OPTIONS
Vets4Africa recommends that
groups tailor their tours specifically, from options such as those listed
below, to suit interests and needs. However Vets4Africa also provides
activities covering a number of other special interests and accordingly
requests that you please note these preferences with your Enquiries. We
will promptly provide an initial itinerary and detailed activity programme
when responding to your Enquiries.
Elephant Sanctuary
The Elephant Sanctuary is located in Magaliesberg which is an hour’s drive
north west from Johannesburg. This is in a malaria-free area with
indigenous bush home to animal species such as impala, klipspringer,
baboons, porcupine, caracal, leopard and over 350 bird species.
The sanctuary adopts orphaned elephants, training them for humans to be
able to encounter these large mammals on a truly individual basis. This is
an ultimate experience and your interaction with these magnificent mammals
will deepen your wildlife understanding and change you forever.
Whilst delivering veterinary specific activities this centre is
particularly family friendly
Game Capture School, Bela-Bela
The Game Capture School is situated just outside of Bela Bela just over an
hour by vehicle north of Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa. The
school provides comprehensive hands-on courses in the safe and ethically
acceptable methods of the handling, managing and capturing of wild animals
under a variety of circumstances and conditions.
The School is located on a large private game reserve and vacation resort
which offers wonderful family styled holiday activities such as fishing,
golf, swimming pools, boating, squash, tennis, water skiing and, of
course, not forgetting traditional game drives.
Courses offered range from:
.:
wildlife immobilization, including shooting from a helicopter ·
the use of tranquillizers in mass capture·
.:
technical support during chemical capture of wildlife·
.:
animal rehabilitation and wildlife diseases, including the handling of
birds·
.:
the management of a captive lion population, including the immobilization
of lions
Whilst delivering veterinary specific activities this centre is
particularly family friendly
Hoedspruit Centre for Endangered Species
The Hoedspruit Centre for Endangered Species is situated just outside
Hoedspruit in the Limpopo Province and is one of the leading private
research and breeding facilities for endangered species in South Africa.
Endangered species include cheetah, the rare king cheetah, African wild
dog, black-footed cat, African wild cat, ground hornbill and South
Africa’s national bird, the blue crane. A vulture restaurant at the centre
attracts the white-backed vulture, hooded vulture, occasionally the
lappet-faced vulture and cape griffon as well as the marabou stork and
Bateleur eagle.
Whilst delivering veterinary specific activities this centre
is particularly family friendly
Khamai Reptile Park
The Khamai Reptile Park is situated in the Limpopo Province in a prime
location for reptile related research and conservation work. The area has
a high concentration of snakes with the associated high frequency of
contact with humans. Research conducted at the park is particularly
focused on snake venoms but also includes field studies and husbandry of
reptiles from around the world.
Khamai has a strong education programme for members of the public but is
also the only location from where the officially sanctioned South African
Game Rangers Reptile course is conducted. Accordingly it can be expected
to enjoy a richly interactive session with the reptiles and their human
specialists.
Whilst delivering veterinary specific activities this centre
is also family friendly
Kruger National Park
The Kruger National Park is world-renowned and offers a wildlife
experience that ranks with the best in Africa. Established in 1898 to
protect the wildlife of the South African Lowveld, this park of nearly
2,000,000ha is unrivalled in the diversity of its life forms and is a
world leader in advanced environmental management techniques and policies.
Evidence of mankind’s existence in this Lowveld environment over many
centuries, from bushman rock paintings to majestic archaeological sites
like Masorini and Thulamela, is very evident here. These treasures
represent the cultures, persons and events that played a role in the
history of the park and are conserved along with it’s natural assets.Truly
the flagship of the South African National Parks, Kruger National Park is
home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34
amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals.
A truly family experience
Londolozi Private Game Reserve
The Londolozi Private Game Reserve is one of the most celebrated private
game reserves in the world. Over the years it has evolved into a renowned
eco-tourism destination in the heart of the celebrated Sabi Sand Game
Reserve in South
Africa which shares a boundary with the equally world
famous Kruger National Park.
Londolozi is synonymous with, and offers unprecedented viewing of,
leopards. It’s skilled rangers and trackers have shared and contributed to
international research on these elusive cats. Numerous documentaries, some
of which took years to complete, have been filmed by National Geographic
and the Discovery Animal Channel here. It is almost an accepted norm to
view the Big 5 in a single day!
With it’s close relationship with Londolozi Vets4Africa is in the unique
position of being able to deliver a veterinary specific programme here
Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre
The Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is located near Hoedspruit
in the Limpopo province. It nestles on the slopes of the 1,944m high
Mariepskop, one of the highest peaks of the Drakensberg range, affording
it breathtaking views
of towering mountains and vertical cliffs on the one
side and the Lowveld savanna rolling towards Kruger National Park on the
other.
The centre contributes to the conservation of endangered species and the
rehabilitation of injured and poisoned wildlife. It also facilitates a
number of successful breeding programs. Wherever possible it’s
rehabilitated birds and animals are returned to the wild but for those not
so fortunate, due to the nature and extent of their injuries, they are
used for education purposes becoming in essence the ‘ambassadors’ of their
species.
The management and staff here are a group of dedicated conservationists
thoroughly committed to the preservation of wildlife.
Whilst delivering veterinary specific activities this centre is
particularly family friendly
Sandton SPCA
This SPCA facility serves as a municipal pound for the city of Sandton
which is fast becoming a new commercial centre just north of Johannesburg.
Typically it houses stray animals, normally dogs and cats but also
including horses, cattle, donkeys, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese.
A dipping facility to control ticks and fleas is also available.
The veterinary clinic located here treats the animals in the pound as well
as those brought in from Alexandra and other nearby disadvantaged areas.
Much in evidence in these areas is the thrive/survive phenomenon of
domesticated animals and livestock in township conditions.
There is also a corps of inspectors operating from here, who responding to
reports of animal abuse are, for the most part, more focused on educating
owners rather than prosecuting them.
This is a veterinary specific activity
Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria
The original Faculty, founded by Sir Arnold Theiler in 1920, in
Onderstepoort, north of Pretoria, was the oldest of it’s kind in Africa.
It’s graduates enjoy reciprocity with the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons in Great Britain together with Massey University in New Zealand.
The physical facilities at Onderstepoort were renewed or completely
revamped between 1986 and 1996. The new Faculty of Veterinary Science of
the University of Pretoria is one of 27 Veterinary faculties in Africa
with a campus which compares
most favorably with the best in the world.
The Faculty has five academic departments, an Equine Research Centre and
Wildlife Unit. The Veterinary Academic Hospital provides state of the art
facilities for the clinical departments and is the focus of the Faculty
practice rendering a service to the immediate community as well as
providing a national referral service. A multipurpose research facility
caters for the needs of the Faculty and is also available for contract
research conducted by outside agencies or companies.
Veterinary specific
Cape Town, Western Cape
Cape Town is fondly referred to locally as The Mother City and is
considered one of the world’s gateway cities. Depending on your
preferences Vets4Africa will deliver choices to suit your taste and
budget. For information sake Cape Town’s Top 5 attractions are:
1. Table Mountain and it’s Cable Car. The ride up Table Mountain via it’s
cable car is, due to high winds or low cloud cover, occasionally
unavailable. However, don’t delay when you do get the opportunity because
the weather is always changeable in these southern latitudes and you will
never forget the breathtaking view of the Cape from the top of this
spectacular mountain. If you feel more energetic than others, a hike to
the top is also a wonderful means to get there!
2. Robben Island. This was the home of our most illustrious personage,
Nelson Mandela, for almost 27 years. Robben Island is a must for those who
are historically and politically inclined or who wish to enjoy a ferry
ride across the cold Atlantic Ocean offering a wonderful view of the rocky
cliffs of Cape Town.
3. Cape Wine routes. Constantia, Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschhoek are
the names of just a few of our most spectacular wine regions. Taste to
your content and feast your eyes on endless valleys all busting forth with
vineyards nestling between some of the oldest mountain ranges in the
world.
4. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Regarded as one of the most
comprehensive and glorious botanical gardens in the world. Take a ride in
a covered golf cart around the gardens and have an array of impressive
trees and plants pointed out to you and explained in terms of ancient
medicinal uses.
5. Cape Point. Here on the southern tip of Africa, two great oceans, the
Indian and the Atlantic meet. An impressive outing including stopping off
at any one of the still working fishing harbours for a freshly caught meal
of fish.
