Community Teaching and Wildlife Management, Antelope Park

Antelope Park is truly one of the most memorable places I have ever experienced, and I can honestly say it changed me as a person. I was mainly involved in the community projects and wildlife work, and both were incredibly rewarding. The community initiatives felt impactful and well thought-out, and it was great to be part of projects that genuinely support local people rather than just observing from the outside. The wildlife side was equally memorable, giving real insight into conservation work and the challenges involved. I originally went for three weeks and ended up extending my stay for an extra week, which says a lot about how much I was enjoying the experience. I met some amazing people and made some amazing friendships. I also had some horse riding lessons with Ted, and I can't thank him enough for his patience - especially for putting up with me and the diva I definitely was at times. The staff I worked with on these projects were knowledgeable, supportive, and clearly passionate about what they do, which made a big difference to the overall experience. There's a real sense of purpose at Antelope Park, and you really feel that your time there is being used well. Since getting home, I've realised just how much I miss Antelope Park — the lifestyle, the environment, and especially the people. I left feeling like l'd gained a lot personally, and I already know I'll be back so I can get even more involved. Thank you for an incredible experience!

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I had my best time during my volunteering in Wildlife and Communities. The combination of both programmes gave me the chance to get to know and interact everyday with some amazing animals and at the same time to learn about the life in Zimbabwe for less fortunate people. I would definitely define this time spent here as the most enlightening of my life and would recommend it to everyone to try it, you will love it for sure!

my favourite experience was The community project at antelope park. Rosine and Stefan were incredible with teaching us about the community side of Zimbabwe. Throughout the community program we spent a day at a primary school with helping the kids practice for there exam. We also visited the local church and soup kitchen where we cooked and served food to the homeless. We also went shopping and brought lots of gifts and treats and took them to the orphanage to give to the kids. These experiences definitely impacted my life in the best way, as much as the community project is about helping others in the community, these experiences helped me in so many ways regarding understanding how much I appreciate my life and how good it is to know that there are good people in the world like Antelope park, Rosine, Stefan, Johnathan and Katie who are making a difference in the world where it matters. The community project was incredible in every way. I would 10/10 recommend it. From Dan

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I love it. The program with communities at first was not what I expected. I thought that we were doing more and more than 3 days a week and just half of the days, so of course it changed after Covid they said so it was more before covid. But wonderful staff, they always try to do the best of a situation. And the place Antelope park is just so beautiful and the activities was so worth to do and get to know the volunteers better. I really going to miss this place, staff and volunteers a lot. DO IT, you will love it!!!

I had the best time, I really l0ved the wildlife pr0ject because 0f all the differents activities we did such as feeding the li0ns r cleaning the elephant`s enclsure. The staff w0rking there is als0 really nice, they knw lts ab0ut the animals present there. I als0 had a great time at the c0mmumity prject where we culd helps kids in maths amd english and m0re imp0rtantly play s0ccer with them. The kids are all s0 nice and keen t0 learn new things.

I was very happy about the overall stay at Antelope Park. It was nice experience being around lions, helping, but also doing a difference in community with the kids and lastly learning how to ride a horse. The staff made me feel home even though I was in Africa.

This was my second time at Antelope Park and I will definitely be returning again. The experience has been just as amazing as the first time. I really enjoyed going into the community and seeing how sweet and happy the kids were to see us come.

My stay at Antelope Park has been amazing. I got welcomed by a kind and warm volunteer manager the first day. Since then I have had good days on the community project. The staff in the community-office are all dedicated to their work, and all the volunteers notice that. The only thing that could be a little bit better, is the communication between the community manager and the coordinators. All the staff is always wanting to make every experience good. All in all this experience has been great. I already want to come back to this place for even more amazing experiences.

This stay at antelope park has been one of the best three weeks of my life ! I’ve done so many different things, met so many new people from all over the world and discovered an amazing new culture. Helping the kids at school has been fantastic and I really felt helpful. Everyone there is so kind and open minded, that we really felt at home. Can’t wait to come back !

I have had four amazing weeks. The people was so sweet and helpful. It has been fantastic to see the culture and get to know new people. Teaching the children was so nice, seeing them make progress is unforgettable and seeing the wild animal life is a thing i never will forget! Thank you AP!

This was one of the best experiences I ever made. I met so many nice people and the whole stay and the work there was amazing. I really enjoyed my time there and would do something like this every time again.

Travelling solo for the first time and choosing Africa as my destination put my friends and family in shock, but it was the best decision of my life! In fact, I spent maybe a few hours within those 2 weeks on my own, the rest of the time was spent in a company of the most wonderful and special people I met there! Going solo and meeting friends for life there was one of the highlights of my trip! I didn't expect to meet so many likeminded people, and that I would be able to call some of them my soulmates! It is really hard to put in words everything we got to experience, see and do within 2 weeks of volunteering. I was on Community Teaching and Lion Conservation Project and I couldn't have chosen a better option. The days were full of contracts with eye-opening and quite emotional experiences in community and days filled with positivity working and spending time with animals! It was a perfect balance to get to experience all aspects of volunteering. As a volunteer you are coming with a hope to change someone else's lives but I must say that the kids, we were fortunate to work with, changed ours. They shine brighter than African sun no matter what and there is so much we can and should learn from them. They were the main inspiration for me! I am so proud of myself that I took the risk of going to Africa on my own, despite of all the stereotypes and some horror stories people were telling me about it and got to see everything for myself and make my own mind about it. I was told that I was going to be killed etc but I actually got nothing but the smiles from the amazing local people who were so welcoming and kind to us. I can't wait to come back for a longer period of time as 2 weeks flew like one day! For all future volunteers who are in doubt - don't be! :) Don't wait for the perfect month, weather or right company to follow you. Just go and you will have the time of your life! It is a great self-discovery and believe me, your life will never be the same again!

In the whole, I liked the volunteer placement we were living in due to it was enough huge for three people and the bed was comfortable. The program administration was well planned, but sometimes the pre-departure was slow and we felt it was a waste of time. The community engagement was perfect and we had the opportunity to explore Gweru/ Mkoba. I felt safe regarding health and safety. I was pleased with the number of social activities and excursions we could choose between.

It has been an amazing experience staying at Antelope Park and being on the community project, where you meet the local people every day, which is an eye opener. All the activities in the weekend makes it even more fun, where you either can join the elephant walks or the lion walks, do meat prep for lions or just chill and have fun at the pool. The staff is so friendly and I would definitely visit again, if I get the chance.

What an amazing and incredible experience!!!! I was sad to be leaving Antelope Park because I felt like I was at home and found myself. Working on the combination lion and community project was so fantastic. Being able to be exposed to the different projects the park works on was great. The whole journey I went through travelling to Africa by myself and then working with the lions and community was life changing. The experience was humbling, disturbing and exhilarating. The opportunity to help the local community was really rewarding and I feel very passionate about continuing volunteer work to assist the people of Zimbabwe. I will definitely be back to continue working with the community. The activities and excursions offered provided a good balance to working and being able to explore and really get to know the country of Zimbabwe. I recommend this volunteer program to anyone who is passionate about working with disadvantaged and under resourced communities as well as being passionate about conservation of our wildlife.

I had a great time here at AP. Even though i chose community - project I had the possibility to join other projects like the lion and medical-project! The people here are very warm and welcoming, and makes you feel safe and included. That makes the social environment very fun! I have learned a lot about Zimbabwe and their culture and nature, but also a lot about myself and what is important to me and my life. That is because of the differences here composed to Norway, and seeing the people here so happy and thankful, even though they live with lower luxury and in a more unsafe world. It gave me another view.

My five weeks at AP met all of my expectations. The day to day managers were so nice and hardworking, and I could really feel them trying to meet my needs, whilst making things run at AP. The lion handlers were so sweet, and really build a connection with us volunteers over time. There were some grouping amongst the volunteers that made it a bit more intimidation to mingle during free time, especially in the beginning. But that is to be expected with so many young people at the same place.

My time spent at AP has been very eye opening but also really fun. I have met some incredible people and definitely feel like this was home for the short time I was living here. I am 100% coming back.

I had an amazing time at Antelope Park. It is a really good experience being on community to get introduced to Africa and the local people. Al the activities we could do are really cool. I am definitely coming back here!

I spent 6 weeks on the Community Teaching and Lion Conservation Program. Whether it was teaching wildlife conservation at the AEC School, helping teach math/English in a special needs classroom, or helping construction in a rural primary school, I had an amazing experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I am thankful for having the opportunity to learn from the local community and get a new perspective on life. The local staff at Antelope Park was wonderful and I got to meet so many volunteers from around the world. This is a once in a life experience that I would recommend to anyone who wants to get involved and give back. I truly felt like I was making a real impact in the schools.