brilliant! has a special relationship with South Africa, a connection which comes from a love and extensive knowledge of the country. Our concept of volunteer travel is a journey of discovery and solidarity.

Volunteering with brilliant! means security and personal growth, immediate benefits to the environment and society, real support during your experience, all in a truly unique African context. We carefully select and work only with trusted, established volunteer organisations which have a proven track record for safety and excellent service.

Through Community Development Volunteering you will make a real contribution to the wellbeing and education of South African children. On other projects, you will help ensure the protection, preservation and rehabilitation of wild animals. You have a choice of diverse environments, namely National Parks in the savannah, the ocean, big cities and rural areas, working in diverse fields such as medicine, education and social work, game ranging, botany.

brilliant! volunteer journeys are organised by South African experts based in Milan.

Based on your needs, our experience will guide you in selecting the right accommodation, transport and exciting activity options for your experience. Contact us at any time before your departure, and even during your stay to ensure peace of mind, to get the most out of your adventure.

Community Development

Here you will work mainly with children in schools, but there are also options for assisting at orphanages, or in clinics for medical students. At schools you may work on a school feeding programme, or as a teacher's assistant.

You will get the chance to pass your skills on to kids for example by helping to coach the football team, giving surfing lessons (after learning yourself first!) or teaching children how to use computers. At some schools contribute in even more ‘hands on’ ways, like helping to renovate the school buildings or working with teachers and kids in the school vegetable garden.

Surfing with Kids

Situated in Mossed Bay, Western Cape, this programme teaches surfing to underprivileged youth from a rural area. Surfing keeps them out of trouble and away from drugs by giving them support and a chance to develop. Volunteers learn to surf and at the same time teach kids to surf; assist with beach games, yoga, and swimming lessons and help with homework. You will stay in comfortable and clean beachfront flats very close to Diaz Beach.

Priced from €740
for 2 weeks.
Including all airport transfers, accommodation, meals, surf lessons and use of surfing equipment.

African Angels Independent School Project

Located in the rural Eastern Cape small town of Cintsa, on a 5,5 mile long white sandy beach. This Fair Trade Tourism accredited project is for anyone who loves small children (6 - 9 years) and wants to work in an educational environment with disadvantaged children. You’ll be supporting teachers in the classroom through music, dance, art, song, structured play with the children, and assisting with daily running of the school. Volunteers stay in shared accommodation in a serviced and catered house overlooking Chintsa Beach.

Priced from €890 for 2 weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation and meals.

Daktari Bush School and Wildlife Orphanage

Located near Kruger National Park. Daktari’s volunteering program is designed to give volunteers the opportunity to teach local children, care for injured or abandoned wildlife, and get fully immersed in the South African savannah. You will spend your day teaching children and helping our staff care for the animals around camp. This can be anything from feeding an animal with a bottle to cleaning their enclosures or renovating their homes. Daktari is set in a beautiful nature reserve with granite hills and the most stunning views. Leopard, Hyena, Impala, Kudu, Wildebeest, Zebra, and Giraffe roam freely within our grounds.

Priced from €760 for 2 weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation, meals and laundry.

Marine Conservation

Here you will work with marine animals: Dolphins, Penguins, Sharks, Turtles, Whales, Seals and others.

With Whales and Dolphins, for example, you will help to protect their habitat by monitoring and ensuring that over-fishing doesn’t occur. African Penguins are a threatened species, therefore work by volunteers in caring for and feeding injured Penguins is essential before they are returned to the ocean.

Volunteering with Great White Sharks involves assisting on shark cage diving boat trips, you will go on dives and come face to face with these creatures yourself!

International Marine Volunteers

This Fair Trade Tourism approved project is based in Gansbaai, outside Cape Town and gives you the chance to come into contact with the Marine Big 5 (Whales, Sharks, Seals, Dolphins and Penguins). You will work with our marine biologists, learning about shark research and marine conservation. Play your part in important conservation and local community projects, also working on our whale watching boat, and going shark cage diving yourself!

Priced from €1560 for 2 weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation and meals.

Indian Ocean Reef Conservation

Situated within the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, South Africa’s first World Heritage Site, stretching along the warm Indian Ocean from South Africa to Mozambique. You’ll assist with underwater surveys and data collection on the Turtle and Ray populations living on the reefs, as well as contributing to global Whale Shark research through data collection and photographic identification of Sharks.

You will also get the chance to work on surveys of the local Leatherback Turtle population.

Priced from €1255 for two weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation and meals.

Orca Foundation

People of all ages and with different backgrounds come from all over the world to learn while helping us sustain marine and coastal resources. Our sea and land projects are both around Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape. Activities include Whale and Dolphin watching, animal movement studies, hikes and walks, marine debris clean-ups, planting indigenous trees and removing alien species, river health assessments, and education of preschool children. ORCA house will be your temporary home, minutes away from the beach and estuary. The relaxed atmosphere of ORCA house offers an amazing South African experience, still feeling like home with tons of friendly faces.

Priced from €950 for 2 weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation and meals.

Wildlife Conservation

These projects involve working with wild animals in the savannah, The Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhinoceros) and many others. Your work will contribute towards, among other aspects, the protection of endangered species from poaching and disease.

You will track the movements of animals using darting alongside microchip and satellite technology, which you will learn how to operate. At certain camps your work will also involve feeding and caring for orphaned or injured animals before they are ready to return to the wild.

African Big 5 & Wildlife Conservation

Based in the world famous Kruger Park area, a wildlife hotspot. Monitor and study the African Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhinoceros). Assist in protecting endangered and at risk species. Work on key research work such as Lion, Elephant, Rhino and Leopard ID kits. Get hands on with conservation tasks such as game counts, alien plant removal and snare sweeping. Sleep, play and work in the African bush with a multitude of wildlife and natural beauty surrounding you.

Priced from €1560 for 2 weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation and meals

Namibia Wildlife Conservation

situated on a 3,200 hectare reserve near Windhoek, provides a safe haven for orphaned and injured African wildlife, a safe refuge for orphaned and injured animals including Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Wild Dogs, Caracals, Baboons and Meerkats.

We strongly believe that wildlife belongs in the wild, and direct all efforts towards long-term rehabilitation. Apart from being directly involved with conservation, you’ll have the chance to help at the Clever Cubs School & assist with the teaching of pre-school San children, while learning about ancient San traditions and culture.

Priced from €1270 for 2 weeks. Including all airport transfers, accommodation and meals.

Balule Conservation Project

The project is based in Greater Kruger National Park, in a Big 5 (Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhinoceros) reserve. You will get involved in a variety of conservation activities including predator research, vegetation studies, alien vegetation removal, anti-poaching (snare removal) and much more. Your base is Indlovu Research Camp, which has basic but functional accommodation in an area where animals are free to roam, giving you a truly unique and untouched experience. Money paid by volunteers, research students and interns all goes towards the conservation efforts and running the camp, vehicles and other resources.

Volunteer South Africa

Community Development