Wildlife Volunteer Projects in South Africa

Activities for this programme vary on a day to day basis and are dependent on weather and other factors. There is an itinerary of all the activities which are scheduled for each week. The itinerary is designed in such a way that volunteers are divided into groups of up to 10 volunteers per group, depending on the number of volunteers. Each group will have an outdoor volunteer coordinator as a leader and mentor. The groups will be engaged in different daily activities, but will all do the same type and number of activities by the end of the week. In some cases all the groups might do the same activity at the same time depending on the type of activity e.g. game capture.
Lion Cubs at the reserve will notice that your activities include some but are not limited to:

• Removal of alien vegetation in and around the reserve
• Lion tracking and monitoring
• School feeding schemes (speak to us if you would like to go as this is voluntary)
• Wildlife structures
• Tree planting and landscaping
• Game drives
• Predator interaction and caring
• Elephant sanctuary
• Fauna and flora work in the nursery
• Wilderness trail walks and patrols
• Fence patrol
• Game counts
• Game capture
• Anti poaching efforts

Volunteers joining the wildlife reserve program in South Africa, Port Elizabeth are accommodated at the reserve itself making the daily schedule highly flexible and focused more on volunteer work for animals at the reserve. A typical schedule for volunteers looks something like;

• Monday - Arrival in Port Elizabeth
• Tuesday - Orientation + Introduction to the project.  Orientation session will be conducted by the local coordinator, covering topic areas; such as safety, culture, language, places to visit, behaviour, food, and other suggestion over things to do in South Africa, Port Elizabeth.
• Wed to Fri - Volunteer Work
• Breakfast - 09:30 am to 10:00 am
• Working hours - 07:30 am to 04:00 pm (all other activities; such as meals and breaks are adjusted within this time)
• Lunch - 01:00 pm to 02:00 pm
• Dinner - 06:00 pm to 07:00 pm

The same volunteer work schedule continues from the second week onwards
Weekends - Free to explore the city, and do activities such as;

Note: Please note, the schedule may vary depending on the particular project the volunteer is participating on.

Volunteering Solutions arranges and facilitates ease of access, living and volunteering for all its international volunteers. All they have to do is pack their bags and arrive in Port Elizabeth.
 

Airport Receive/ Transfer

Volunteers are picked up from the Port Elizabeth Airport. Scheduled transfers are arranged to and from the airport to the reserve. The reserve is approximately 45 minutes from the airport. All volunteers need to arrive at Port Elizabeth Airport on Monday before 4pm, as transfer is provided till that time only.
 

Orientation

The volunteers would be a given a basic orientation with guidelines and instructions by the project coordinators. A weekly itinerary is also prepared assigning roles and responsibilities to the volunteers.
 

Accommodation

Volunteers are housed in dorm style accommodation. The dorms are alotted on same gender basis. In cases where volunteers want to stay as a couple, this can be arranged at an extra cost and also depends on the availability of rooms unless arrangements were made prior to arrival. Volunteers  are more than welcome to socialize in the common area such as the entertainment area, lounge, TV area etc.

Laundry facility is available for two days in a week at an extra cost. Internet service is also available during certain designated hours.


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Meals

Volunteers are provided with meals on all seven days of the week. Your basic breakfast will consist of cereals, bread, butter, jam, tea, coffee and cheese, but sometimes volunteers are also served eggs, sausages or baked beans, and sometimes a combination of the both.