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City/State: Eastern Cape, South Africa |
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Country: SOUTH AFRICA
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| Worldwide Experience |
The Oak Suite
Guardian House
Borough Road
Surrey
UNITED KINGDOM
GU7 2AE
Phone: +44 (0)1483 860 560
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Program description: |
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ELEPHANT AND LION CONSERVATION PROJECT: Amakhala is fantastic new reserve where there is constant action. If you are not camping out under the stars, you are tracking the newly released elephant bull through the African bush...
Elephant populations have gotten to the point of being overpopulated over the past few years in South Africa, and with the addition of new reserves like Amakhala there has been little need to cull the animals. Instead a relocation programme has been implemented where the smaller parks accommodate the increasing numbers. Amakhala is home to Africa’s Big 5 so you will be getting involved with other species like blesbuck, springbok & lion conservation projects too.
This reserve is situated a mere 45 minutes from Port Elizabeth where the pristine beaches can be enjoyed over weekends while taking a break for the weeks hard work on the reserve. The project is ongoing and offered to volunteers for 2, 4 & 8 weeks throughout the year.
Feel the heartbeat and rhythm of Africa at our Amakhala Game Reserve, which has quickly become one of the finest tourist destinations in the Eastern Cape wilderness. It is a malaria free reserve boasting the Big Five in South Africa. It is a game reserve that will leave you in awe of life’s abundance, beauty and spectacular scenery.
Sunlit grassy savannah plains, a mosaic of Valley Bushveld plants including the Aloe from which Amakhala derives its isiXhosa name, the gently dappled light of the sand forest, many watering holes and the wide spellbinding Bushman’s River. This is home to great African mammals, birds and insects. It will humble and fascinate you.
As a conservation volunteer you are the veins and arteries behind the heart beat of Reserve conservation. All aspects of conservation are addressed on this programme, the longer your stay the more in depth your experience will be.
The reserve is continuously monitoring and managing game throughout the year. As a conservation ‘Pride’ volunteer you will assist ‘behind the scenes’ on various ongoing conservation projects and reserve priorities. Our duty is to provide the correct and up to date scientific information on the reserve and its animals to the people who make the life changing decisions within the reserve.
As a conservation ‘Pride’ volunteer at Amakhala our primary responsibility is managing the lions. You will also have the chance to assist with many ongoing short and long-term projects on the reserve. Reserve priorities at any one time may continuously change dependent on many external influences, your involvement in certain projects thus may be affected. Therefore the longer your placement the more in depth your involvement across many facets of conservation and reserve maintenance.
As a conservation volunteer on Amakhala Game Reserve you may get involved in the following short and long term projects:
* Game counts/Animal Tracking using Telemetry
* Territorial Ranges and Feeding Ranges
* Lion Health and Breeding Monitoring
* Local Community Up-liftment and FOOD 4 THOUGHT projects
* Animal Welfare and Care
* Erosion Control/ Road Maintenance
* Wetland Rehabilitation
* Fence Patrol and Maintenance
* Vehicle Maintenance
* Alien Plant Control
* Bush Clean and Clear ups
* Boma Maintenance
* Birding List of Amakhala Reserve
* Game Capture, counts and monitoring
* Guided walks, tracking and trails through the Reserve
* Bush Survival – Camping out under the stars and survival (Weather dependent)
* Navigation and Compass orientation
* Target Shooting
* Taxidermy – hunting discussion “Conservation or Not”
* Updating Project information onto the computer
* Report writing
* Kayaking
There are currently four community projects that are currently running or are in the initiation of doing so. During yoru time as a volunteer you may get involved in these ongoing projects which include:
- Children Aids Orphanage
- Animal Welfare and Animal Care
- Community School Education
- FOOD 4 THOUGHT Programme
This course provides an insight into the environmental issues and management of a game reserve. The main focus is having FUN while doing conservation and rehabilitating the land back to its natural environment. The volunteers are also acquainted with the techniques of collecting, analysing and disseminating information on ecological aspects. The course will also allow participants to interact with each other in a life changing environment whilst contributing towards conservation.
Location
Amakhala Game Reserve is situated in the Eastern Cape of South Africa only an hours drive from Port Elizabeth, this area historically had an abundance of wild game roaming free.
The Eastern Cape is justifiably famous for a number of other game reserves. The great herds of Knysna Forest elephants were almost totally eradicated at the turn of this century, and yet, miraculously, the man most responsible for nearly wiping out an entire species, had a dramatic change of heart and spent the balance of his life fighting for a safe haven for these rare and wonderful animals. Addo National Park and the Mountain Zebra Park saw almost exactly the same thing happen to the rare mountain zebra. Shot to the brink of extinction, in the 1930s this rare species struggled to come back.
Accommodation
The maximum number of volunteers included on The Conservation ‘Pride’ Programme is eight volunteers at any one time, therefore ensuring a unified family orientated personalised experience. You even have a warm, loving ‘home mother’ (Aunty Jude) that ensures that the household runs smoothly there by enhancing your stay with us.
Volunteers are accommodated in a one-story eight-bedroom house, which overlooks a large garden and is within ‘crawling’ distance of the local drinking hole. Most of the rooms are single rooms however please be prepared to share if necessary. Three rooms share one bathroom, complete with a shower. A communal dining and living room with Digital Satellite TV is situated centrally within the house, which leads off to a kitchen. Also, the sun room provides additional seating on luxury couches, where internet, email and CD players are available. The house has an outside braai (BBQ) area which has seen many a night fire surrounded by festive volunteers.
Time off
The working week at Amakhala Game Reserve is Monday to Friday, between 08h00 and 17h00 during the winter. However this may be revised in the summer months (Nov-Feb) from 06h30 to 11h00 and from 14h30 to 18h00, dependent on favourable working conditions. Evenings and weekends are at leisure, generally speaking volunteers relax in the evenings at the Sandflats pub or just chilling out in front of the open fire.
Weekends may be used by volunteers to explore some of the surrounding attractions. Your house mother will happily take on the responsibility of ensuring that the weekend activities are organised, Aunty Jude is well travelled and has many tourism contacts.
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General program information: |
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Program open to: Everyone
Age range: 17+
Travel to site: Varies
Is opportunity more independant or group orientated: Varies
Living arrangements on the program: Apartment, Group living
How long does the program last?: 1-3 Months
What are the dates of this program: All year round
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Benefits and advantages of the program: |
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Volunteering here gives you the oppertunity to interact with various species of wildlife in Africa. This is a perfect way to give something back to nature and to help preserve the natural heritage of this beautiful area in South Africa.
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Cost or price of this program: |
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2 weeks - £1,521
4 weeks - £2,442
8 weeks - £3,452
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