Living Lands

Placement organization

Name of organization: Living Lands
Town/city: Baviaanskloof
Country: Zuid-Afrika
Website: https://livinglands.co.za/

Student

Name of student: Isabel Hut

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Not-for-profit
Organization’s activities: Landscape restauration work in different catchment area’s in South Africa.
Target group of the organization: Organizations that can fund Living Lands
Company culture: All contact between the employees and students goes via WhatsApp (especially voice memo’s!) since there is no cellphone service in the Baviaanskloof. This makes it a more informal way of communication. Just like every organization, Living Lands has a director that, together with the other employees, makes the important decisions.
Number of employees: 17-20
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

Tourism. Since Living Lands is not a tourism organization, we have recently established a small group that are working on tourism in the Baviaanskloof.

Brief description of your daily activities: Daily activities evolve around the destination marketing plan of the organization. Currently we are working on creating a map for the Baviaanskloof Hartland area. We are in contact with a graphic designer and need concensus among all tourism stakeholders in order to implement the map. Additionally I am conducting market research into the type of tourist that has visited – and is visiting – the Baviaanskloof and the Eastern Cape in order to create a target persona.
Brief description of your company assignment: Creating a marketing plan “skeleton” which describes exactly what has to be included in the destination marketing plan. Upon completion of this skeleton, market research will start and detailed completion of the different sub sections of the marketing plan is next.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Living Lands sees the students they host as collaborators, not as “interns”. There is a student coordinator whom you can go to for questions, but it is important that you can act independently and proactive.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, flexible, sociable, proactive
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office
English: Basic
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Dutch is handy since it is very similar to Afrikaans!

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane and car

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via the company
How did you go to work every day? Students are picked up together with other Living Lands employees.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, Exchange Visa
Do you need a work permit? Just the Excange Visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Via the South African Embassy in the Hague
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? At least 6 weeks
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 1,5 month

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? No

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 800
Accommodation (monthly): € 460
Local transport (monthly): € 0 (if you want to go on a holiday, you pay buses and taxis yourself)
General costs of living (monthly): € 100
Costs of visa: € About 80
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing is paid for

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Reading online travel blogs and recommendations, talked to friends and relatives who had already been to the country, Lonely Planet’s “South Africa” book for travel tips!
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Yes, it took a long time to get accustomed to the area

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 152956@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: It is important to know that the Baviaanskloof is, in my opinion, nothing like the Netherlands. You have to be very flexible – very often what you have planned does not go through, either because one of the car’s have broken down and you cannot be picked up; it has rained and the road is not driveable anymore due to the fast flowing river; or the Wi-Fi is out because the electricity has gone out. There are many factors over which you have no control. Take a hike up the hills or visit one of the farmers, and when you get a chance to hop on the back of the bakkie (which is what they call the big pick-up cars here!) do so! You will live in an absolutely mesmerizing natural area and there is so much out there to see
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are many hikes you can do in the area itself, and have braais (BBQ!) with the farmers or . Willowmore is the nearest little town where they have cute restaurants and supermarkets. In George you can shop till you drop! Together with all the students we go on little trips, such as to Jeffreys Bay and St. Francis Bay. If youre lucky it is also possible to catch a ride to Cape Town.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link