What inspired you to go abroad?
A lifelong wanderlust and love of wildlife!
Why did you choose Wildlife ACT?
I found Wildlife ACT through a book I bought a while back, Volunteer Vacations. I was really impressed by their website, which is extremely detailed. They're clear about what you can expect, as well as what you can contribute to their fascinating and important research.
What was your favorite part about South Africa?
My favourite thing about Tembe Elephant Park was the elephants! As well as lions, wild dog, leopard, rhino, giraffe, and antelope, the park is home to several hundred elephants, including some of the mighty tuskers. Working with Wildlife ACT, we saw elephants almost daily as part of the monitoring work.
Just one of Tembe's magnificent elephant
What made your experience in South Africa unique?
With Wildlife ACT, your experience is dictated by the needs of the programme and the wildlife, so your activities and contributions vary a lot. I was extremely lucky to be involved in a lion relocation as well as several wild dog encounters and a large number of incidental encounters.
How did local staff support you throughout your program?
There's always at least one full time research monitor on site all the time, and during my stay there were usually two, plus other local staff. Staff were extremely helpful and friendly, providing whatever you needed within reason.
What's one thing you wish you would have done differently?
I wish I could have stayed longer! Two weeks wasn't really enough, I only got to visit one of Wildlife ACT's reserves and the travel beforehand was a bit gruelling relative to the length of the stay.
Describe a typical day in the life of a Wildlife ACT participant.
Up early for a quick snack, then the morning sessions starts at 5 a.m. Morning sessions are typically focused on predator research of lions or wild dog, during which you'd have set objectives, like locating the wild dog pack and checking their health. Lots of incidental sightings along the way though, a great time to see rhino in particular!
Back to camp for breakfast around 10 a.m., then after a short pitstop, its out for the daily elephant monitoring session. This was my favourite part of the day, as we spent hours finding and watching elephants, whilst the park's elephant expert collected data and answered all of our questions.
Giraffe mother with two yearlings
Lunch break around 2:00 p.m., then the evening session starts at 3:00 p.m. This was usually predator focused again, but you'd see lots of other species, including giraffe, buffalo, antelope, and maybe even leopard! For the monitoring sessions, we were in the back of an open truck, so you get an amazing view as you're taking ID photos, using the radio telemetry equipment, and logging data, amongst other activities.
In the evening we'd cook our own meal and hang out chatting as a group, sometimes also having a traditional braai. We would head to bed fairly early to be ready for another amazing and action-packed day!
What did you enjoy doing in your free time?
You don't have a lot of free time to waste with Wildlife ACT, particularly in Tembe! That said though, we had a great and really sociable group, so we spent a lot of our free time chatting and sharing experiences.
What was your accommodation like in Tembe? What did you like most about it?
The accommodation was much better than I expected, given that it was in the bush! Comfortable living in rustic wooden cabins with beds., hot showers, electricity, flushing toilets, and a fully kitted out kitchen! It's not exactly roughing it. My favourite part was the newly built braai area outside; it was great for a traditional South African meal.
Do you have any packing tips for individuals headed to South Africa?
As previously mentioned, if you’re going out on early morning drives, you do need warm clothing. For safaris and animal work, it’s important to wear dull colours, and I’d recommend a light scarf, buff, or bandana to wear around the face; this keeps the flies and sand out of your mouth!
What is one thing every participant should know before participating in Wildlife ACT in Tembe?
They aren't kidding when they tell you it will be cold in the mornings! I was there at only the start of winter, and we all had to bundle up in multiple layers, wear gloves, and even blankets some days.
Part of the resident African Wild Dog pack
What was the hardest part about volunteering abroad?
Honestly, it gets easier every time. I’ve never been one for homesickness or missing creature comforts (certainly not after just two weeks!), and organising this trip was a breeze with Wildlife ACT’s help. So perhaps the hardest part isn’t volunteering abroad at all, but having to come back home again!
What surprised you most about South Africa?
The range of temperatures every day. I was vaguely aware of how cold it could be in the mornings from previous trips to the region, but still didn’t think I’d be wearing my hat and gloves very often. As it turned out, I needed them every morning, but by midday we would all be back in shorts and t-shirts.
What is one thing you wish you would have known before volunteering abroad in South Africa?
I wish I’d taken the time to learn a little more local language (Zulu, in the area I visited) both beforehand and during my stay. It’s always nice to be able to talk to the people you meet in their native language as well as the ones you share.
What do you feel the biggest benefit of volunteering abroad is?
It’s a cliche, but I think it’s really important to broaden your horizons - see new things, have new experiences, and meet new people, the more different to your day-to-day life the better. It helps with how you look at the world, and I also find it reinvigorates my approach to life. Volunteering is a great way to do this because you’re usually very immersed in the project or local culture, rather than traditional tourism where you might move around a lot more, or return to a walled-off hotel every night.
A small pride of lions we spent a morning trying to identify!
Now that you're home, how has your program abroad impacted your life?
I'm already planning my next trip back to mainland Africa to see more of the beautiful wildlife, and looking into what more I can do to help the worthy cause of protecting the endangered species there.
Would you recommend Wildlife ACT to others? Why?
Absolutely, in fact I already have. Wildlife ACT are the genuine article - an organisation dedicated to the cause they promote, with a real knowledge and impact on it, and they care about their volunteers too!
If you could volunteer abroad again, where would you go?
I’d love to go to Uganda or Rwanda, to see the great apes - gorillas and chimpanzees - and if I could combine that with a volunteer project, even better! I’m also tempted to go back to Madagascar. I’ve volunteered there twice before, and it’s become a home away from home for me.
