Wildlife Conservation Volunteering with African Impact

What a fantastic way to learn and practise wildlife photography! The best experience out of my many best experiences here in Vic Falls was staying out in Zambezi National Park Cottages, with wildlife wandering past. The first day I couldn't get enough of photographing the baboons climbing on the roof and peering through the (barred!) windows, but I have to say it was the elephants that stole my heart. Sitting at the table on the porch and watching a herd of elephants wander past between us and the Zambezi river around 60m away was amazing. Even more amazing was peering cautiously around the edge of the house at a massive elephant feeding on ivory nuts by head-butting an ilala tree RIGHT next to the cottage! And I learnt so much about photography - there was a professional photographer who basically custom-designed a programme for me. We went and took photos of the vulture-feeding at Safari Lodge, hung out at the Vic Falls Golf Course to practise on birds and antelope, did Victoria Falls at dawn, and then I got some great editing tuition on Lightroom. Oh - and I haven't mentioned walking with lions, visiting the local orphanage, giving a lesson on lion conservation at the local primary school (outside under a tree), and going for game counts in Zambezi National Park. Oops... running out of room, but programme is flexible, and staff are extremely helpful, friendly, and safety-conscious. What do I remember most? Sitting at the table on the porch after dinner and seeing hyaena and genet wander around the corner of the cottage. Actually, so many memories (all recorded on my camera). It's made my photography leap ahead, actually - but I spent hours and hours on the photos after the trip, doing a photobook, and choosing a few photos to print. Great experience!

How hard are you prepared to work on your holiday? I ask because you're only going to get as much out of volunteering as you put in - and Lion Encounter provides you with many, many opportunities to help the lions as well as the local communities and schools - if you're ready!

I have always had a passion for big cats, especially lions and tigers - but have only ever been able to see them at the zoo or in pictures. I wanted hands on experience with lions, but not at a tourist zoo, I wanted a project that was making at difference to save wild lions - and Lion Encounters 4 Stage release program matched my wishes.

Spending time with the lion cubs each day was a dream come true, but this would not be possible without the amazing staff they have onsite - from the co-ordinators, lion handlers to the kitchen staff - all very friendly, happy and willing to assist with your stay in any way possible!

I'm not a morning person, but getting up for 5:30am to feed the cubs their morning milk was not a chore - seeing the cubs lap up their milk as the sun started to rise was an amazing experience.

The day is divided into three blocks - morning, mid-morning and afternoon. Each day was different with a variety of activities, from lion walks to meat prep, school visits to cook stove making, enclosure cleaning to visiting the pride of lions at Stage 2, and more.

Time off can also be arranged - I went White Water Rafting with some of the other volunteers - something I never thought I would do! I was nervous at first, but after making the first rapid successfully, it was so much fun!

I could go on, but best to go and experience the project for yourself - who knows, maybe I'll see you there - I'm sure I'll go back again!

It is really difficult to put into words how fantastic this entire experience was. I recently returned from three weeks and Thanda and found it exceeded my expectations.

I was very very nervous, having never traveled much before, and certainly never having traveled alone. But from the minute I landed in Durban and was greeted by African Impacted staff, I felt completely at ease. Everything was explained right away, I was never guessing where I needed to be or what I needed to be doing. The staff there is incredible. Everyone from the guides to the business managers to the cooks was incredibly friendly and helpful and cheerful. The happiness and joy is contagious, even when you are in a new environment and very jet-lagged!

The first day included a lot of orientation. All of the information we needed was presented to us, which was a LOT of information, but necessary to have. The project aims orientation was very intense as well; there is a lot to learn and remember! I would definitely recommend reading through the information they give you via email ahead of time!

I felt like I really knew the importance of the data we were collected, and exactly how it was being used. It was great that members of the wildlife management team, the ecologist, APU, etc, were often stopping by for dinner or joining us on projects. It allowed us to really understand everything that goes into maintaining a healthy reserve and how the work we were doing helped this.

I feel like I accomplished quite a bit in three weeks, and I left feeling like I had really done my part towards a cause I care greatly about! On top of that, I had so much fun! Great friends, great times. All together, a life changing experience.

All I can say is that since I left Thanda in Sept.2011, I've been planning my next trip back again in 2012. It was amazing, awesome, fantastic. The project managers, the game-drives, the laughs, the braai under the stars, the children we gave presentations to, the road trips to the market to get ice-cream, the photography workshop with Emile, the lions eating a warthog at night, watching the elephant herd for four hours, and everything in between. If anyone asks me, I recommend this program 100%. You will need a sense of adventure and maybe be ok with roughing it a little, and give my sincere regards to the project managers who will be your friends for life... :)