African Conservation Experience

The personalised veterinary experience offered me loads of hands-on experience working with wildlife, and it was better than I could have ever imagined. Right from the start, I was straight into the action. Our first job was to help relocate six kudu antelopes from one farm to another. It was an early start, as we had to wake up at 3am to travel to the farm! When we arrived, we helped with drawing blood and administering vitamins before we assisted the vet in transporting them and releasing them into the new property. Over the next few days, I got to work with more antelope species, including waterbucks and my favourite, sable antelopes. At the end of my first week, I also got to help an injured rhino. First, I helped to draw some blood, and then we helped clean its wound. It was an awesome experience. I got to ride up in a helicopter with the vet, which was awesome. We also helped relocate not one but two prides of lions into larger spaces, which was incredible. Apart from riding in a helicopter, a highlight for me was working with six Buffalo, where I got to administer vitamins and tick spray. It’s too hard to choose the best moment, because every day was so amazing and different. I was actually initially supposed to travel with African Conservation Experience (ACE) in 2024. However, two weeks before I was due to leave home, I broke my ankle playing rugby. We were a bit worried about whether it would be possible to change my trip at such short notice, but the ACE team were really supportive and managed to transfer my trip to the following year. I’m so glad that it worked out. I would 100% recommend this experience to anyone who is going into the veterinary field and wants to build up their practical experience. I’ve done work experience in a clinic before, but I wanted a more hands-on experience, which is why I got in touch with ACE. I had such a great time working with the vets. The work could be stressful at times, as it’s fast-paced and you’re working with these amazing, big animals. But once the work was over, you just had this sense of gratitude wash over you. I’ve always known that I want to work with wildlife, and this experience definitely confirmed that for me.

The phone call I had with one of the African Conservation Experience (ACE) consultants before booking was so helpful in painting a picture of the project and what to expect, and ACE delivered exactly what was promised and more! I love that ACE meets you at the airport. Meeting the team and other volunteers before heading off to the Vikela Kruger Conservation Experience really put me at ease. As soon as we met the guide we would be working with at Vikela, I immediately knew this was going to be a great experience. The vibe within the group was high, and only increased as we listened to old school pop music on our drive into camp! At Vikela, every day was different. We were involved in everything from clearing roads, moving rocks to protect solar water pumps from elephants, and going on incredible bushwalks! What I loved most was that we worked as a team. Everyone mucking in together, not splitting off to do separate tasks. And, you could actually see the impact of your work right in front of you as you were doing it, which made it so rewarding. Aside from the work, the wildlife encounters were unforgettable. On one game drive, we got incredibly near to an elephant - I would estimate around 5 metres away! We also had a close encounter with a small pride of lions after one of our bush braais. We could hear them roaring in the distance, so we jumped into the vehicle and drove out to get a closer look. We got within about 15 to 20 feet of a lion just walking along, completely unbothered by us. Seeing a lion that close in the wild ignites something in you - it was really cool. I learned so much more than I expected and this trip changed my understanding of conservation. I’m currently studying environmental sciences, so I thought I knew what to expect, but this was completely different to learning in a classroom. Our guides would stop during our bush walks to explain everything - even pointing out details as small as a black rhino midden and explaining how they could tell it was from a black rhino by the 25-degree bite angle on the vegetation! I’d think to myself, How do you even know that?! Their wealth of knowledge was incredible! And they approached every question you asked with enthusiasm and clarity. They never made you feel silly for asking anything. The accommodation was also something that exceeded my expectations. I was expecting tents and no hot water (the last volunteer project I joined had no hot water at all), but the team at Vikela has really put effort into making it comfortable. It's not fancy with unnecessary frills, but it's really good quality and has everything you need. The food was excellent too! I'm a vegetarian, and they had something delicious for me every single meal. The social aspect of this project wasn’t something I went into it for, but it was another highlight for me. I have so many inside jokes with my fellow volunteers. It's crazy how fast you get to know people when you spend every day with them. I had to remind myself I'd only been there for three days because Johannesburg already felt like a lifetime ago. Everyone who was there genuinely wanted to be there, and you could tell. There was no one who wasn't pulling their weight or didn't care. This week was one of the most memorable of my life so far. I would definitely do it again - I'm already thinking about coming back in a couple of years with friends!

I did most of this experience with my friend Madeline who I met on the project! We travelled separately for this experience and had never met each other before, but bonded quickly during our time on the Shimongwe Veterinary EMS placement when I spent three weeks on the project and Madeline joined for the final two weeks. On Madeline’s first day, we were taken to a reptile centre with 150 different species of venomous snakes. Wow. That was incredible. These snakes and lizards were from all over the world, and the staff there collect venom from them every week! This was purely observational for us because they do have some dangerous snake species there, so we were kept safe at all times. We learned about how there is an antivenom shortage in South Africa, which is what made this so interesting, because there is a real need for this work. Instead of working directly with the snakes, we drew blood from different lizards for DNA testing. We split into teams of two and ended up being much faster than we expected. We got to work with geckos, Sungazers and lots of other types of lizards. We called this ‘Lizard day’, and it was so cool to work with so many different species. The vet placement was amazing, and we ended up working on over 140 buffalo in one week! The project staff were constantly on the move to help us, as there was a lot of work to do. There was darting, loading the buffalo into trailers and moving them to different farms. Every time the vet darted them, we did injections of dewormer, medication, or vitamins. Some of them needed to be microchipped, some of them needed to be checked for pregnancy, some needed tuberculosis testing and brucellosis testing, so we drew blood for analysis too. We even found some pregnancies and could see them through the ultrasounds. My main hope before going was to see a lion, and during my time on the project, I got to work with one! I even had the rare opportunity to give a lion an injection, which was my favourite part of the whole experience! Madeline hadn’t worked on big animals very much before going on this experience, so she thought the darting, anaesthesia, and learning how to handle these big, dangerous animals was really worthwhile. During the weekend, we went to Leshiba Wilderness, which is a private game reserve that has lots of rhinos. We got to go for a hike through this incredible environment, and it was so fun. We had a good view of the valley, went on a night drive, and saw a bunch of rhinos. We really appreciated the project helping to organise this excursion for us. The farm day with one of the vets was really fun. We had more of a quiet day in terms of the workload on Friday, so the vet found some work for us to do on his farm involving working with different animals, then helping to move them to the stables. After a long day of work, the vet organised a braai (traditional South African barbecue) for us and we got to eat it in the bush, which was pretty cool. We never knew what we were going to get, but we loved everything we did. Madeline says that after this experience, she definitely wants to pursue a career in wildlife. This experience helped her understand which areas she’s less experienced and less knowledgeable in, so she knows what to work on if she moves forward with this career path. I felt this experience was really valuable, and I really enjoyed it. I definitely want to do more of it in the future! Madeline felt management of wildlife is pretty different than in the U.S. It was really eye-opening to learn about the farms that people have in South Africa and the conservation work that’s done. Before I organised my placement, I didn't know what to expect, but when I booked a call with ACE, we spoke a lot about how conservation and vet work is done in South Africa. It’s hard to understand until you see and experience it for yourself. When we went out to do the vet work, we were in huge areas that aren’t just enclosures with animals, so I really understood how the whole ecosystem functions once we saw it and got to work in it too. I am really happy that I have more knowledge on the reality of vet work now, because when I was looking on the internet at the different options, I just did not understand how vet teams and procedures worked. Now I know why the unique work we did was so important! It’s similar to back home in Canada, except more exciting as we swapped deer and moose for buffalo, impala and sable!