Let's face it - not all volunteer Africa positions working with wildlife will provide the experience you might be expecting.
Some will fall short because the work might not be of interest to you or insufficient training and support is given, bad accommodation, worse food, backbreaking labour and so on. But there is a way to shorten the odds in your favour...
So how do you effectively match your expectations with the reality of wildlife Africa volunteering to make sure you have a rewarding and fulfilling experience?
By asking a previous conservation Africa volunteer what their experience was like.
But that's not always possible because you might not know or know of such a person, so the next best thing is volunteer trip reports and reviews, or journals as they are also known.
These are written by the Africa wildlife volunteer themselves describing their experiences in detail. It will give you an excellent idea of what the position is really like and whether it appeals to you or not. Take a look at the submissions below...
| Orphaned giraffe volunteer work » It was very rewarding helping with Duke. He was on a strict diet full of helpful nutrients, and he had to be monitored very carefully which meant volunteers sleeping near him overnight... | |
| Colobus trust colunteering report » I especially loved all the aspects of animal welfare including nursing a baby vervet. We had an excellent cook who would prepare delicious lunches and dinners 6 days a week... | |
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Volunteer in Kruger » Since Nsikazi is a training camp and the hub of the operations, it was always buzzing with teams arriving for training or preparing to head to the satellite research camps.... |
Share your volunteering story to help others still planning to go on a rewarding trip like this.
Click below to see more contributions from other volunteers...
Chimpanzee Volunteer Work Enjoying the beautiful trusting relationship with baby chimpanzees was the highlight of my experience in Cameroon. Getting them to feel confident and ...
Harnas Volunteer Review People are walking in a tight group and stop to look behind as a male lion is seen walking through the bushes in a straight line directly towards us. As ...
Lion Volunteer Project Review My personal highlight would have to be swimming with the cubs. Most cats have an inherent fear of water so the feeling when our largest cub Phoenix apprehensively ...
So when you have a basic idea where and which volunteering in Africa position appeals to you, the next step is to choose a company to organise it for you.
There are a reasonable amount of them in the market but some of them specialise in these positions so based on my experience, trip reports, forum opinions and general consensus in the industry here are my top three volunteer vacation company recommendations...
i-to-i: South Africa and Kenya conservation projects with offices in the UK, USA, Australia and Ireland.
Volunteer Adventures: Projects in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe - based in the USA.
Responsible Travel: Namibia and South Africa wildlife projects - based in the UK.
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