Location
  • South Africa
    • Cape Town
Length
2 to 24 weeks

Program Details

Compensation
Unpaid
Timeframe
Year Round
Housing
Apartment
Language
English
Age Min.
18
Qualifications
  • At least one year of relevant college/university study in a related field

Pricing

Starting Price
1148
Price Details
Registration fee:
- Dedicated intern support
- Comprehensive internship guide
- Reflection learning course
- Pre-departure interview
- Flight and travel insurance deals

Program fee:
- 24/7 in-country support
- Airport pick-up
- Program orientation
- Internship placement
- Learning support service
- Accommodation
What's Included
Accommodation Airport Transfers Some Meals SIM cards Wifi
What's Not Included
Activities Airfare Transportation Travel Insurance Visa
Sep 16, 2021
Aug 22, 2019
8 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Intern Abroad HQ offers the most flexible, valuable and affordable internships in South Africa, starting from just 2 weeks duration. If you're looking to gain international career experience while immersing yourself in a new culture, South Africa is the perfect internship destination.

In Cape Town, we offer 13 unique internship placements in the fields of business, medical and healthcare, psychology and more. Farther afield, you can choose from 3 unique environmental conservation internships in the region's most iconic game reserves, like Kruger National Park.

Once you’ve completed your internship, you’ll receive an international reference from your host organization that will help your resume to stand out in front of future employers. Our dedicated team is committed to ensuring your internship sets you up for a successful global career.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • Choose from 16 unique internship placements in Cape Town, Kruger National Park, Sodwana Bay & more
  • Placements in South Africa begin every Monday throughout the year starting from just 2 weeks duration
  • We source and arrange your internship placement from start to finish with fees including airport transfer, orientation, accommodation, and 24/7 local support
  • All interns participate in our reflection-based learning curriculum that fosters the development of transferable soft skills that employers value
  • Explore South Africa in your spare time and immerse yourself in the vibrant local culture

Popular Programs

GIS internship

Based at the Gondwana Game Reserve, a leading conservation reserve in central South Africa, interns will learn how to use GIS software, collect GIS data on the ground, and apply data and skills to solve real-world African conservation issues. Develop essential transferable skills with leading open-source software QGIS.

human rights internship

Gain valuable experience into human rights law and social advocacy in Cape Town, where unique social issues and discrimination impact a range of communities. Day-to-day activities include assisting local lawyers, research, and clerical and case management support.

Psychology internship

Learn about inpatient services, community health, addiction, substance abuse, and more as a Psychology intern in Cape Town. You'll assist and shadow local professionals, observing real life therapies to develop valuable experience and understanding.

marine biology internship

If you’re passionate about marine conservation and scuba diving - this is the opportunity for you! Sodwana Bay is a World Heritage site with renowned natural beauty and coral reefs that are home to turtles, whales and manta rays. Learn about Indian Ocean reef conservation, gain marine ecology training and scuba experience in one of the world's prime marine habitats.

reserve management internship

This unique internship combines reserve management experience with specialized project activities. This dynamic approach provides interns with a real-world opportunity to gain scientific mentorship and learn practical new skills related to fieldwork, data and ecology.

Program Reviews

5.00 Rating
based on 7 reviews
  • 5 rating 100%
  • 4 rating 0%
  • 3 rating 0%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Growth 4.75
  • Support 4.75
  • Fun 5
  • Housing 4.6
  • Safety 4.85
Showing 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Default avatar
Miriam
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

I had the most amazing experience!

I had the most amazing experience doing an internship in Cape Town, South Africa over this summer. I did a psychology internship for four weeks. IAHQ ,thank you for giving me the trip of a life time. The internship I did is very helpful for my future career and I am so grateful that IAHQ gave me this opportunity. IAHQ really helps you find an internship that is right for you. They were so helpful every step of the way. I met amazing interns and I made everlasting memories. I got to see a beautiful country while doing an internship related to what I am studying. Everyone I met was so friendly. I got to learn about a new culture. I definitely recommend this program to anyone who likes travelling and is looking for a trip they will never forget.

48 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
John
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A great Experienec

Intern Abroad HQ is an amazing organization. Their team was phenomenal in providing as much information as possible when I was very skeptical and unsure. After all, one wanted to make sure they weren't being thrown into another continent without any support or idea! Dallas was very helpful in helping me prepare for my internship. Their online journal assignments was a great way for me to document and ponder my experiences as they happened and were very good at keeping tabs on me and my family when I had a medical emergency. This I cannot emphasize enough, they have your back from start to finish. My liaison-contact there, Elisha, is such an amazing guide and overall a chill dude to hang around with. For him, it is a matter of who he doesn't know him in Cape Town, which helped a lot when seeking the most beautiful locations and the best activities. The housing there is very college dorm-like. You may live with students, both from abroad or local, and the area of Obs (Observatory) is a unique and interesting community. One thing is for sure, there is always someone down to have fun with at the Freeland lodge.

I am preparing to become an occupational therapist and chose this program to intern under. The Kaya branch of Akeso Clinics in Cape Town has a great team of psychologists, occupational therapists and social workers that had great methods in treating adolescents with mental health disorders and a whole variety of issues pertaining to being a troubled youth. I came to work every day caring for the patients and was privileged to see their progress as they worked out very difficult issues in a communal setting under professional guidance. Great people at Akeso - Kaya, they are very accommodating with interns and felt just like family.

I cannot state enough how great my experience was. If anyone wanted to have a good experience interning in Cape Town I recommend coming with an open mind. Be accepting that things can be uncomfortable and different. Learn how to flourish with the idea that plans don't always go as they were intended and that the best moments can be spontaneous.

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
Great place to see the diversity of foods in South Africa. One can try out a variety of game meat in the form of biltong, a jerky-like cured and dried snack. Plenty of influence from the multiple cultures derived from Asia (mmm curry!), Afrikaans and the many ethnic groups in South Africa. A truly wonderful place for foodies with a sense of adventure.
51 people found this review helpful.
Response from Intern Abroad HQ

Hi John,

Thank you for you kind words! It was wonderful to follow your internship progress in Cape Town through your weekly journal assignments and it was a pleasure to support you on this journey. On behalf of the Intern Abroad HQ team, we wish you all the best for the future and we are excited for you to have the opportunity to transfer your intern experience in Cape Town, to the Occupational Therapy field in the United States.

Cheers! From Daniel, Dallas and the Intern Abroad HQ team :-)

Kaelyn
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

100% Recommend!

I spent 6 weeks in Cape Town, South Africa doing an occupational therapy internship. I had the best 6 weeks of my life, and learned so much in such a short time. I was able to experience the incredibly welcoming culture of SA, gain valuable observation hours which will help me in the future, meet tons of awesome fellow interns and students, and experience many of the awesome activities and beauty of Cape Town and the surrounding area has to offer. I wish I could have spent so much more time here. Thank you to InternAbroad for answering all of my questions and making sure I was prepared and informed before my trip, as well as providing support during the trip if I ever needed it. To anyone who is thinking of doing an internship - don't let fear hold you back! Take an open mind, be flexible and enjoy your experience abroad!

47 people found this review helpful.
Response from Intern Abroad HQ

Hi Kaelyn, it was great to be able to host you in Cape Town and to see that you spoke so highly of our organization and your internship experience (it is much appreciated!). I hope that the experience that you earned through your internship helps you in your studies and carries through to your professional life. Good luck in your future endeavors! - Cheers from Daniel :-)

Default avatar
Bethan
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My unforgettable internship in Cape Town

Prior to beginning my internship, I had no idea what to expect when I was planning to visit Cape Town. My decision to go there and intern abroad was almost purely based on looking at photos of sunsets on Table Mountain, on Google images. I was further motivated by an interest in educating myself further on the history of South Africa. Also, completing a business internship within the UK had made me more curious to see how different businesses operate within other countries.

Knowing that I would love the opportunity to intern abroad (if only for a short while) I decided that this internship opportunity would be the perfect time to combine my passions. I arranged an internship with Intern Abroad in the heart of Cape Town, for two-weeks at the end of January 2019. The short-term flexibility of the internship programs worked with my schedule and ensured I’d gain a taster of life in South Africa.

After an overnight flight, I stepped off the plane at 10 a.m. to a not-too-shabby 30 degrees hitting me right in the face – quite a change from the negative numbers I’d left behind in Scotland! Within just two hours, I’d arrived at and already left my accommodation to explore, having met fellow interns on the same programme, led by our local Internships Coordinator, Elisha.

The remainder of my first day on the internship program was spent getting to know everyone, which wasn’t difficult, as they couldn’t have been more welcoming and talkative. Between visiting their favourite spots together and driving to the coast, to sit on a rock and watch the sun go down in South Africa, I really couldn’t have asked for a much better way to settle into my new home for the next two weeks.

I woke up bright and early the next day to begin work at my internship placement - a task that was made easier with the blazing sun and blue sky staring in at me from the window. Safe to say, it was quite different to waking up for a 9 a.m. lecture back home!

For my Start Up Entrepreneurship internship with Intern Abroad HQ, I was placed via a customized process to intern with OBSRealty. To get there each morning, I only had to take a (not-so-strenuous) 10-minute walk down the road to the office. This location was relatively central, situated near the city center, the University of Cape Town, and about 10 minutes from the Cape Town International Airport as well. On the way to my internship placement, I passed cute cafes that I would later visit for lunches, street art vibrantly painted around every corner, and even the odd book shop for me to nip into on my way home from work (to find something to read at the beach that night).

My internship placement at ObsRealty is a local business, which specializes in residential and commercial sales and property management. The close-knit team at this internship placement included another intern and I. Each of the company’s staff members helped and demonstrated the day-to-day operations of their real estate business. I was driven to parts of Cape Town that I wouldn’t have visited otherwise, given the time constraints of my short stay. I had the opportunity to speak to local people, learning how the start-up company had developed and grown throughout the area. Each day was full to the brim, but it certainly didn’t end once the workday was over!

From visiting the most unbelievable beaches like Clifton 4th beach and Camp’s Bay, to seeing the colourful houses in the Bo-Kaap neighbourhood, watching the latest releases in the Labia Movie Theatre on Orange Street, to exploring the Kirstenbosch National Park. If you can see the attraction listed within Lonely Planet’s guide to Cape Town, then you can rest assured that I visited it within my two-week internship! While I was a little worried that only having a mere two weeks for my experience wouldn’t be enough to see and do everything, the support from my Internship Coordinator (and Uber transport!) helped me to really make the most of every minute, from sunrise to sunset. I made sure that I ticked everything I’d hoped to visit off my list!

The most memorable day of my internship in Cape Town came on my first Saturday. A group of interns and myself joined the Internship Coordinator in Cape Town to visit the Old Biscuit Mill for brunch and to soak up the hectic weekend atmosphere. From there, we took an incredible road trip to Simon’s Town, to swim with the penguins at Boulder Beach. From there, we continued even further on, to the most southern point of Cape Town - aptly named “Cape Point”. The fog on that particular day may have slightly affected how far down the coast we could see, but this area offered so much more - like watching a baboon steal and then proceed to drink a full bottle of Gatorade from an unsuspecting tourist (please watch your food and drinks and don’t feed the wildlife!)

Driving back up the coast, stopping at many incredible points along the way with Elisha as our tour guide, we got to visit a huge sea lion, see emus strolling along a beach, watch the sunset (which never failed to astound me, no matter how many times I watched the sun set in Cape Town), all before heading to a pub to watch a six nations sports game. We finished our weekend day-out by viewing the city lights from the top of Signal Hill. It was an incredible day to remember!

I couldn’t have chosen a better place to have done my internship or even just to have visited. Cape Town is a city with the most welcoming locals, an incredibly humbling history, and views so stunning that even flicking through the photos of them on my phone still leaves me in shock, that I was able to take in such beautiful sights. Having the Intern Abroad HQ team every step of the way really did make my trip unforgettable and allowed me to have such a personal memorable experience. Without the support of the Internships Coordinator in Cape Town, it would have just been so different otherwise, as recommending the best local eateries or the most beautiful picnic spots was a task he excelled at.

I wish that it would have been possible for me to remain on the internship in South Africa longer than two weeks, but now it just means that I’ll have to return in the future - either to reconnect with some of the people I was fortunate enough to meet, or to see what more Cape Town has to offer!

What was the most nerve-racking moment and how did you overcome it?
A sunrise hike of Devil's peak in central Cape Town had its challenges with not having the best visibility, but couldn't have been more rewarding!
49 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jeff
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Experience of a Lifetime!

My experience with Intern Abroad HQ was incredibly smooth, organized, and simply one I will never forget. From the moment I submitted my application, I was put in touch with a specialist at Intern Abroad HQ who provided me with all the information I required and was always available for an email or a phone call if I had any questions. The information package provided was incredibly detailed and answered all of the questions I had about the program and the process.

I participated in the wildlife conservation internship at Dinokeng Game Reserve in South Africa. The moment I arrived at the airport I was met by my transfer to the reserve. The field guides I had on the reserve were extremely knowledgeable and helpful in being able to adjust to life on the reserve and the work to be done. Throughout my time the work involved a mix of both manual labour (fence and tree removal) as well as data collection. It was such a joy to wake up every morning surrounded by wildlife and then head out on the reserve and work so closely with the animals. The field guides also did a great job to break up the work throughout the day to avoid the high heat of the South African afternoons. Safety was also a major concern for the field guides and I never felt unsafe during my one month on the reserve. They even provided a lecture to review animal behaviour and how to conduct yourself should an encounter with an animal occur.

On top of feeling like the work I was doing was making a concrete difference for the wildlife of Dinokeng, I also left the experience with friendships with people from around the world; many of which I know will last long after the experience ended. I cannot speak enough about how this experience challenged me and provided me with a feeling of accomplishment in the work I was doing. I will definitely be volunteering abroad again one day and know it will be with Intern Abroad HQ.

40 people found this review helpful.
Response from Intern Abroad HQ

Hi Jeff, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us! It was an absolute pleasure to host your internship at Dinokeng, in South Africa. We're glad that you found the experience challenging, worthwhile, and rewarding. We'd love to host you again in the future. In the meantime, we wish you all the best going forward and hope that you'll keep having adventures. Cheers, from Dallas and the Intern Abroad HQ crew :-)

Suzanne
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Psychology Internship, Cape Town

My first time abroad on my own outside of Europe was certainly something I was looking forward to but also something I was apprehensive about. But having frequent communication and lots of pre-departure information made me less uneasy about my trip. South Africa as a place is absolutely amazing - beautiful scenery, plenty of activities to get involved in, delicious food and great culture and history to immerse yourself in. My favourite aspect of my trip however, was interacting with the people. I have never met people so friendly and willing to help!

Throughout my psychology internship I was based in a school in Cape Town. My only criticism was that I applied for a psychology internship, was told I would be interacting lots with the school counsellor. However when I got there I mainly shadowed classes and helped out with sports. I did not gain the exposure and insight into aspects of psychology that I was led to believe I would gain. Nevertheless, I had such an enriching experience and learned about not only myself and my capabilities but also the South African culture. The overall experience was worthwhile and I would recommend it. My only advice would be to pursue the internship you want independently and make sure you get all information regarding it prior to departure.

Other than that, the experience was amazing and I have taken so much from it. The support I received was good and I believe that the internship has equipped me with necessary transferable skills such as communication and teamwork, alongside the confidence to put myself forward to pursue future opportunities.

What would you improve about this program?
More applicable placements for the internships that is advertised
48 people found this review helpful.
Response from Intern Abroad HQ

Hi Suzanne, thanks for taking the time to share your review with us. I'm glad that you were able to enjoy the beauty of South Africa, along with the company of friendly people. It was our pleasure to host your internship and provide the support throughout. We wish you all the best as you pursue your future goals. Thanks, again, from the Intern Abroad HQ Team.

Sophie
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Rewarding and Worth It.

My time spent abroad on my placement in Dinokeng, South Africa was one of the most rewarding experiences I could have asked for. I spent 8 weeks on a beautiful game reserve, and I did not once feel alone or unwelcome. Everyone is kind and welcoming getting there, and all your questions beforehand will quickly be answered by Intern Abroad. Highly recommend, I will cherish my time from this summer forever.

What would you improve about this program?
More of a difference between volunteer and interning - maybe different work environments, or different placements.
48 people found this review helpful.
Response from Intern Abroad HQ

Hi Sophie,
I'm happy that your time in Dinokeng on the South Africa Environmental internship is something that you'll cherish. Thank you for making such an effort and for being a kind and positive intern. We wish you the best with the future pursuit of your passions and whatever adventures they lead you on - from Dallas and the Intern Abroad HQ team :-)

Questions & Answers