Limpopo Wildlife Conservation Project
Overview
Day to day activities:
Tracking and monitoring wildlife, game reserve management and hands-on conservation and scientific research of key species.
What’s Included:
Accommodation, meals, a once a week trip into town and transfers to the reserve from Polokwane (on Mondays only).
What’s Excluded:
Flights, visas, insurance, personal luxury items, spending money, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages.
Accommodation:
Fully equipped shared rooms in a bush camp with kitchen, single-sex bathroom, linen and laundry facilities (hand-wash only).
Requirements:
Physically fit and a love for African wildlife and bush.
Working Hours:
An average day consists of 2 work sessions which are approximately 3 hours each with one full day off a week.
Nearest town:
Musina and Allday (approx. 70kms)
Guaranteed:
Working with lion, elephant, cheetah, rhino as well as learning many bush related skills like survival, animal tracking and identification.
About
The project was started in 2010 to create a wildlife conservation and research project aimed at volunteers from around the world of all ages and backgrounds. The staff members have all previously been volunteers on wildlife reseach projects in Africa and have experience working on conservation projects in South and East Africa with other volunteers.
It is the aim of the project to combine the years of experience in conservation and volunteering to create a program that really contributes to the preservation of wildlife and the natural habitat that surrounds it.
Guidance & Supervision
Volunteers who will be staying longer than 2 weeks will learn important skills such as the following:
- The basics of FGASA (Field Guides Association of Southern Africa)
- Identifying mammals
- Radio telemetry and tracking skills for tracking lions
- Footprint (spoor) identification
- Introduction to research and monitoring programs
- How to record and capture data as well as handling tracking equipment
- Identifying the main plant and animal species
- Wilderness ethics
Tasks
- Lion tracking and predator monitoring
- Rhino identification and monitoring
- Anti-poaching work/snare removal
- Alien vegetation and bio-control monitoring
- Erosion control and repair work
- Game counts, night drives and predator call-ups
- Fixed point photography
- Bush clearing
- Building hides for research and monitoring wildlife
- Bush survival skills
Prerequisites
- Over 18 years old
- Love for African wildlife and bush
- A team player
Accommodation
Volunteers will stay in shared rooms with the reserve staff in a well-equipped bush camp on the reserve. The bush camp can accommodate up to 12 volunteers at a time and includes a furnished lounge, dining room, kitchen, office facility and a garden area with braai (barbeque) facilities. There is laundry facility but it is limited to hand washing only.
Linen (sheets, pillow cases and pillows) is provided but you need to bring your own towel and sleeping bag.
Telephone coverage is not guaranteed on the reserve but if you wish to call home or post letters, you will be able to do so during the trip to town once a week. The camp has internet connectivity but you need to pay as you use it.
Location
The project is situated in the Limpopo province of South Africa which borders Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique and is about 500 kms from Johannesburg. The closest airport and bus station to the reserve is at Polokwane which is about 170 kms away. When organizing your travel arrangements, you will need to make your way from Johannesburg to Polokwane by either plane or bus. The plane trip from Johannesburg to Polokwane takes about an hour and the bus ride takes about 5 hours.
Fees and Dates
The fees for this project include accommodation, meals, a once a week trip into town and transfers to the reserve from Polokwane (on Mondays only).
The fees do not include flights, visas, insurance, personal luxury items, spending money, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages.
Minimum duration is 2 weeks.
2 weeks R 9 800
4 weeks R 17 600
6 weeks R 22 800
8 weeks R 28 000
10 weeks R 32 000
12 weeks R 35 800
Additional weeks cost either R2600 for one week or R3900 for 2 extra weeks.
An extra booking fee of R500 is required if you need Khaya to arrange transfers, accommodation and bus tickets as well as external travel arrangements. This fee lets Khaya handle your travel arrangements completely.
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Rosanne (Netherlands)
Volunteering in South Africa was a life changing experience for me...
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