Program Reviews

When I went to Africa last year I was 18, fresh out of school, I booked a 4 month trip to africa and I started with this project in South Africa. And I was mostly scared about not feeling comfortable or at home in the places i was going to be staying. But be assured, the african impact team make you feel like a family, especially the team in Cape Town! They are amazing, from a welcoming hug to the staffs calming natures and knowing you can ask them any question was so reassuring for my 18 year old self!!

The program offers a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with amazing animals and actually witness the difference that you are making. It also offers great connections to the local town, and opportunities to teach local youths about the importance of conservation. The opportunities offered, ranging from horseback safaris to meat prep for lion feeds can not be had anywhere else. The staff, the location, the food, everything about this trip was incredible.

During my time with African Impact, I felt well taken care of, informed, and useful. The program did an excellent job balancing work with fun. Everyone I interacted with was very kind and supportive. Livingstone, Zambia is a wonderful city although small in size. It's very close to Victoria falls and numerous other tourist attractions. The falls are absolutely breathtaking (that's an understatement). I also had the opportunities to go on a safari and go white water rafting on the weekends. Both experiences I would highly recommend. The volunteer work I did was meaningful and I genuinely felt as if I made a positive impact while volunteering with African Impact. My experiences with African Impact definitely put things into perspective for me and absolutely changed the trajectory of my life. The volunteer projects you can work on are diverse and can provide anyone with a variety of experiences. I think it was the variety of experiences that changed me the most. I highly recommend this program for anyone considering it. The people staying at the hostel were also a huge part of why this experience was so special for me.

Well, this project was supposed to be a perfect match, but it ended up the opposite.
The Cheetah Centre was meant to be a Reintroduction Centre where cheetahs should be in the process of being released in nature.
But they were not doing this. They were just taking care of the animals (this they could do), but even when they received a baby cheetah and could've done something to release this one back to nature at some point, they taught the baby to have contacr with humans and were making tours with it!
I felt really frustated and disappointed.

Other aspect that horrified me was the careless with the animals food (rabbits and chicks). They were kept in dirty and safeless (one day a wild animal entred and killed a lot of them) places. And they were killed in a way that I can not agree with, with the machines and all of them seeing the other dying and they were all "screaming".

Also, they made me cut meat when I told them that I didn't feel comfortable with it, specially when the animal was hanging with its blood leaking just behind me.

They were mocking at me all the time because I was vegan and I felt disrispected and not well welcomed.

For all these reasons I left the project before the end: I could not be part of all that.

I know the care-takers had good intentions, but this my point of view and, for me, this project is a definite NO.

Well,
About this volunteering experience I wanted to focus on how I felt myself being useful and helpful to the world.
I worked on the Marine Conservation Project with dolphins, where we collected data for research everyday on hoe many dolphins there were and how many tourists and how the tourists were affecting their behaviour.
For me, as a Biologist, doing things that come with science and conservation is my passion and what I aime to do for life.
So, having this amazing experience allowed me to see what I really want for my future, specially when it comes to deciding the group of animals I want to work with: marine mammals and how feeling useful as a scientist is absolutely essencial for my well-being.

The contact with the locals and the boat drivers was something that made me to even love more the project. This close contact allows you to see how important it is to have the community working with you and to be able for the project to work. Besides that, you get to see how their life is and how they live, how is there culture, their food,...
For me, having this experience is essencial and I could find it all at this project.

But, I had some little disappointments when it comes to the high price that we pay and how I couldn't see this money being truly used: the food wasn't very good; one of the teaching projects was going to stop because they had no money for fuel.
For the amount of money we pay and the amount of people at the project it makes no sense, at my point of view, for this to happen.
We were told that to feed all the kids from the schools the project worked at, for 1 month, they spent only 200 dollars! Each one there was paying around 2100 dollars per week!
The maths don't match.

But, even with these problems, I would recommend it, specially because I see the project changing things and helping people. And because it allows you to have amazing experiences that you will never forget!

Volunteering in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was absolutely amazing! From the amount of wildlife, the incredible staff and people, and the breathtaking adventures combined made this experience extraordinary.
While in Victoria Falls, I was able to go white water rafting in the Zambezi river, take a microlight above the falls, go on safari day trips and much more!
As I was volunteering, I go to get up close and personal with wild lions and would take part on community projects. I really got to understand and experience culture, which was an awesome addition.
Anyone looking to volunteer here, I would HIGHLY recommend it. I would love to go back sometime in the future!

Incredible experience with African impact. Tour guides were excellent and made us feel at home and well informed. Would advice to go into the main house as it is a more social environment. Made lots of friends and had an excellent time. You learn lots of photography and the teachers are great, the classes are small and they give you individualised attention. Great trip for people thinking of starting out photography but also beautiful landscapes for more advanced photographers.

This volunteer program is absolutely amazing for people who wants to make a difference. I thought volunteering was just a waste of time, but i got to try a bunch of different programs with AI and from what i saw, they really do make a change. They are invested in their project and spend a lot of time making sure that their programs are of good quality, commitment and helps towards a better future. The only thing I can be negative about is that the price was a little high for its value (when considering the whole package deal) and also for me who was looking for an adventure they were a little strict and I would appreciate more free-time. This is my individual opinion though, and does not affect what i think about the incredible volunteer programs they offer. The staff members were so nice and helpful, really cares about the volunteers and everybody they worked with and I felt safe and taken care of. I would absolutely recommend.

The prices were the only downside for me. The support and everything else you got were great!

This was my first trip alone for over two weeks, far from home. To have everything from, housing, food, safety and travel to the project, included in one, was amazing.

I was not an experienced traveler, so I found it no problem to pay extra and be able to get all tose things taken care off. It takes away a lot of stress when you go there. Knowing you don't have to worry about it when you are there.

This was one of the best things I have done in my life to date. Whilst I was out in Livingstone I really felt like I was in fact making a difference and that my money was going towards many different projects to help improve this poverty stricken place.

The African Impact team were amazing and really care about what they were doing which was infectious to all volunteers.

It was the best feeling to be involved in the build-it project in particular because I felt like the difference I made was being left behind and will always be there for people to see.

This experience opened my eyes to many different issues which I did not even realise existed, such as their lack of waste management which I believe is a prominent issue that more people should know about. Also I have already signed up to become part of another volunteering experience this year and I hope to switch careers to be part of the charity sector and continue making a difference on return from my travels all thanks to this valuable life experience.