Africa is one of the most popular destinations for gap year travelers, especially those interested in volunteer work and meaningful travel experiences. While the traditional backpacking routes through Asia and Australasia are well known, many African countries offer safe and accessible travel opportunities in stunning landscapes such as rainforests, savannahs, and deserts. Engaging in volunteering abroad, like football coaching in Ghana, teaching in South Africa, or participating in elephant conservation projects in Zimbabwe, allows you to make a real difference in local communities and contribute to community development projects across Africa.
Although English is widely spoken in many parts of Africa, it is only the fifth most common language, with Zulu, Afrikaans, and other indigenous languages like Swahili being more prevalent. However, don’t let this deter you. Many people speak English, making it easy for gap year students to communicate and settle into their host communities during their volunteer abroad programmes.
Immerse yourself in the vibrant cultures that make Africa truly unique. Whether exploring bustling markets, historic landmarks, or participating in local festivals, you will gain a deeper understanding of this incredible continent. Our gap year programmes in Africa focus on creating authentic cultural exchange experiences, helping you forge meaningful connections with local people and communities. These cultural experiences will leave a lasting impact on both you and the communities you serve, enriching your perspective beyond typical tourist activities.
Duration: 2-12 Weeks
On the Marine Research & Whale Shark Conservation Project, you will help carry out the Marine Research and monitoring for the project under the guidance of our project scientists. You can expect an excellent diving, snorkeling and beach experience whilst gaining first hand Marine Research skills!
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Duration: 2 weeks to 6 months
Our gap year programs in Africa can be tailored to your needs and dreams. Combine safari adventures with meaningful volunteer projects and book everything you need in one place - from flights to travel insurance and all of your activities. You choose where you want to go and what you want to do. More Details..
KILROY
Go Make A Difference in Tanzania (Go MAD) is a small independent Christian charity headed up by experienced leaders, some of whom have led groups to Tanzania for 23 years. We offer people the chance to visit Tanzania and get involved in community development projects. More Details..
Work with one of Africa’s most iconic tribes, the Maasai, near Africa's highest mountain - Mount Kilimanjaro. Your support will give members of the tribe who have not had access to education as a child a second chance at education in adulthood, and empower them to earn an income for their family. More Details..
Duration: 3 - 12 Weeks
Volunteer to help care for orphaned and vulnerable children in Swaziland or South Africa. Assist with pre-school education and facilitating the All Out Africa syllabus of activities, provide meals, helping to guide the children, while giving them care and adult support. More Details..
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Make a real difference with Oyster’s global network of charities and organizations! Take part in an adventure to volunteer with exotic wildlife and support environmental conservation in breath-taking locations. Choose your own adventure length, from one thrilling week to an exhilarating 12 months. More Details.. Oyster Worldwide
Duration: 4-12 Weeks
Not only will you have the amazing opportunity to see some of Africas most incredible wildlife, snorkel with Whale Sharks and paddle to a tropical palm fringed islands but you will also have the opportunity to participate in an important community development projects. Experience the best of SA! More Details..
Combine literacy teaching in a rural African school with the excitement of living deep in the bush, getting involved in the running of a 150,000 acre privately owned wildlife conservancy. Experience daily life living in a Big 5 game reserve and make a real difference to children in the local school. More Details..
PMGY offer some of the most amazing medical volunteer projects in gorgeous, exotic locations abroad from 2-weeks to 6-months. More Details.. Plan My Gap Year
To learn a new language, we feel that the best way is to completely immerse yourself within the culture of the country who's language you are learning. With ESL you will go straight into a unique opportunity to learn new languages while on a long-term learning, cultural adventure. More Details..
Help preserve rare wildlife in one of Zimbabwe's most wild and rugged areas. This project is a great opportunity to have fantastic animal sitings in a stunning setting and get experience of African conservation. Get involved with rhino and wild dog tracking, wildlife monitoring, game park management More Details..
As a teaching volunteer in Cape Town, you will educate, support and empower children who come from disadvantaged township communities. This is an exceptional opportunity to visit one of the most beautiful cities in the world, while also contributing to the future of it's poorest citizens. More Details..
A truly unique opportunity to get up close and personal with the endangered Black Rhino and African Elephant. Set in an idyllic 10,000 acre privately owned wildlife conservancy, this project has a specific focus on black rhino conservation and breeding, elephant interaction and game park management. More Details..
Duration: 3 - 12 weeks
Volunteer with Blue Ventures in our remote research and expedition camp in Madagascar and assist our international team of marine biologists, field scientists and sociologists surveying one of the most spectacular ecosystems of the Indian Ocean. Learn to SCUBA dive and collect vital research data. More Details..
Duration: 3 - 12 Weeks
Volunteer to help care for underprivileged children in Cape Town, South Africa. This project aims to provide support to some of the preschool centers that have opened in townships to assist these children. More Details..
PMGY offer some of the most amazing wildlife conservation volunteer projects in gorgeous, exotic locations abroad from 1-week to 6-months. More Details.. Plan My Gap Year
This laid-back country plays host to an unparalleled blend of clear blue waters, lush forests and abundant wildlife. Work at a world-renowned wildlife sanctuary or in the heart of a 2,000 hectare private game reserve; assist with sustainable fishing projects and help with conservation lessons. More Details..
Get involved in the daily care and rehabilitation of orphaned and abandoned animals and assist with animal release projects. We select our wildlife sanctuary programmes very carefully and only work with responsible projects who meet our strict hands-off criteria and do not breed captive lions. More Details..
As a medical volunteer in a rural Zulu area of South Africa, you will gain real insight into the daily struggles of those living in poverty. Through clinic work, home-based care initiatives and HIV education, you will make a positive difference in the lives of those less fortunate. More Details..
Volunteer on a wildlife conservation project in Zimbabwe and help secure the future of endangered species in the country. From vast, wild national parks to small private game parks, volunteers will experience some of Africa's best game viewing as they contribute to responsible conservation projects. More Details..
Duration: 1 week to 3 months
Assist our staff in caring for around 60 mischievous sanctuary primates and learn about their behavior
More Details.. International Primate Rescue
The focus of this project is to care for and support abandoned and orphaned children in emergency care homes and after-school care facilities in Cape Town. Volunteers get to live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, all the while assisting with early childhood development. More Details..
Duration: 2 weeks to 12 weeks
Help with various community aid projects in the settlements of Cape Town! More Details.. Go Eco
Join a world-class research team in one of Africa’s most beautiful coastal locations. Southern Mozambique is one of the best diving locations in the world, home to large populations of whale sharks, manta rays and turtles, and is an important refuge for threatened marine species like the dugong. More Details..
Join us near the 'Adventure Capital' of Africa, Victoria Falls, and offer much-needed teaching assistance at under-staffed Zambian schools. This is an opportunity to give individual attention to children who really need it, assist local teachers, and to gain some valuable teaching abroad experience. More Details..
Help us protect Zanzibar's wild dolphin population by researching the impact that tourism is having on these amazing animals. You will get up-close encounters while learning how to swim ethically with dolphins, all the while contributing to marine conservation on this stunning tropical island. More Details..
Dambari Wildlife Trust carries out research and conservation work on three main groups - small African antelopes, carnivores - mainly cheetah - and rhino. In addition, you will help look after the antelope, help with conservation education projects and help with wild rhino operations. More Details..
Duration: 2 weeks to 12 weeks
Volunteer on a top-rated, family-owned wildlife rehabilitation and care center in Zimbabwe! Animals are brought into this sanctuary if they are orphaned or injured. Animals are released whenever possible. More Details.. Go Eco
PMGY offer some of the most amazing childcare volunteer projects in gorgeous, exotic locations abroad from 1-week to 6-months. More Details.. Plan My Gap Year
PMGY offer some of the most amazing teaching volunteer projects in gorgeous, exotic locations abroad from 1-week to 6-months. More Details.. Plan My Gap Year
As a volunteer on this rural school literacy programme you will provide much-needed assistance to schools in Victoria Falls. Using literacy packs, you will help teachers in the classroom plus introduce children to their wildlife heritage and give them the skills they need to meet life's challenges. More Details..
Duration: 1 week to 24 Weeks
You Volunteer with different Volunteer projects around Uganda, These include Teaching, Childcare, Women Empowerment, Special Needs Care, HIV/ AIDS Support, Sports Education. Street and Slum Children Support around Uganda.
More Details.. Volunteers 2 Uganda
PMGY offer some of the most amazing Under 18 volunteer projects in gorgeous, exotic locations abroad from 1-week to 6-months. More Details.. Plan My Gap Year
Duration: 2 - 12 weeks
Blue Ventures offers award-winning marine conservation expeditions to Madagascar, Belize and Timor-Leste. Join us and learn to dive on stunning reefs, identify fish and corals and contribute to our vital marine research, working alongside our team of experienced marine scientists. More Details..
Duration: 5 – 12 weeks
Coaching your favourite sport is a fantastic way to engage with the local children in the school you visit on this project. The kids are eager to learn and despite any challenges, such as lack of football goals or netball posts, you will work together and everyone benefits and learns. More Details.. Oyster Worldwide
Duration: 2 weeks to 12 weeks
Gain experience providing care for wildlife species at a rehabilitation center in South Africa! Volunteers will provide care for various animals, including hand-rearing orphaned animals when necessary. This center aims to rehabilitate & release all animals, but there are some who cannot be released. More Details.. Go Eco
Plan My Gap Year is an award-winning volunteer travel organisation, working across 17 countries in Africa, Asia & South America. PMGY provide a safe, structured and social experience with opportunities available from 1-36 weeks. More Details.. Plan My Gap Year
Join one of our incredible wildlife volunteer projects in Namibia, home to some of the world's grandest national parks and vast wilderness areas. It has the largest free-roaming population of black rhinos and cheetahs in the world and expanding populations of elephants and lions. More Details..
Duration: 1 – 12 weeks
Volunteering on a stunning game reserve, you'll have the chance to see the Big 5 in their natural habitat - elephants, lions, rhinos, buffalo and leopards. Participating in this project, you will contribute to the protection of these beautiful animals and their unique habitat. More Details.. Oyster Worldwide
Duration: 2 weeks to 12 weeks
Volunteer at a widely-accredited wildlife ranch in South Africa! This ranch is home to over 90 species of endangered animals. Volunteers will get up-close with various animals. Visitors come to the ranch to learn about these animals and how important their conservation More Details.. Go Eco
Our TEFL internships allow you to combine valuable teaching experience with an amazing adventure in a beautiful new country.
Before you head off, you'll be fully TEFL trained and when you arrive, you'll get all the support you need from our in-country teams. More Details.. Love TEFL
Combine the adventure of a horse safari with hands-on wildlife conservation and game park management. Help with vital anti-poaching patrols, animal monitoring, wildlife reintroduction and game counts, all on horseback, and assist with hands-on black rhino and elephant conservation projects. More Details..
The demand for English teachers around the world is astronomical, take China, where there are 350 million people learning the language at any given time. Combine teaching and TEFL courses or volunteer in sports or childcare projects to create a rewarding adventure and experience! More Details.. Oyster Worldwide
Popular African Destinations:
South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe
Quick Africa Facts:
Population - Over a billion
Languages - more than 2 thousand!
Visa Information:
Check Foreign Office travel advice for the latest Visa information for Africa!
This is a land of surprises. The African Continent stretches from the edge of Europe all the way donw to where the next landfall to the south is Antarctica. This explains why South Africa is home to a type of penguin, as well as the more expected big game animals such as elephants, lions and hippos.
Due to the sheer size of the continent, Africa can provide a diverse range of gap year opportunities. Hosting some of the worlds best safari wildlife, Africa can give you the chance to spend your time as a conservation volunteer working on any number of conservation and management projects that help protect the native wildlife and ecosystems. This could involve anything from tracking elephants, hand rearing orphaned chimpanzees or wildlife film making and photography, volunteers are always needed to work alongside and support wildlife rangers and conservationists.
It's not all about the animals though, Africa is home to some of the worlds most impoverished communities that need your help. Community Development programmes take place throughout Africa, aimed at improving the lives of the local inhabitants by providing the care and opportunities they may otherwise not get. These African gap year programmes range from sports coaching, childcare and orphanage work, teaching, medical care and community regeneration, all of which are vitally important in providing an alternative to poverty and a lack of basic amenities and human rights.
For the more adventurous traveller, why not take advantage of Africa's great wilderness and unspoilt landscapes by joining an expedition through the desert on a quad bike (or a camel), bungee jumping, white water rafting, parachuting, or simply enjoying the miles of deserted beaches.
