A vet, Danny Clarke, drags his family out of New York to spend a year in a broken-down lodge called The Blue Antelope deep inside South Africa. While the family shows signs of anger, Danny wants to do good for the people and the animals.
On the first day of school at the Peacanwood International School, Katie is very excited to have the popular girls, Emily and Lauren, to help her write a poem in Zulu as part of a class project. Meanwhile, Lauren gets jealous when Oliver befriends Katie. Lauren shows her frustration by inviting Katie to a concert but deliberately giving her the wrong address. On the other hand, Jesse does not want to follow the school's strict rules and along with Oliver goes to a local hangout named Ant Hill. On his first day of job, Danny realizes that animals were mysteriously getting ill and starts investigating. While, Jo wants Art to renovate the Blue Antelope.
The Blue Antelope is ready for business and very quickly caters its first guests. While Katie auditions for Spring Sing Fling, she is surprised to see that Oliver and Tumelo can sing. Jesse gets a job at Ant's Hill is soon let go when Mbali knows about his age. Danny continues his investigation about the mysterious illness among the zebras and wildebeests. Jo and Art realize that a lot of patience and time would be required to run an eco-friendly lodge.
Its a South African holiday, Heritage Day. While Katie wants to attend a party with Oliver and Emily, she is invited to a traditional township celebration. Danny and Jo decide to go to township party with Chase and Mia. In the meanwhile, Jesse is taunted by a monkey while shaving and snatches his toiletry through the bathroom window.
Katie and Jesse are left to do the chores around the lodge by Danny and Jo. They ditch on the chores, Katie goes to visit a bar with Oliver but skips out on the bill, which leads to both ending up in jail.
When Jesse is rock climbing with James, a guest at The Blue Antelope, he falls down and gets injured. Meanwhile, Katie is very excited to know that there is going to be a charity soccer match between the boys and girls, this match leads to some tension between Oliver and her as Oliver is representing the boys in the match. Jesse gets his job back.
The first wedding of the show takes place at The Blue Antelope where Katie helps Jo to make arrangements. Katie discovers a secret about Oliver's father which pushes him away from her. Danny encounters a sick elephant, he asks Tumelo to help. It turns out that the sick elephant is in love with a giraffe.
Jo and Danny are on their way to a conference for lodge operators and reluctantly leave Jesse and Katie in charge for the weekend. Jesse invites Emily and some of her friends to hang out, which quickly turns into a full blown, out-of-control party. Oliver and Katie are interrupted during a serious conversation when Stella, a lioness, decides to crash the party.
Katie, Oliver, Emily and Tumelo form a study group to prepare for their mid-term. Jesse, nearly failing the class, reluctantly seeks Katie's help, but is accused of cheating on the exam.
Meanwhile, guests at the Blue Antelope expect to participate in a guided wildlife hunt, which Danny and Jo don't offer, and decide to check into the Mara Lodge. Danny and Art do their best to protect the white lion, which represents the spirit of Africa, being targeted by the hunters.
Katie and Jesse join their classmates for a trip into the African bush, but rebellious Jesse refuses to participate in the activities, while Katie and Tumelo get lost in a cave. Meanwhile, one of Jo's friends (Cynthia Watros) from New York visits and has very strong opinions about Jo's move to Africa.
Katie befriends the counselor (Tema Sebopedi) of an HIV-positive support group, and she has doubts about her split from Oliver. Meanwhile, Emily confronts Jesse when he spends a lot of time with Mbali; and an inspector visits the Blue Antelope and reveals that it's not up to eco-friendly standards.
Katie and Tumelo have broken-up up with their beaus, but are now uncomfortable in their friendship as they are both single. Mbali finds the courage to end her engagement but has other plans outside South Africa.
When Art and Danny try to breed lions successfully, they end up getting seriously injured. Jesse wants to leave South Africa to go after Mbali in New York, but Katie doesn't want him to.