DAKTARI Bush School

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rating

4.6

Perfect


118

Reviews


22

Years in business

The mission of DAKTARI is to educate and inspire local children to value their environment and stimulate community development.

OUR STORY: A LOVE STORY THAT BECAME DAKTARI

Ian and Michele Merrifield officially opened DAKTARI Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage in 2006 but it was a long road to make it happen. Ian and Michele met while Ian was working as a game ranger at Tshukudu Game Lodge and Michele was volunteering there as ...

Review Description

OUR STORY: A LOVE STORY THAT BECAME DAKTARI

Ian and Michele Merrifield officially opened DAKTARI Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage in 2006 but it was a long road to make it happen. Ian and Michele met while Ian was working as a game ranger at Tshukudu Game Lodge and Michele was volunteering there as well. While hand-raising injured zebras, wildebeest, and warthogs, Ian and Michele fell in love.

Michele had long dreamed about living in Africa and taking care of the wildlife. When she met Ian, she was able to realise that dream. They left Tshukudu after getting married and opened a restaurant in Hoedspruit to start raising capital for their own wildlife orphanage. While there, Ian and Michele helped raise a local boy from the village named Thabo. He had almost no knowledge or understanding of his native wildlife and environment, so Ian and Michele began using the animals in their care to teach him. Thabo's understanding of conservation was typical of children in Limpopo and the idea of adding a bush school was born.

So where did the name DAKTARI come from? Michele says, "When we were younger, there was a TV program called Daktari. It was about a family in Africa, who looked after and raised many different types of orphaned wild animals. As kids we loved it and we remember getting deeply emotionally attached to the different animals." Sounds familiar right? Michele and Ian adopted the name and so DAKTARI Bush School & Wildlife Orphanage was born.

OUR MISSION

The Mission of DAKTARI is to educate and inspire local children to value their environment and stimulate community development.

Through the combination of the bush school and the wildlife orphanage, DAKTARI has developed an immersive educational experience for local children to learn about the wildlife around them, the environment, anti-poaching, and a wide variety of other issues, right in the middle of the bush. Our work extends into their communities through Eco Clubs at the secondary schools, career guidance for the youth, and community development projects.


Contact Person

Pretty Mogofe

Spoken languages: English
  Very high response rate

DAKTARI Bush School reviews

Valeria Signer rating5.0

2024 at Environment and Wildlife Education

My time at Daktari was great. I met so many nice people, the animals are so cute and I got the impression that my work really makes a difference in the lives of the children we taught. Thank you so much for everything! ...
Luke Llabres rating5.0

2024 at Environment and Wildlife Education

I wanted to come to Daktari to spend my summer giving back to the world in a good way while learning about myself and progressing as an individual. I was able to accomplish both while here! It's super rewarding to get to teach kids about the world around them and how they can make it a better place. ..
I had the best time ever at Daktari. You will find the best people to work with all of this in a beautiful environment! You will not regret it if you decide to come here! You will meet so many people from different countries and of different backgrounds, making this experience such a unique ...
Claudia Bachmann rating5.0

2024 at Environment and Wildlife Education

Out of my comfort zone - an amazing experience! I volunteered 2 weeks at DAKTARI in South Africa (close to the Kruger National Park) - caring for orphaned animals and weekly lessons for children in 8th grade from a nearby school. Besides that I had the opportunity to do a one-day Safari, some ...
Elsa Vescovacci rating4.8

2024 at Environment and Wildlife Education

I volunteered at Daktari for 2 months, and my role was to teach kids (8 per week from the nearby villages) about the environment and the animals. It was really nice to spend time with the children and to better learn about them. Despite some difficulties they might have, it is great to see the ...
erine coutant rating4.8

2024 at Environment and Wildlife Education

Daktari was an experience where I was able to discover many things and learn new things, both in terms of animals and also in the education of children. I really liked being with the children and a little less the animal side. then I met people who were beneficial and enriching for me, I would just ...

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

  • Quality Education
  • Decent Work And Economic Growth
  • Life On Land
  • Partnerships For The Goals