I booked a space on the Wildlife Sanctuary project with minimal time to prepare. I honestly did hardly any research, I just wanted to get away from reality so obviously I had no idea what to expect. My main worry was the people I met wouldn’t be my type of people; I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I arrive there and apart from seeing lions 100 metres from my room, the atmosphere of the people blew me away. I made so many friends on my first day of being there, and I’m not normally someone to go out of my way to meet people. These people who I met by the way I am still in touch with a couple weeks later and am planning a new holiday with them all.
The animals in the park were amazing, I’ve never seen so many friendly ‘wild’ animals in my life. Jack the zebra loves attention as well as the two mongoose and two servals. There’s also four hippos you have to keep an eye out for and a few giraffes you’ll see wandering past every now and again. I’m not even saying the half of it either! The elephants were my favourite, so beautifully friendly and but also so amazing to watch when going on the elephant walks.
The food was quite good and it was ALWAYS on time and there was always enough for seconds, which was another big worry I had because I eat a lot. There were many fun excursions you could go on throughout the week which would get you out of some work, I recommend the casino and the children’s home.
The airport pick-ups and drop-offs were very punctual and organized and the majority of the staff were nice. There are always new volunteers coming in and leaving every week so if you don’t manage to make friends the first week, (which is unlikely) you always have a chance the week after
All in all the place was an experience and a half, I’ve made lifetime friends and was a very hard place to leave. I would recommend volunteering in South Africa at the Wildlife Sanctuary to my future children and anybody for that matter.
