African Wildlife Experience

Volunteers work and live on a working game reserve. The project’s dream for every person it encounters is to have a lifestyle change towards thinking conservation and living conservation.
Our planet and specifically the wildlife that abound in it are a special gift that we have the luxury of experiencing and enjoying. We want future generations to have the opportunity to have similar enriching experiences. This can only be achieved through conscious consideration of current actions and learning new ways to preserve and conserve the greatest gift. May it be the experience of a lifetime as well as an experience that changes your life!

African Wildlife Experience
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Overview:

Location Oudtshoorn, South Africa
Duration From 2 - 12 weeks
Dates All year round
Requirements
  • You must have an Intermediate level (B1) of English
  • Special skills: You must have a love for animals as well as good physical and mental health as much of the time entails outside work that requires focus and concentration.
Minimum Age: 18
Your impact
Documents required Enrolment form, curriculum vitae, letter of motivation, passport copy, proof of medical insurance.
Day of arrival Tuesday
Day of departure Tuesday

Highlights

  • Be empowered to protect nature by creating a conservation lifestyle.
  • Work with species such as lions, rhinos, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, meerkats and buffaloes.
  • Learn new and many different ways of how to preserve and conserve our planet and its animals.
  • Track and monitor free-roaming cheetahs.
  • Relocate and translocate wildlife species.
  • Combine conservation volunteering with the contribution of community upliftment when helping in a local farm school or school projects.

Project information

You are empowered to protect nature when participating in this project.
You will gain leadership, teamwork and relationship skills and learn about self-management. You will also enjoy the benefits of communal living, meet people from different walks of life and get the opportunity to make lifelong friends. The main aim is for you to gain a conservation mindset.

Skills you will acquire and develop:

  • The proper use of telemetry tracking equipment
  • The use of hand-held DPS devices
  • How to identify wildlife species
  • How to set up and use camera “traps” to monitor certain species
  • How to track animals using traditional methods like the identification and following of animal spoor
  • How to collect and analyse data
  • An understanding of conservation and issues of human-animal conflict.

Your role

There are usually four to six tasks per day, based on a rotational system which ensures that everyone has the opportunity to experience all tasks.

Usually, your working day starts at 08:00 and ends at 17:00.
Tasks for the day can include the following:

  • Food preparation
  • Tracking and monitoring free-roaming cheetahs
  • Researching and observing wild meerkat families
  • Performing game counts
  • Electric fence and enclosure patrolling
  • Setting up camera “traps” for research purposes
  • Relocating/translocating wildlife
  • Mitigating human-animal conflict
  • Contributing to habitat conservation, including planting spekboom
  • Community upliftment (Vrederust school project)
  • Assisting at and supporting a local farm school
  • Farming work such as maintaining water supply, fixing fences, etc.
  • Learning veld skills such as tracking, and identifying animal and plant species
  • Ultimately – learning to become a conservationist

It is important to note that this description serves as an example only. The daily tasks and challenges depend on the volunteer, the time of year and the work that needs to be done. The final job description can therefore vary substantially from the above.

Accommodation

Accommodation is provided in a large, newly built, tented camp with up to four people (same gender) sharing each tent. The rooms and tents are basic, but the single beds are comfortable with bedding provided (duvets and pillows). Showers and toilet facilities are en suite and hot water is supplied by gas geysers.
Power sockets for electrical items are available in each tent and in the communal area.

You also have access to Wi-Fi in the tented camp.

Lunches and dinners are prepared by a staff member, assisted by the volunteers. Breakfast is a self-prepared meal but ingredients are provided. Vegetarian and vegan meals can be provided on request.

Testimonials

Good Hope Volunteers Hugo from France

“It was the best experience of my life!! Good moments, with people, for a good purpose.“

Good Hope Volunteers Jasmin from Switzerland

“For me it was an extraordinary experience to help as an eco-ambassador here at the African Wildlife Experience. I spent four weeks here and was integrated into the team. I learned a lot about the animals of Africa and their behavior as well as about nature. The highlight was chipping a cheetah after hours of searching. I got very close to a wild animal and was allowed to assist with the work. What an experience! The nice thing is that the Foundation supports a local school with donations and I was able to make the children very happy by playing with them. It was an experience of a lifetime that I will never forget."

Good Hope Volunteers Mathilde from Denmark

“The teams are so nice and everybody is really welcoming. The nature and the animals are so beautiful compared to boring Denmark, hehe. Yeah, you can feel that you make a difference when you are there."