Program Reviews

A typical day (as far as there is one!) would be: be on the horses from 6 'till 8. Beautiful to ride up a hill and see giraffes and wildebeest from a horse back. We've even seen elephants and hippos!
Back at Bushhouse: change clothes and get ready for the day.
We would either go for a gamedrive, bush walk, go to the orphanage or do some conservationwork. You never know what you can expect. Everyday is a surprise.
Other than the normal days at Bushhouse, we had trips to Jessica the Hippo, God's Window, Sabi (extreme adventures), Kosi Bay. Such amazing places and experiances! The whole group grows closer every week and it starts to feel like you've known them for ever.

The rangers in Kwa Madwala are amazing and whenever there's a problem, they help you to find a solution. Problems with money? They will try and work something out with you.
And then ofcourse there are the party nights. Have a braai and a beer in the bush in Africa. Could life be any better?

I deffinately reccomend this programme. It had tought me so much about myself, being in a group, and what I want to do in the future.
You really REALLY need to go 10 weeks if you go. 80% of the 6 weekers in my group extended to 10 in the end.
I would go again in a second if I could!

Couldn't recommend this programme more highly! If you are having any doubts then my only advice would be to 100% go for it.
I was a late booking, however the staff at both Leap towers and out in Venezuela were more than hopefully with arranging last minute flights and details, and sending my contact information for the people I was going to be out in Venezuela with so I was able to chat online with them before. The Facebook group that is set up by the Leap is able to tell you so much important information, and, it is a classic case of however silly you think the question is, someone else will be thinking it or will be able to answer it!
The lodge in Venezuela is in a perfect location close to the beach, the local village, the rainforest and a larger town with modern restaurants and internet cafes only a short bus journey away. The days were always busy and fulfilling with a variety of volunteering programs designed to immerse all volunteers within helping the local community as much as possible. Our activities changed from week to week, from teaching, to marine and wildlife conservation you are sure to be able to try out something that you feel you enjoy and are learning from.
The evenings are also very busy, with the rock climbing wall in the lodge, or the gym, or just kicking back on the beach with a beer in front of the sunset (which we did almost every night) The set up at the lodge is the perfect place for a party, and many of these happened very spontaneously during the warm evenings. There is a great speaker system which inevitably led to the different volunteering groups from different countries working to try and 'out-music' the other! And with the price of rum being so cheap the dancing was very entertaining. Volunteers take turns to help out with the cooking, which is a great way to learn some new skills which can be used once you get home and go off to uni or want to impress your family. Much of the food is caught locally, such as fresh fish, and I didn't find myself going hungry once! In fact quite the opposite!
I completely my trip to Venezuela as part of a year long year out, however without a shadow of a doubt this was the most positive and enjoyable part of all the travelling I did. I have defiantly made friends for life and will always look back with pride and love on my time in Venezuela and the people who helped me get so much out it, including the people at Leap towers as well as Brendon and the team in camp over in puerto la cruz, and the people I met out there.

I will never forget my time in Borneo, I learned so much from my experiences and they will stay with me for a long time. The Leap is such a friendly small company that makes you feel like you're one of their family when you are out far away from your own. They have selected such great people out in the local communities to look after you and teach you, they are some people I will never forget. I recommend travelling with an organisation like The Leap for first-time travellers as this way you can guarantee you will be with a good bunch of people and learn the ropes of travelling with pros. An example of something we did was a night in a jungle sleeping in hammocks and it was a little scary but we had such a great team out with us we felt fine. This is not one to select if you don't want to get your hands dirty or do manual labour because almost everyday consisted of either shovelling cement or chopping bamboo. It was the best fun I had on my Gap year and made some great friends!

The experience was absolutely unforgettable. At first I was pretty sceptical about doing an organised trip for my gap year but in the end I was so glad that I did it.

I lost my bag on the first flight out and never got it back! The leap were super helpful with trying to deal with the airline and in trying to recover it.

I also caught meningitis when I was out there with them (freak accident!) and the group leaders were amazing, helpful and professional.

The time there was really made all the more special by the quality of the team that I was with. I made some life-long friends out there, all from completely different backgrounds. The special thing about the trip is the length of it (vastly longer than others available from different companies) that offers the most important aspect - the chance to forge friendships and relationships with people out to do the same thing as you - have fun!

I could not have spent my money better, or asked for a better experience to start off my travels.

This is definitely not "organised fun" so you have all the freedom to do your own things in free time.

Extremely enjoyable and rewarding experience, getting the most out of a unique, extraordinary country.

This trip has left me with a group of life long friends from around the world, experiences that have plus will affect me forever, and skills to help me through life. Everyday was a new adventure, from building hatcheries for turtle eggs to teaching English at a local school to playing volleyball with the Costa Rican Cost Guard to hearing stories from past poachers to watching a turtle lay eggs to have a sing-a-long with the group. I would highly recommend this trip.

Daily work varied and was labor intensive but very rewarding. Many activities to do in the surrounding area and throughout the country. It was difficult adjusting to the culture shock but the program is very welcoming.

Was brilliant. Really enjoyed it met incredible people and thought that the leap did a great job of arranging everything. Arusha was so good and I liked the fact that the majority of time was based there. The only thing was there was SO much physical manual work which often only the boys could do! I loved the teaching aspect and mingling with the teachers was a fantastic experience.

I would thoroughly recommend this programme to someone wanting a real experience, not just drinking on a beach (not to say you won't in Tanzania!).
Basically, you would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful country than Tanzania, obviously the national parks, and coast, but more amazingly the day to day scenery and culture.
On the programme, you are thrown head in, the work is hard but you get used to it pretty quickly. On this programme their is a lot more manual work which I enjoyed because it meant less faffing around teaching and all that, all of which I am a complete fail at.
The local people are amazing, if you take the time to get out into town not just in placement hours, I guarantee you will make amazing friends, and make sure you get the staff to take you out. Basically, you can very easily waste this trip by simply staying in the compound, and not experiencing what amazing opportunities are available every day,

Lastly, the staff were fantastic, the food was great and I have never had a more fulfilling period in my life.

Absolutely wonderful organisation, days are planned fully with more than enough to do and the program is flexible enough to incorporate other things you might want to do. The safety and security is first rate and reaching The Leap with questions is very easy. Weekends are planned to keep you as busy or chilled as you choose. Having been a part of several programs with various organisations, I can safely say The Leap was by far the best and I would definately go again!!

This was a really fun program, I met a lot of really nice people on the trip. The leaders were very informative and chose a wide varity of areas for the volunteers to help at. We went to three different schools to volunteer at, doing a range of manual labor to teaching English and geography to the students. At the end of the program we were given the opportunity to travel to Zanzibar for the week which was so much fun! Overall, it was such a lovely and enriching experience and I have recommended it to many of my friends!