Volunteer Role
During your stay at the sanctuary, you will be working hands on in helping to develop and maintain a sanctuary for the rehabilitation of Nambia’s exotic wildlife. Volunteers are key to the success of this project, which is renowned for the variety of animals and activities that you can experience. Participation in the programme provides employment to the local Bushman community and ensures the rescue, survival and rehabilitation of the animals, which are housed in natural environments around the site.
Your daily activities will include food preparation. You will throw meat to the Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, African Wild Dogs and hand feed the Meerkats. You will prepare vegetables, fruit and millipap to feed to the Baboons and farm animals. You will be responsible for cleaning all the animal enclosures. You can walk with the 4 tame Caracals and experience how they hunt in the wild and spend time with the tame and semi tame Cheetahs in their enclosures.
The orphaned baboons play a large part in our project. We currently have 16 young baboons ranging from one to two years old and five baby baboons ranging from three to eight months old. Volunteers will take the baboons on a walk at least every other day in the field to allow them to forage naturally and to give them regular exercise. You will also rotate responsibility for bottle feeding, walking and sleeping overnight with the five baby baboons, which are currently too small to live in the camp with the young baboons.
Security on the farm is essential. You will do border fence patrol on the golf carts and do carnivore enclosure patrol on foot with a trained farm worker.
There will be the opportunity to join the carnivore feeding tour when guests at the farm visit the large carnivores. You will assist the tour guide with feeding the animals whilst the guests take their treasured photos!
Please remember that the animals are rescued, taken in, cared for and if possible, released into natural habitat again, therefore the variety and number of animals at the sanctuary differs and rotates on a daily basis. The programme does however provide a hands-on experience with most of the animals.
As new animals arrive new enclosures have to be built. Volunteers will assist the Bushman with the preparation of materials, digging foundations and waterholes and the erecting of the enclosures. Existing enclosures have to be maintained to a high standard, waterholes cleaned regularly and bones from feeding collected.
What’s Included in the Programme
- Project Fee: This entails financing that goes directly back into the project that you are involved with. This project fee facilitates funding for items such as building materials, fuel, foodstuffs, research materials, animal medication etc
- Airport Transfers
- Arrival Orientation
- All accommodation during your stay
- Three meals daily
- Work Placement
- Full support and assistance from your co-ordinator throughout your time on your placement
What’s Not Included in the Programme
- All flights
- Personal travel insurance for the duration of your placement, which should include cover for repatriation
- Work visa
- All items of a personal nature, such as curios, gifts, clothing (work and other)
- E-mail/Internet and telephone calls
- Snacks, soft drinks, wines and spirits
- Any excursions over and above your planned itinerary in Namibia
Prices and Durations
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 2 weeks $1,859
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 3 weeks $2,799
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 4 weeks $3,729
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 5 weeks $4,609
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 6 weeks $5,539
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 7 weeks $5,949
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 8 weeks $6,289
Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteers - 12 weeks $7,779
