South Africa - Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

I had so much fun with staff at Moholoholo Wildlife Rehab Centre and the animals like the honey badgers, Wild dogs, owls, cheetahs, servals and the Vultures, whom i got to spend a lot time with and got a memorable and wonderful experience and exposure to the community and the animals i never got to see/work with in the wild

Volunteering in Moholoholo will be my most satisfying experience of my entire life ! As I didn't expected to be as close as the animals ! I got attached to a serval 'Aurora' which my groupe was responsible to take care of ! Feeding babies at the clinic and assisting vet operations such as post mortem were also a big step for me as I usually avoid watching those but it is so interesting and we learn a lot from the animal nurses and the vet !

Someone had brought a young monkey that was in need of assistance. The Lady couldn’t make it up the hill so she just handed me the animal wrapped in a towel. I was worried i would be in trouble for handling the primate but I couldn’t help but smile down at his little helpless face. I have no official qualifications when it comes to animals but in that moment I pictured myself being able helping him like the amazing vets he was about to see. That was a very fulfilling feeling.

My most memorable experience with the project "South Africa - Wildlife Rehabilitation Center" was honestly everything. The fact that you can hands on interact with the African wildlife is incredibly special!

A great place for animals and dedicated people who care for them. Animals look really happy although in captivity. Also we managed to release some animals and that is the best reward. This place is a second home for me and I will always keep coming back.

Seeing my son sitting with 3 baboons sleeping and grooming on him. It took him a week and a half to make them trust him and his persistence paid well. It's an experience he will never forget.Their staff is wonderful and caring. It's the best educational and enjoyable experience me and my wife could give to our children.

The most amazing experience was opportunity to help vultures who were poisoned. Fortunetely, after good care, they recovered. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is definitely a place where i left a piece of my heart. I learned a lot about wildlife conservation and wild animals. This gave me an opportunity to got close to nature.

Everything was memorable and it's really hard to share one single experience, but if I'm pressed to choose I'd say for me working with the honey-badgers was amazing because it was a lifelong dream. The staff is amazing, they are so kind and thoughtful and helpful. The whole setup is incredibly complex and efficient and working here showed me just how much effort the staff and owners put into their work. Amazing!!! I'd do it again anytime!!!

One notice for GoEco's support, there is more things that have to be paid with cash. And better notify people about it. And cash out is not easy. All extra activities in Moholoholo have to be paid with cash. ATM only in Hoedspruit, that far away. Better to do cash out in airport.

I really appreciate the level of support and outreach provided by the GoEco team including pre departure information, visa requirements and general questions regarding placement. The program description on the Go Eco website was informative and accurate.

Going to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center was a life changing experience. It was an amazing opportunity living, working and helping the animals at the Center. As well, I met gorgeous people who I'm still in contact with. It was really hard for me to go.I really hope that I can come back one day. Except that, GoEco always gave me a safe and good feeling, that, in case anything would happen, they would always be ready to help and support me. It was really nice asking me during the trip how I am going and if everything's fine. Thanks to GoEco!

Overall my experience was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, I learned a great deal and was able to get directly involved with the animals. I have come away with new friends and new perspectives on conservation. The local team were friendly, welcoming and knowledgeable. Everyone took time to explain procedures and methods to volunteers and ask for opinions and views. The staff I would like to give particular thanks to are Carla, Becky, Nikita and Taita. Internal and external volunteer activities and excursions were organised well and promptly. All volunteers were encouraged to take part in as many internal activities as possible and the local team went out of their way to make sure volunteers took part on all those activities they wanted. In terms of what could be done better and the reason I have rated the 'Facilities and Local Team and Overall Experience' questions a 4 not a 5, was the food! Whilst the food was generally decent, lunches were the worst meal of the day and in a couple of cases during my 3 weeks, inedible. Additionally, if you were a vegetarian, the options provided for the main part of a meal were usually poor. I'm sure better, nutritious food could be provided economically.

There was too many positives to choose my favorite! the staff were amazing, facilities and food high standard and getting hands on time with the animals every day and always room for additional activities like feeding the vultures, hippos and zebras out in the reserve. Plenty of town trips for wifi and additional trips to nhoveni (private game reserve) or Kruger. When I was volunteering there were 15 other volunteers all around my age. we all got along and managed to complete our daily dutys rather quickly allowing for some more free time and time to participate in other activities.

Working with many other volunteers and learning about the animals and the rehabilitation process from experienced and dedicated staff was awesome. The Wildlife Rehabilitation centre is an incredible place to learn and work hands on with animals and experienced staff and meet wonderful people from all over the world. Every morning you wake up at 7am to do your daily morning rounds until 8.30 and then the whole group walks to an amazingly prepared breakfast at forest camp. we return at 9am and begin the big jobs that involve the whole group and staff to assist with the larger animals. There is then a break for around 2 hours for free time and then lunch time at 1. After lunch there is usually an hour of free time and then afternoon rounds begin. Dinner is served at 7. The food, the people, the animals and everything was incredible, I definitely recommend it, although I recommend a stay of no longer than 3 weeks as the days do get quite monotonous :)

I loved the experience, learnt a lot and had a lot of fun. I would also like to point out that there is a strict dress code, ban on alcohol, no TV or music and this is due to the strict religious beliefs of the director. While I am sure like I did, most volunteers can deal with that, there may be some that would prefer to know that before they arrive.

There was too many positives in the program! the staff were amazing, facilities and food high standard and getting hands on time with the animals every day and always room for additional activities like feeding the vultures, hippos and zebras out in the reserve. Plenty of town trips for wifi and additional trips to nhoveni (private game reserve) or Kruger. When I was volunteering there were 15 other volunteers all around my age. we all got along and managed to complete our daily dutys rather quickly allowing for some more free time and time to participate in other activities.

Working with many other volunteers and learning about the animals and the rehabilitation process from experienced and dedicated staff were awesome. The Wildlife Rehabilitation centre is an incredible place to learn and work hands on with animals and experienced staff and meet wonderful people from all over the world. Every morning you wake up at 7am to do your daily morning rounds until 8.30 and then the whole group walks to an amazingly prepared breakfast at forest camp. we return at 9am and begin the big jobs that involve the whole group and staff to assist with the larger animals. There is then a break for around 2 hours for free time and then lunch time at 1. After lunch there is usually an hour of free time and then afternoon rounds begin. Dinner is served at 7. The food, the people, the animals and everything was incredible, I definitely recommend it, although I recommend a stay of no longer than 3 weeks as the days do get quite monotonous :)

This experience was absolutely amazing and I fully intend on going back. I had never been out of the US before and decided that this seemed like the perfect opportunity to change that and the GoEco team made the process so easy. They were prompt in responding to questions and sent me frequent reminders so that I would have all of my paperwork in order before leaving. Upon arriving there was a group of volunteers waiting to greet me and the experience improved from there! I got hands on experience with lions, cheetahs, mongooses, caracals, leopards, and the list goes on! It was almost too good to be true! The program provided all necessities and meals which made it really easy to focus all of my attention on the animals and the amazing experience I was having. In addition to the wildlife we were able to go on excursions to sight see in the surrounding area. This trip was inspirational in so many ways. I have even gone on to change my university degree from web design to veterinary medicine to open up more opportunities like this one.