This 4-week course will take place in northeastern South Africa and northern Botswana. The first part will focus on the semi-arid savannas of the Greater Limpopo Trans-frontier Conservation Area. This will include visits to the world-renowned Kruger National Park, Southern African Wildlife College, adjacent communities, and with landowners in order to understand how three land tenure systems interact in large scale biodiversity conservation. Next, we will spend three days at Ivy Safaris to obtain first-hand experience of a private safari operation.

 

The second part of the course will focus on the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, one of the world's largest wetlands. While staying at the Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Center, activities will include interactions with students from the University of Botswana, trips into the delta itself, visits to communities near the delta, and visits to the Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park. The course will culminate with a visit to Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world.   Along with all the great adventures we will be having, this will also be a very intensive hands-on learning experience. In exchange for our 6 hours of class credit, we will be required to complete three projects: We will each present an individual seminar to the class on a pre-approved topic relating to biodiversity or other issues in Southern Africa; By the end of the course five different groups will each produce and present a comprehensive group report on an assigned topic relating to biodiversity conservation and nature-based tourism in Southern Africa; and Each of us is required to maintain a travel journal throughout the course, which will then be evaluated for content and detail. So in case anyone thinks we won't be VERY busy on our journey, you now know differently!