Arrival

You will need to arrive in Port Elizabeth airport on a Monday, between 12h and 14h, where a driver will meet you to drive you and the other volunteers to the project (about 2h drive). The cost is R900 if you are alone in the car and R450 if you share it with others.

Volunteers will take part in different kind of activities during their time at the project : conservation, research, education and community projects. They are supervised by Jarett, the coordinator, who tries to teach as much as he can so that the volunteers can go back home with a better understanding of the conservation issue and the conviction that they can play a big role in it.

Each volunteer will receive a field booklet which can be taken home at the end of the placement. It will be of use during identification, counting, and monitoring activities.

Here is a list of activities that you may take part in during your stay (please note that this is for your information and that you may or may not take part in all the activities listed below):

• Monitoring (elephant, rhinos and lions)
• Bird project
• Game counts
• Vegetation control
• Soil erosion control
• Reserve clean-up operations
• Road maintenance
• Bush walks
• Sleep out (weather dependant, from October to April)
• Visits to the serval enclosure

The volunteers also go once a week (except during school break and when it’s raining) to a local school in order to help out with maintenance work or education. They also lend a hand at a soup kitchen. Usually, at the end of this day, they all have dinner at a restaurant in town.

The days start at 8h and end at 17h with 1 or 2 hours break for lunch.

Days off

Weekends are at leisure so you can choose to either stay at the camp or explore the surroundings. Here are a few activities you can take part in :

• Go to Kenton-on-Sea to enjoy the beach
• Sky diving
• Visit Addo Elephant Park
• Canoeing

Volunteers stay in a confortable house, in a twin bedded bedroom with a shared bathroom. The house is located inside the game reserve, right next to the coordinator’s. In the garden, there is a small swimming pool and a braai (bbq). Laundry and wifi are available.

Volunteers cook their own meals with the ingredients provided in the fully equipped kitchen. They can divide into teams to do so or prepare their own meal.

Arrival and departures on Mondays.

Period                            Programme fees in Rand (ZAR) 2024
2 weeks                             R17600
3 weeks                             R26400
4 weeks                             R35200
6 weeks                             R52800
8 weeks                             R70400

On top of the Programme Fees, Registration Fees of 190€ apply.

Are included in the Programme Fees: accommodation, three meals a day, laundry, your supervision, Internet.

Are included in the Registration Fees: administrative and marketing fees, ongoing support from Aventure Africaine, travel costs to visit and experience the projects.

“They told me I’d fall in love with Africa and I did. This continent is so magic, full of music, good food, beautiful animals and incredible people. I’ll come back as soon as I can, ready for another adventure full of adrenaline. I loved being woken up by the monkeys running on our volunteer house roof. And I loved that we didn’t know what we were going to do the next day, it was all so thrilling! Thank you for making this possible for me” Virginia, Switzerland

“The saying ‘time flies when you are having fun’ is true. I can’t believe that four weeks could go by so fast. I can’t thank our volunteer coordinator enough for being such an amazing leader and great friend. It takes an extraordinary person to make someone thousands of miles away from their own country feel right at home. I learned so many things over the course of these four weeks. I loved the surprise every morning as we were told what that day’s adventures would entail. Everything from finding elephants to running around the African grasslands hunting the mighty Black Wattle with machetes. Besides all the information and new skills that I gained, it was really fun making so many new friends. Everyone made me feel part of this one big happy family. Thank you so much for everything.”  J.D., USA