IVHQ Victoria Falls Rhino Conservation

I participated in the Nakavango Conservation Program through IVHQ just this February and it was a wonderful experience. IVHQ has many programs to choose from and I basically flipped a coin to decide on Africa, which worked out well. If you are interested in volunteering, consider this program. There were people ranging from 18-65 and because it didn't require any special skills or training, it was a great intro to volunteering abroad. If you can prune a tree or pull weeds, you can be useful to this project. Working as a team, about 20 volunteers and two guides did things such as creating garden beds, alien plant removal, weeding, and general maintenance. It was all simple work and though it didn't always feel like we were doing much, the manager assured us that even the simple tasks meant other staff could focus on other work. Even simple tasks like pulling out datura saved rhinos and elephants from liver damage and improved grasslands while just weeding the gardens at the local school helped provide food to the community. With a scheduled week and relatively short shifts (we weren't expected to work during the heat of the day), the days passed way too quickly.
I always felt supported by the staff, safe and well taken care of. I would compare the accommodations to camping with a trailer or in a nice cabin. There was staff to clean our rooms (everyone had their own room) and excellent chefs made delicious meals, often with fresh veggies from our own garden. We had shared bathrooms, private rooms, laundry service on Weds, several common areas, and a pool. Overall, we had everything we needed plus some little perks. One of the highlights was how often we did game drives in the park. I should have brought a better camera!