Travellers voluntary projects overseas for gap years, career breakers, grownup gappers, mature gappers and retired people.

+44 01903 502595
Email Us
Get a brochure

  You are here >

Where would you like to go?

 

Search this website

 

Travellers Sponsorship Beneficiary Wins 2007 International Children's Peace Prize! - Click here to read more...

 

South Africa, Sun, Surf and Sea, where you can do voluntary projects in teaching, care work, work experience, conservation, sports, and much more!

AD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY FEEDBACK

Return to the South Africa Home Page and
the list of all our projects in South Africa

Return to Wildlife Sanctuary Page

 

NAME: Zoe Trevett
AGE: 28
PLACEMENT: Wildlife Sanctuary
COUNTRY: South Africa

Hi Stephanie, 

Got back safe and sound and had a wonderful trip. I am so pleased I did the placement and wish I was still there!! Thank you so much for arranging everything, it all seemed to go very smoothly.

Regards, Zoe Trevett

What experience do you feel you gained? I feel I have gained a better understanding of how animals function in the wild and how nature affects the balance. I have learnt how to care for animals but also when to and when not to fear them. I have learnt how to adapt to situations and to fit in with systems but also how to make suggestions of improvements where appropriate.

What was the best thing about your placement? The best thing was definitely the people that I met, both in terms of the volunteers and the hosts. Sandy and Percy were so hospitable and make us feel so welcome and a part of the family. The care and attention to the animals is excellent and they work so hard to make sure the enclosures are the best they can be given with the funds available. I was pleased with the amount of contact there was with the animals, aside from the obvious ones which you couldn't interact with. There was a good balance between work and play and a good variety of activities.


Zoe Trevett

Would you recommend this placement to anyone else? Definitely, I absolutely loved my time there and was extremely sad to leave again. I would definitely go back myself.
What type of person do you think this placement would suit? Someone who loves all types of animals and is interested in their welfare. Someone who is perhaps worried about being away from home, as the wildlife sanctuary is basically a home from home. I feel as if I have an extended family now!

Volunteers do need to be flexible as jobs do change and they may need to contribute with ideas and have the enthusiasm to drive a project through. There are so many jobs that need doing that it is sometimes hard to know which is the priority. And lastly, someone who absolutely isn't afraid to get dirty (oh and who isn't afraid of spiders, especially ones who sleep with you!).
Can you think of any improvements that could be made to the placement? Sandy and Percy have made it as comfortable as possible for both the volunteers and the animals. Aside from needing more money and more volunteers, there isn't much more they can do. There are so many ideas they have for improvements and they are only just learning together with the volunteers, how to move forward and how to co-ordinate everyone. Sandy and Percy are not used to having help and therefore find it hard to delegate work, so volunteers must be enthusiastic and be prepared to take a job over. 


Zoe with a Lynx at the Wildlife Sanctuary

Was their anything that you weren’t told before you went away that you think future volunteers should know? They are still waiting for permits and enclosures to be built for the lion cubs so there are no lion cubs, nor are there cheetahs. Also, Sandy and Percy will advise you on which animals are safe to be with and which aren't but you will not be monitored and you are left to use your own common sense around the park, as they cannot be with you 24/7.

I don't have any complaints or issues with the placement as it more than exceeded my expectations. My only complaint might be that Sandy and Percy didn't work us hard enough and were concerned that we were enjoying ourselves enough! I would have felt more satisfied if I had been able to realise more of the jobs on the list, and this would have been possible if we hard worked harder! Also, I would have liked to have learnt more about the animals but found there wasn't enough time in the day to do so, but suspect that was more of a fault on my part!

A TYPICAL DAY AT THE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY by Zoe Trevett
Start work at 7am, where you can usually decide if you want breakfast then or if you want to wait for a break later on. You have full use of the kitchen. The morning feed is the priority of the day, so the next 3 hours are very busy (depending on how many volunteers are present). The birds are crucial, as food left over from the previous day can make them ill if not changed over early in the morning. Early morning cleaning and checking of the bird cages will often leave you with some casualties, which need to be cleared away asap. Cages are also checked for holes in the netting and you need to be aware of any birds that have become ill overnight.

Food preparation is kept separate from the cleaning of cages, so groups will be split. One team will clean cages in preparation for feeding, and the other group will prepare food. Feeding of the food will be done by whoever finishes first!

After the feed, the kitchen must be cleaned as well as the restaurant area. By 9am, floors must be swept and toilets cleaned, ready for any visitors to the park. Once food and cleaning is done, the rest of the day is pretty much allocated for other duties, such as building work, either of cages or accommodation, fences need to be checked on the game park, or basically anything else that needs ticking off the "to do" list!

Percy will often drop off a team into the game park and they will either walk the fence back home, checking for holes or they may sit out on the game park and check the animals and do a count of stock. The game park is very safe to wander around but you must be in a team.

Back at the restaurant, someone will usually be asked to stay behind and man the restaurant, letting in visitors or taking food orders, answering phones etc. This is usually a good time to check food supplies for both the animals and humans, as they will need to be given warning as to when stocks are low. Trips to town for supplies can be accompanied if possible.

Lunch breaks are usually between 1-2pm, depending on what you are doing that day. Tea breaks as and when you need them. There is an afternoon feed at 3pm, which may only require 2 volunteers and is only for the birds, as they need fresh food to see them through the night. A quick check in the cages is necessary to make sure everyone is looking healthy. This is also the time when meat is supplied for tomorrows feed and must be collected from other workers on the farm and packed away.

Your duties are finished at 4pm, and you can then do as you wish. Usually you will want a good hot shower and scrub up for dinner! Dinner is usually prepared by Sandy and served around 6pm. After dinner, we usually sit with the family in the restaurant area and either watch TV, or talk about the days activities, or even play games. Sandy and Percy are more than happy for the company as they are very young at heart!

We tended to go to bed around 8-9pm, simply because we were feeling pretty tired after the day’s activities and also because of an early start!


Some of the Meer Cats


A Marmoset

NAME: Klara Holewa
AGE: 26
PLACEMENT: African Dawn
COUNTRY: South Africa
What experience do you feel you gained? I feel that I gained experience all around. Working in the resturant, feeding the animals and doing odd jobs around the farm. I feel that I have extra experience where I never have had before. I will have more confidence in doing all different things from new to old.
What was the best thing about your placement? The best thing about the placement would be that it didn’t feel like work it felt like doing chores in a family business. Sandy and Percy welcomed all of us volunteers as family and I did not feel homesick as I had a family to take care and love me.
Would you recommend this placement to anyone else? I would definitely recommend this to anyone and everyone!
What type of person do you think this placement would suit? This would suit an outgoing hard working person who loves to do any sort of work from cleaning to rough and rugged work and who does not mind getting dirty!

Can you think of any improvements that could be made to the placement? No, African Dawn was perfect.

Can you describe a typical day? We started at 7:00 so we would wake up and have breakfast and then we would prepare the food for the animals and give the animals their food. We roughly finished the morning feed by 9 - 9:30. Then we might have a quick tea break and after that we would do whatever needed doing from cleaning the kitchen and watching the restaurant to walking the game farm looking for holes or whatever building that might need doing. We always tried to do anything even if we had a hard time doing it. Sandy and Percy are very patient and always included us in everything. We would have lunch from 1:00-2:00 and then continue on whatever was needed. At 3:00 we would start the afternoon feed then after that was done we would normally clean up the kitchen make sure all things were done for the day and usually we would retire back to the cabin at 4 - 4;30.

Supper time was great as we had a family meal almost everyday and we always socialized at the end of everyday. It was like one very large happy family it made the experience even better!

This was the best thing that I have ever done in my whole life. I have met and worked with the greatest people. I now have friends and family all over the globe! The animals were fantastic you couldn't help but bond with them all they had great personalities!

Working at African Dawn was more like being welcomed into a family. I will miss them all very much that it was hard to come home and get back into the swing of things here in Canada and am still having a hard time without my new family. 

NAME: Meghan Alexander
AGE: 18
PLACEMENT: Wildlife sanctuary
COUNTRY: South Africa

What experience do you feel you gained? I had an unforgettable experience that I'm sure I will treasure forever! The placement enabled me to experience a different way of life with a number of people from all over the world.

What was the best thing about your placement? The best thing was the people; Sandy and Percy were fantastic and made excellent surrogate parents! We had a laugh every day and all became so close! It was a really family orientated environment, set in a beautiful landscape! It was really fantastic to step outside and see rolling hills and the occasional zebra, in the distance.

Would you recommend this placement to anyone else? I'd recommend the placement to anyone who likes the countryside and doesn't mind roughing it, just a little bit. It's not just a project for animal lovers and will suit anyone who likes being outdoors. It's also perfect for first time travellers and people who struggle being away from home, because Sandy and Percy will look after you!

What type of person do you think this placement would suit? Someone who has a good sense of humour and is also able to tolerate a number of different people.

Can you think of any improvements that could be made to the placement? The only improvement I'd recommend is that any future volunteers should push to get as much physical work done as possible, because Percy likes to be a gentleman and will take too much upon himself - please help him to relax! Also it would be great to finally get the cheetahs in!

Was their anything that you weren't told before you went away that you think future volunteers should know? Seriously take a couple of warm fleeces because it can get very cold at night time!
A typical day? We were up at 6.30ish to start the morning feed around 7am. The duties were split between us so that everyone got to do a different job each day; either preparing the food inside for the animals and birds or working outside e.g. raking the bird cages. We'd have breaky at 9.30-10ish, then would start our task for the day. Whilst I was there we finished painting the raccoon cage, planted trees in the bush buck enclosure, helped do the springbok enclosure - digging holes for poles and trees and putting up the shade cloth around the sides, we also started the emergency cages. At 3ish we did the afternoon feed, which didn't take long, so we'd finish the working day at 4ish. We ate dinner at about 6.30 and hung out at the house, playing rummikub and uno; but of course this time is your own so you can do whatever you want.

Just wanted to say that I had a fantastic time and fell in love with the place, the animals and especially the people! It's difficult to write a feedback form because everyone will gain something different from the whole thing; what you gain will depend on how much you put into it! Just appreciate it all the time because it was over all too quickly!

Return to the South Africa Home Page and
the list of all our projects in South Africa

   

 

Travellers is a Founder Member of the Year Out Group

Suite 2A, Caravelle House, 17/19 Goring Road, Worthing,
West Sussex, BN12 4AP, England
Tel: +44 (0)1903 502595    Fax: +44 (0)1903 708179

Email: info@travellersworldwide.com

     
   
 

 

Web site designed by ITDesigners: www.itdesigners.com
Copyright © 1999-2007 TravelQuest Limited;
Last modified: July 05, 2008