the banking system is Mozambique is unreliable so card payments are not always possible. To assist with this we can assist with changing ZAR into Meticals on our trips to Tofo, if you need it.

Credit and debit cards

There are ATMs and banks for you to withdraw cash, especially in shopping centres.

Visa debit cards can be used in most ATMs.
Many supermarkets, shops, hotels and restaurants accept card payments, so as long as your overseas bank has been advised that you are travelling you should be fine.
Credit cards can be used but American Express is not accepted.

Online transactions

An OTP (One Time Pin) is increasingly necessary to validate online purchases, and with many visitors wanting to secure train, coach, plane tickets as well as bookings for accommodation it is important to be able to access your account linked to a SIM card. SIM cards rarely roam from overseas making it impossible to receive an SMS (Wi-Fi and data can be purchased for online banking, but these don’t help with SMS). Contact your bank(s) in advance of travel to set up an email notification for your OTP rather than SMS to avoid this issue.

Keep your money safe

Whatever you plan to do with regards to finance it is important to keep your cards and cash safe when you travel. A few tips are:

Bring what you need in cash
When you are in accommodation safely store the cards and cash that you don’t need. Many have safety deposit boxes that you can use.
Don’t take out too much money to local markets, on nights out etc.
Keep your purse, wallet or bag close to you.
Bring a credit card for emergency situations

Start planning now to ease your travels.