Hear about my time volunteering on the conservation programme at Amakhala!
In August I volunteered on the South Africa Amakhala Big 5 Conservation. I chose this programme out of the many volunteer programmes TMR have to offer because it offers the chance to work in both animal conservation and in the local community.
I joined the South Africa group on Facebook around 5 months prior to departure. The page consists of many people who had already volunteered on this programme offering tips and things to remember to pack which was so helpful! I was also able to chat to others volunteering at the same time as me which was great.
" TMR made the process leading up to the trip so smooth and I would recommend them to anyone looking for an experience similar to mine. "
Whilst waiting in arrivals at Port Elizabeth airport, I noticed a girl who I had spoke with on the Facebook page. We made friends instantly and still chat every week despite living on opposite sides of the UK. We were greeted by our driver and off we went with four others, to the volunteer house which was around an hour from the airport, in Paterson.
Each day was different, usually starting between 6am and 7am and finishing around 4:30pm. Twice a week we began the day with a morning drive around the reserve in the cruisers, to assist the ecology team with predator monitoring. We had to locate the Lions and Cheetahs to check for fullness or hunger, observe for scars, and check for evidence of a hunt, and report this back to the ecology team. We got super close and saw so many animals along the way such as Zebra, Elephant, and even Buffalo!
One day per week was dedicated to the local community. In the morning we visited a local primary school where we were all given a work book and each worked with a student covering the alphabet, colours and basic sentences. We then went back to the volunteer house to make sandwiches. We handed these out to the children at the local church before spending the afternoon playing games, dancing, and painting the local nursery.
Some other jobs we carried out on the reserve include fence patrol, maintenance and general reserve fieldwork, and herbivore monitoring.
It wasn’t all work though, we got to spend one night in the luxury safari lodge. We were greeted with sweet treats and fresh orange juice and shown to our lodges. We had some free time to relax in both our private pool, and the pool overlooking the heart of the reserve. We had a three course meal and the following morning a cooked breakfast before being picked up by the coordinators to get back to work.
After a full day on the reserve we would split into teams and take turns making a meal for everyone, followed by a few drinks around the camp fire listening to music and playing games. There was also couple of local restaurants that we all went to together where we could try local food.
The weekends consisted of zip lining, giraffe trekking and visiting the Addo Elephant park. This was all organised whilst at the volunteer house and was really affordable. One weekend a group of us decided to go to Jefferys Bay for the night. This was around a 1 hour and 30 minute drive away. We had a look round the surf shops, took a surf lesson, and spent the afternoon on the beach.
There was 16 of us volunteering on the reserve. Most people on their own and some in two’s as friends or in couples. It really didn’t take long for us to form one big friendship group.
We all stayed in the volunteer house, along with two volunteer coordinators from the reserve, who were absolutely great! The were so helpful and were happy to answer our questions all day every day. They taught us so much.
There was a large kitchen where we could all cook and eat, a living area where we watched movies and relaxed, and an outdoor seating area with a camp fire and even a pool. The rooms were cleaned by cleaners each day, clothes were washed, the beds were comfy, and most importantly the fridge was always full of food.
My favourite part of the experience was when we got to camp on the reserve. This was during the super moon when the risk of Rhino poaching was at its highest. We learnt so much about the Rhinos, the anti-poaching unit, and even managed to spot a calf. During our time camping we had a traditional braai, we went on a night drive and saw a porky pine family which is really rare, and we went on a guided bush walk where we learnt about animal tracking.
I had the best experience on the Amakhala game reserve and would love to return in the future. TMR made the process leading up to the trip so smooth and I would recommend them to anyone looking for an experience similar to mine.
