VetBolusAfricaVeterinary CE Safari · October 10–19, 2027

JOIN THE WAITLISTSOLD OUT · 23 of 23 spots
Sold Out

Africa 2027 is full — the waitlist is not.

All 23 spots went in under four months. Plans change, though, and when one comes back the waitlist goes first. Add your name and you’ll also be first to hear about the next VetBolus conservation trip.

Join the waitlist →

Looking for something sooner? Grenada, November 5–7 still has spots — 15 hours of RACE-approved CE with two board-certified specialists.

23 spots is the capacity of Zebra Hills Lodge, so we can’t add more.

The ProgramCape Town to the Zululand bush

WhenOctober 10–19, 2027
WhereCape Town, then Manyoni Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal
Length10 days / 9 nights
Rate$8,200 per person, all-inclusive
StatusSold out — waitlist open

Topic: Emergency & Critical Care with Dr. Lenore Bacek, DACVECC.

This is what veterinary CE in South Africa should feel like — mornings of board-certified lectures, afternoons in the field with the team that does this work for a living. You start in Cape Town with an evening icebreaker at the V&A Waterfront, then fly to KwaZulu-Natal for a week at Zebra Hills Lodge inside Manyoni Game Reserve, where the classroom is a game vehicle and the patients weigh two tons.

Run in partnership with Global Conservation Force, the program includes a minimum of four wildlife veterinary procedures — often more, because rhino conservation needs don’t keep a schedule — plus a visit to the Zululand Rhino Orphanage, a GCF K9 anti-poaching demonstration, and drone–ranger–K9 tracking. You’ll earn 15 hours of RACE- and NYSED-approved CE.

What’s includedScheduleSpeakerHotels & TravelJoin the waitlist

At a glanceTen days. Two worlds.

15Hours of CE
10Days / 9 nights
4+Wildlife procedures
23Spots — all taken

Sold out — but spots do open up.

$8,200 per person, shared accommodation (two beds or one), all-inclusive from the moment you land in Cape Town. All 23 spots went in under four months. When someone’s plans change, waitlist names go first — for this trip, and for whatever we announce next.

JOIN THE WAITLIST
See it

What a GCF ecotour actually looks like

The full trip presentation, plus footage from Global Conservation Force’s previous ecotours on this reserve — the drives, the fieldwork, the lodges.

In partnership with

Global Conservation Force

A non-profit working on anti-poaching, K9 units and rhino conservation in South Africa. GCF runs every logistic on the ground — from the airport pickup in Cape Town to the last game drive at Manyoni — and a donation to the Zululand Conservation Trust and the Zululand Rhino Orphanage is built into the price of your seat.

globalconservationforce.org →

What’s included

  • All accommodation — Hotel Verde in Cape Town and Zebra Hills Lodge at Manyoni
  • All meals, plus beer, wine, soft drinks, coffee and water
  • In-country flights, private transfers and ground transport
  • Airport pickup on arrival and drop-off on departure
  • Conference space and all 15 hours of CE
  • Cape Town excursions and cultural experiences
  • Daily game drives and every conservation activity
  • A built-in donation to Zululand Conservation Trust and the Rhino Orphanage

What’s not included

  • International flights to and from Cape Town
  • Any travel or lodging before or after the program
  • Trip insurance
  • Personal tips and souvenirs

That’s genuinely the whole list. Tipping isn’t expected in South Africa, so once you land in Cape Town your wallet can mostly stay in your bag.

If a spot opensHow the waitlist works

1. Tell us who’s coming

Add your name on the registration & travel application form — name, credentials, and whether you’d be traveling with a guest. The trip is full, so entries go straight onto the waitlist. Guests are welcome and don’t need to be in the profession — the only requirement is that everyone is 18 or older.

2. We come back to you in order

Plans change, and spots do occasionally come back. Waitlist names go first, in the order we received them. If a spot is confirmed for you, payment is either a 50% deposit or in full, handled through Global Conservation Force.

You’ll also be the first to hear when we announce the next VetBolus conservation trip.

Your ten daysItinerary & CE schedule

Day 1 · Oct 10
Land & settle in

Arrive Cape Town

NO SESSIONS
Arrive any time — Hotel Verde runs a free airport shuttle, and it is minutes from CPT. Nothing is scheduled but an icebreaker and dinner at the V&A Waterfront, so you can land, shower, and meet everyone over a glass of something.
Day 2 · Oct 11
Lectures, then the city

Cape Town

CE SESSIONS
Morning lectures with lunch included, then the afternoon is yours in one of the world’s great cities — Table Mountain, the Cape winelands, the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, a Gold cultural dinner show. Guests who skip the lectures can head out earlier.
Day 3 · Oct 12
Lectures, then adventures

Cape Town

CE SESSIONS
Same rhythm: breakfast, morning lectures, lunch, then curated afternoon activities and a covered dinner. Two mornings in a proper conference room gets the bulk of your CE done before you ever reach the bush.
Day 4 · Oct 13
Fly to KwaZulu-Natal

To the bush

TRAVEL DAY
Breakfast, then a domestic flight from Cape Town to KwaZulu-Natal and a road transfer to Zebra Hills Lodge inside Manyoni Game Reserve. Your first evening game drive is that same night, with dinner and drinks at the lodge.
Days 5–10 · Oct 14–19
The week you came for

Manyoni Game Reserve

CE + FIELDWORK
Sunrise game drives with coffee, then conservation work with the GCF and Zululand Conservation Trust teams — procedures, tracking, the orphanage. Lectures with sundowners, evening game drives, and three full-group fireside dinners.
Veterinarians performing a wildlife procedure in the field with Global Conservation Force
Wildlife veterinary procedures

A minimum of four — rhino, elephant, lion, African wild dog — for collaring, treatment or relocation. What you see depends on what the reserve needs that week, but rhino is a certainty. It often runs to eight procedures across two half-days.

White rhinoceros at a rhino orphanage in South Africa
Zululand Rhino Orphanage

A visit to the orphanage, including bottle-feeding the calves that can’t be released. This is the part nobody stops talking about afterward.

Anti-poaching working dog with the Global Conservation Force K9 unit
GCF K9 anti-poaching unit

A demonstration with the working dogs — tracking, apprehension and wildlife-product detection — plus drone, ranger and K9 tracking built into the real monitoring work.

Safari game drive vehicle beside zebras at Manyoni Game Reserve
Daily game drives

Sunrise drives with coffee and rusks, evening drives before dinner. Manyoni is Big Five country, and you’re in it every single day.

Aerial view of Cape Town and Table Mountain, South Africa
Cape Town afternoons

Table Mountain, the winelands, Boulders Beach penguins, a Gold cultural dinner show — the Cape Town afternoons are curated but unhurried.

Zebra Hills Lodge at dusk, Manyoni Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal
Zebra Hills Lodge

Home for six nights inside the reserve. All meals, all drinks, and the whole lodge is ours — 24 people, no strangers at breakfast.

All 23 spots are taken.

Get on the waitlist and you’re first in line if one comes back — and first to hear about the next one.

JOIN THE WAITLIST

Your speakerFifteen hours with a boarded criticalist

Dr. Lenore Bacek, DACVECC, VetBolus Africa 2027 speaker

Dr. Lenore Bacek, DVM, MS, DACVECC

Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care

All 15 hours are taught by a single board-certified criticalist, which means the material builds instead of restarting every session. Topic: Emergency & Critical Care.

Sessions are RACE- and NYSED-approved for veterinarians and veterinary technicians, with recorded attendance submitted to AAVSB RACEtrack and complete seminar notes.

Before you goPlan your trip

Zebra Hills Safari Lodge at dusk, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Where you’ll stay

Hotel Verde, Cape Town — a green-built hotel close to the airport (quiet, not loud), with a free airport shuttle and a paid daily shuttle to the V&A Waterfront. Our conference room is on site.

Zebra Hills Lodge, Manyoni Game Reserve — six nights inside the reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. Rooms are shared, two people per room, with either one bed or two, and we guarantee you room with whoever you’re traveling with.

Flights

Getting to Cape Town (CPT) is easier than people expect. Nonstops from the US are limited and seasonal, but one-stop routings through Europe, the Middle East or elsewhere in Africa are plentiful. Common departure points: New York (JFK/EWR) — frequent one-stops plus seasonal nonstop; Miami and Chicago — reliable one-stops; Boston — competitive one-stops; Los Angeles — typically one to two stops.

Documents

A valid passport and a return or onward ticket. No visa is required for citizens of the US, Canada, the UK and Commonwealth, the EU, Caribbean countries, Japan or South Korea. Check that your passport has plenty of validity and blank pages left — and if you’re not sure what applies to you, just ask us.

Vaccinations

No more than any other trip. The areas we visit are malaria-free, so no antimalarials and no special vaccines are required.

Questions

Frequently asked

Is it really sold out?
Yes. There are 23 spots because that is the lodge’s capacity, and they were gone by June 2026 — about four months after we announced. Plans do change, though, so email us and we will put you on the waitlist. Names go in the order we receive them.
Can I bring my spouse or a friend who isn’t in the profession?
Absolutely, and plenty of people are. Everyone registers individually and pays the same $8,200, and everyone has full access to everything on the itinerary. The only requirement is that all travelers are 18 or older. If your guest would rather skip the lecture mornings in Cape Town, GCF will get them out adventuring instead.
Will I be roomed with the person I’m traveling with?
Guaranteed. Rooms are shared, two per room, with either one bed or two — you tell us who you are with on the application form, and there are pre-trip check-ins to confirm everything before departure.
What does the $8,200 actually cover?
Essentially everything from the moment you land in Cape Town: all lodging at Hotel Verde and Zebra Hills, all meals, beer and wine and soft drinks, in-country flights and transfers, airport pickup and drop-off, the conference room, all 15 CE hours, the Cape Town excursions, every game drive and conservation activity, and a built-in donation to the Zululand Conservation Trust and Rhino Orphanage. Not covered: your international flights, trip insurance, anything before or after the program, and tips and souvenirs. Tipping is not expected in South Africa.
How do payments work?
Global Conservation Force handles all attendee payments — they are the non-profit running the program on the ground, and keeping payments in one place keeps things clean for both organizations. Registration is a short application form, then either a 50% deposit or payment in full. Card payments carry a processing fee; check or Zelle avoids it. GCF will walk you through whichever you prefer.
Do I need shots or malaria pills?
No more than for any other trip. Everywhere we go is malaria-free, so there are no antimalarials and no special vaccines required. You will need a valid passport and a return or onward ticket; most Western passports need no visa for South Africa.
How hands-on are the wildlife procedures?
You are in the field with the team for a minimum of four procedures — rhino, elephant, lion or African wild dog — and often more, because rhino conservation work in that window can push it to eight across two half-days. How hands-on any one procedure gets depends on the animal, the day and the veterinarian leading it. Nobody watches from a distance.
My employer wants a CE cost breakdown. Can you provide one?
Yes — just email us and we will send a written breakdown separating the CE portion from travel and lodging. Several attendees have used it to get employer reimbursement approved.
Is the CE approved for technicians too?
Yes. All 15 hours are submitted for AAVSB RACE and NYSED approval for veterinarians and veterinary technicians alike, with recorded attendance and complete seminar notes.

Want in on the next one?

Africa 2027 sold out in under four months. Add your name to the Africa waitlist and you’ll also hear about the next VetBolus conservation trip before it goes public.

JOIN THE WAITLIST