From baboon walks, tracking rhinos and camping out on the reserve - hear all about my time volunteering in Namibia!
My name is Hermione and in September I went to the Wildlife sanctuary and reserve in Namibia. I’ve struggled with anxiety quite badly for the past few years, so this was massive step out of my comfort zone to do this by myself but it has made me grow as a person and I would 100% return!
copy-675ac0a90c271.jpg)
I have always loved animals and always had many pets growing up and I would love to work with animals in the future and going to Namibia opened up my eyes to so many different opportunities.
"This was massive step out of my comfort zone to do this by myself but it has made me grow as a person and I would 100% return! "
TMR were so helpful throughout the whole process, and I’d definitely book with them again, I scheduled a zoom call to ask more questions and they were more than happy to help me. When I first arrived in Namibia I got picked up from the airport and arrived at the sanctuary, there were baboons, meerkats, polecats and more on the sanctuary as soon as you arrive which made it an amazing warm welcome.
My two favourite activities I did throughout my time on the programme was the baboon walk, they’d jump on you and sit on your shoulders or on your hips. I also loved rhino rangers which is where you spend a night on the reserve in a tent and drive around to track rhinos, elephants etc and it’s so surreal when you see the animals so close to you! There were three female lions 20 metres away from us!
Some of the other activities include cleaning the animal’s enclosures out, feeding carnivores, feeding the baboons, cheetah walk and so many more fun activities!
On a Saturday the staff would organise a fun activity for everyone to take part in, or you could go to bush camp and chill out by the swimming pool and have lunch! On Sundays we signed up to go to the local town and we went to a craft market and the local shopping mall!
There were about 40-50 other volunteers there which they were all lovely, I made some amazing friends out there who I’m still in contact with now, you meet so many different people from around the world. The accommodation was much better than I expected, the beds were comfy, clean, and I felt safe the whole time during my stay there.
For anyone looking to help animals, meet new people and have an adventure then I would highly recommend Namibia.
