Visit Us
Partners
Visiting ORKCA is a chance to experience what happens on the ground. It is an opportunity to connect intimately and authentically with the work your support makes possible. To meet the team, walk the land, and understand the daily realities of conservation in this landscape.
Volunteers
We are open to volunteers who are ready to roll up their sleeves and offer their skills to support our ongoing work. Help build out our mountain biking trail, assist with signage for the Orange River hike, join the team in removing old fencing or servicing water infrastructure, or lend a hand processing camera trap data. Want to make a short film? Create content for our Instagram page? If you are a writer, photographer, ecologist, builder, or someone with curiosity and something to give, we would love to hear from you.
HQ: Kum Kum
Visitors stay at ORKCA’s headquarters, known as Kum Kum, positioned between the Orange River and the mountains. Our guest cottage offers rustic and comfortable self-catering accommodation with a kitted kitchen, and beautiful patio for morning coffees or evening sundowners. If you are looking for something a little more luxurious or private, you can also book a stay at our partner, Sandfontein Lodge, a beautiful reserve and lodge just a two-hour drive from Kum Kum.
- Electricity is available – please bring your own plug adaptors (Type C & D).
- Drinking water is available straight from the taps.
- Each of the two rooms in the guest cottage has its own shower.
- The kitchen is fully equipped with a gas stove and oven, and a fridge.
- Wi-Fi is available in the guest cottage.
Directions
Volunteers are responsible for arranging their own transport to ORKCA. If you are a partner or visiting in a professional capacity, please contact Jannie on jannie@orkca.org and we will assist in arranging your travel to the reserve.
Email us to visit
Whether you are a potential partner interested in seeing our work on the ground, or someone looking to volunteer your time and skills, we would love to hear from you.
Please email jannie@orkca.org with a short introduction and your proposed dates. If you are interested in volunteering, please include a few lines about your skills or what you are keen to offer.
Volunteers: important info before you visit ORKCA
Volunteering stints at ORKCA are self-organised. You will need to arrange your own transport, ideally a 4×4, as the roads can be challenging, especially after rain. The nearest grocery store is in Karasburg, about 1.5 hours from Kum Kum, so you will need to stock up in advance and plan for occasional resupply trips.
We ask that all volunteers have valid international travel insurance, the necessary visas, and be prepared for independent living, including the possibility of spending time alone on the reserve. A spirit of self-sufficiency, flexibility, and care for the land and community, along with a leave-no-trace attitude, are essential
Testimonials
Daniel Iff
Switzerland – ORKCA Volunteer, September 2026
‘‘I have been in the motorcycle business since leaving school and ran a dealership for over 25 years. Motorcycling has always been a passion, along with tennis, mountain biking, cooking, scuba diving, and English football.
This passion for travel and new experiences led me to ORKCA. When I saw an article in a Swiss newspaper about a fascinating project in Namibia called ORKCA, I thought it sounded exactly like something I had wanted to support for a long time.
After getting in contact with the ORKCA team, I was delighted to receive confirmation of my stay at the headquarters, Kum-Kum, Southern Namibia. During my four weeks as a volunteer, I learned a lot about completely new topics and was surprised by the tremendous knowledge of the staff.
At times, the work was physically demanding, but at the end of the day, it was a very satisfying feeling. The most interesting part for me was modifying the boreholes, which made measuring the groundwater level much easier.It was also an honour to attend some meetings with people from different conservation areas in other African countries. I was really impressed by how professionally they work and how much data they collect.
The impressive landscape was always unbelievable, especially compared to the small and densely populated Switzerland. The sundowners on the nearby hill were absolutely stunning, as was the silence. Overall, it was an unforgettable and instructive experience, filled with many lovely people.
Thanks, ORKCA, for giving me the great opportunity to make this experience come true and see you soon again.’’
Annouck Bussière
France – ORKCA Volunteer August – September 2026
‘‘I heard about ORKCA through a family member who had previously worked with the ORKCA team. After eight years of living and working in Paris as an Interior Architect, I wanted to explore new experiences and environments.
I wanted to experience a remote, wild environment with wildlife while also improving my English, and ORKCA offered both.
During my seven weeks at Kum Kum headquarters, the experience exceeded my expectations. I was involved in various activities, including exciting long hikes to check camera traps, small-mammal surveys, removing invasive trees and fences, repairing roads, and recording rainfall. I enjoyed the diversity of the work and learning something new every day.
I was also lucky enough to explore the wider ORKCA landscape, including parts of the aspiring Nama-!Garib Geopark. The relationships I developed with the team made the experience particularly special, and I appreciated their interest in my passion for drawing.
Sharing this passion by drawing wildlife and portraits for the team was a lovely part of my stay. I am incredibly grateful to the whole team for welcoming me, teaching me so much, and allowing me to be part of their work.
I would wholeheartedly recommend ORKCA to anyone looking to be part of a team while contributing to the conservation of such a beautiful part of Africa.
I left with a bit of a heavy heart, but with wonderful memories of my time at ORKCA. It was truly a special experience that I will always remember.’’
Jeff Hemmett
“For me, it’s a people story.
I feel very grateful for how welcomed and included and gracious the entire team was when I was there. I had wonderful moments with Julian (ORKCA’s field ranger) on the land. He took me fishing, we took down a windmill together, cleaned waterpoints. We had conversations I’ll remember for the rest of my life. He was so curious about Canada and asked loads of questions despite English not being his first language. I had such great conversations with Red, Nabot, Jannie… Gary too- what wonderful human, incredibly talented and wonderful to spend time with. The thread here is: beautiful, meaningful friendships that I hope I’ll have for the rest of my life. All a sudden I was in Namibia- a country I know next to nothing about, in the bush – surrounded by all of these amazing people and opportunities for connections. Reflecting on my time with ORKCA and my friendship with Andreia, all these other beautiful things have snowballed out of that. The story of ORKCA is a story of people.
The team at ORKCA and the Namibians are remarkable humans. Shout out to the local crew and how incredible they are.”
Lisa Yao
Product Strategy Lead at Google & ORKCA International Advisory Panel Member
“ORKCA is one of the most visionary conservation and rewilding projects in the world: it’s a first of its kind, strategically community-based, and ambitious in scale.
Seeing this beautiful project first hand was a long-awaited pleasure after hearing of it years ago through chats with its founders, Andreia and Red.
The meaning of ORCKA’s work took full shape in person. In an otherwise dry desert, flushes of greenery provided shade and exemplified how desert flora require space to regenerate. We paid respect to a sleepy, venomous Horned Adder – a citizen of a flourishing desert ecosystem. The Karoo showed its full splendor when a flash flood approached our dusty truck in a river I can only describe as ‘silver mercury.’
ORCKA has brought together the communities around it for holistic impact: tracking carbon and wildlife, capturing photographs, partnering with farmers, and building infrastructure to support a self-sustaining game population. ORCKA’s human approach came fully alive through an afternoon chat with the local Nama people. They work arduously to protect the living species on their land as trained game guards and participate in strategic decision making. Of course we broke out in song and dance: nature and people bring out joy.
As I closed the day watching hours of summer lighting flags in clouds like disco lights, I reflected on how rare it is for an organization to protect the sanctity of landscapes for generations to come – especially in a day and age so focused on development. It is countercurrent and radical, yet deeply critical to humanity for this project – and others like it – to succeed.”