SAVE OUR WILDLIFE (Namibia)
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SAVE OUR WILDLIFE (Namibia)
This project provides you with a rare and exciting opportunity to work closely with and actively participate in the conservation of African wildlife. The sanctuary provides shelter and a safe refuge for injured and orphaned wild animals, including big cats like lions, cheetah, caracals and leopards and other animals like baboons and meerkats. Volunteers for this project have significant roles to play, as they will be getting involved in important activities like feeding animals, taking care of them as surrogate parents, especially for orphaned baby baboons and helping in the maintenance and development of the sanctuary.
Goal of the project
The project primarily aims at contributing to conservation through volunteering and at the same time, providing volunteers with the opportunity to experience the African wilderness. Because volunteers have a crucial role to play in the conservation activities, they are the key players in the project. The fees collected from the volunteers are all directed towards the operation of the project, especially for providing local employment, education and healthcare to the local Bushmen Community.
A beautiful country to experience, Namibia's spectacular scenery will have volunteers mesmerized. Also, volunteers will be working alongside a dedicated team who are friendly and easy to work with, making it a fun filled experience.
Volunteer responsibilities
Volunteers are split into groups, rotating duties daily to undertake the following during their time at the project:
- Feeding and caring for the animals (preparing food and vegetables, feeding the various animals, clearing out old food and bones etc., cleaning waterholes and fixing holes / damage to the animal enclosures)
- Animal Time (spending time with the various animals, either by walking with them or just spending time with them in their enclosures, and caring for the orphaned baboons).
- Assisting with the Bushman School (spending one morning assisting the teacher at the local school)
- Big Cat Conservation Work (may include learning and taking part in various monitoring and tracking techniques, undertaking game counts and building or clearing out temporary enclosures for new residents, and contributing to the conservation research project)
- Project Work (de-bushing, fence breakdown, building new enclosures, preparing materials, digging foundations and waterholes, and the erecting of enclosures)
- Security and Maintenance (taking part in fence patrols and enclosure patrols with trained farm workers. filling in holes created by wild animals, repairing fences, and overnight security watches)
Volunteers should keep in mind that the daily schedule is likely to change at short notice, depending o the needs of the project and animals too. They should be ready to be assigned into activities and tasks any time, which might require them to get dirty too.
Fees and Dates:
Global Crossroad provides volunteer programs at the lowest prices possible. Global Crossroad gives you the assurance that you will save a lot of money with our programs, because we do not promote the idea of volunteers spending thousands of dollars just to volunteer for a week. We also try our best in keeping our transactions transparent for volunteers to know and ensure that their fees are being used in the right way possible.
Except our registration fee of $299, our fees are as affordable as $950. The detailed fee structure of 'Save our Wildlife' Program is as follows:
- Weeks
- 1 Week
- 2 Week
- 3 Week
- 4 Week
- 5 Week
- 6 Week
- 7 Week
- 8 Week
- Extra Per Week
- Program Fee US$
- N/A
- $1077
- $1610
- $2148
- $2670
- $3190
- $3715
- $4250
- $500
Dates: Mondays and Thursdays. These are the only 2 days when there are set transfers from Windhoek to the Project. Should you not be able to arrive on either of these 2 days, then volunteers could stay in Windhoek at one of the local backpackers (at their own expense) until the set transfer on either a Monday or Thursday, or pay an additional R500-00 to transfer to the project on the day they arrive (if not a Monday or Thursday).
Should you depart later than your set departure date, you will be expected to overnight in Windhoek , at your own expense.
room / food
There are 2 options of accommodation available to volunteers at the project. Volunteers can choose volunteer rooms that accommodate up to 3 people on a sharing basis, or choose to sleep in large tents with a living and bedroom area shared by up to 2 people. The rooms are divided based on gender. Sometimes volunteers have a room to themselves, but that's not guaranteed. For couples that are traveling together, the project will do its best to accommodate this, but sometimes couples have to share their room as well.
Three basic meals are provided a day and typically consist of the following:
Breakfast - toast and cereals.
Lunch – pasta, wraps, burgers or stir-fry.
A hot meal (meat, fish and vegetables with rice, potatoes and pasta) or a barbeque
Free time/what volunteer can do in free time
During your stay, you will have a few hours each day to relax. Weekends are still spent at the sanctuary, helping to take care of the animals, feeding them and cleaning out their enclosures, with more free time on Sundays. There may also be an opportunity to head into Windhoek to pick up some supplies, although this cannot be guaranteed, so please ensure that you have enough supplies with you to last for your entire stay at the project.
Included in the program fees, is a nature walk across the farm, swimming in the pool or waterfall (weather dependent), paintball, followed by a sunset downer and barbeque. Stargazing, movie nights, nature walks and sleep outs are other common activities
Near the volunteer accommodations is small swimming pool for volunteers to relax and cool down. Occasionally the volunteers play football against the San Bushman workers.
Major FAQ
- Where do I need to fly?
- How can I get to the project?
- What vaccinations do I need?
- How can I communicate with family?
- How safe is the project?
- Will there be someone to guide/supervise us?
- Will there be other volunteers?
- Any other important information to consider?
Please note that if you arrive before your scheduled start date, you will be required to spend this additional night/s in Windhoek, at your own expense. Likewise, should you book your departure flight for after your scheduled departure date, you will be dropped off in Windhoek, where you can stay until your flight out of Namibia. A variety of tours are also available for volunteers to do, either before or after their volunteer experience.
Tours include: 3 day Etosha Link / Express, 3 days Sossusvlei Link / Express, 6 days Taste of Namibia, and others.