The family moves to the Blue Antelope Lodge in South Africa where Danny begins to treat animals and the children start making new friends.
School begins and Emily and another popular girl, Lauren (Shannon Esra), offer Katie help with an assignment, but Lauren grows jealous of Katie's relationship with Oliver and plays a trick on her. Later, Tumelo shows her true friendship and helps her complete her work. Meanwhile, rebellious Jesse tests the school's rules and falls for a local bartender (Precious Kofi); and Danny battles a mysterious illness among the local wildlife.
Jo and Art finally open the Blue Antelope and welcome their first guests, but they realize that running an eco-friendly lodge requires more work than they anticipated; and Katie auditions for the Spring Sing Fling and shocks her friends with her beautiful voice. Meanwhile, Jesse gets a job at the Ant's Hill, but Mbali questions him about his age; and Danny investigates a mysterious illness among the zebras and wildebeests.
Katie accepts Tumelo's invitation to join him in the township's traditional celebration of Heritage Day, a national holiday, although she'd rather attend a party at the Mara Lodge with Oliver and Emily. Elsewhere, a vervet monkey steals Jesse's shaving kit and is on the loose; and Danny and Jo go to the township's party with Chase and Mia.
Katie and Jesse grumble about having to do chores around the lodge for the weekend rather than hanging out with friends, and they separately make bad decisions in a rebellious moment. Jesse takes off with Oliver, and the pair has an encounter with a cheetah that prompts Jesse to call on Danny for help; later, Katie thinks Oliver likes bad girls, so she meets him at a bar and both of them end up being put in jail.
Katie gets to put her soccer skills to good use when she learns that the boys will compete against the girls in a charity match for underprivileged children. But her talents cause tension between her and Oliver, so she decides to hold back a little. Meanwhile, Jesse befriends a guest (Karl Thaning) at the Blue Antelope, a carefree adventurer whose actions get Jesse hurt.
A wedding is held at the Blue Antelope and Katie helps Jo with the preparations, and she also learns a secret about Oliver's father that pushes her and Oliver apart. Elsewhere, Danny asks Tumelo to help him take care of a ill elephant that also seems to have an unnatural attraction to a giraffe; and Jesse and Mbali share a scary experience at work.
Jesse and Katie are in charge at the Blue Antelope when Jo and Danny leave to attend a conference. Jesse invites Emily and her friends to come over, and this soon escalates into a big party that gets out of control; then a lioness decides to crash the party.
Katie, Oliver, Emily and Tumelo form their own study group to prepare for their midterms; and Jesse comes to Katie for help in a class that he's failing. Meanwhile, guests at the Blue Antelope are disappointed to learn there's no guided wildlife hunt, so they decide to go the Mara Lodge instead; and Danny and Art take steps to protect white lions from 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 each go through a breakup and discover that their relationship is very special; and Jesse helps Mbali find the strength to call off her engagement. Meanwhile, Jo and Art trade chores to learn whose duties are more difficult.
At Art's insistence, Danny tries to introduce a male lion into the Blue Antelope's pride, but the plan goes awry and both men are seriously injured. Meanwhile, Jesse decides that he wants to go back to New York, but Katie tries to persuade him to stay.