Let's face it - not all volunteer Africa positions working with wildlife will provide the experience you might be expecting.
Some will fall short because the work might not be of interest to you or insufficient training and support is given, bad accommodation, worse food, backbreaking labour and so on. But there is a way to shorten the odds in your favour...
So how do you effectively match your expectations with the reality of wildlife Africa volunteering to make sure you have a rewarding and fulfilling experience?
By asking a previous conservation Africa volunteer what their experience was like.
But that's not always possible because you might not know or know of such a person, so the next best thing is volunteer trip reports and reviews, or journals as they are also known.
These are written by the Africa wildlife volunteer themselves describing their experiences in detail. It will give you an excellent idea of what the position is really like and whether it appeals to you or not. Take a look at the submissions below...
Volunteer Africa Reviews
Submit Your Own Volunteer Experience
Share your volunteering story to help others still planning to go on a rewarding trip like this.
More Volunteer Trip Reports
Click below to see more contributions from other volunteers...
Wildlife ACT South Africa
After volunteering with Wildlife ACT in 2009, I was able to join their team as a long-term volunteer for half a year in 2013.
There was no way I was …
Elephant Sanctuary - True Volunteer Work
Although the project is centred around being a halfway home for the elephants, it turns out, the experience for me was all about the staff and sharing …
Chimpanzee Volunteer Work
Enjoying the beautiful trusting relationship with baby chimpanzees was the highlight of my experience in Cameroon. Getting them to feel confident and comfortable …
Lion Volunteer Project Review
My personal highlight would have to be swimming with the cubs. Most cats have an inherent fear of water so the feeling when our largest cub Phoenix apprehensively …
Harnas Volunteer Review
People are walking in a tight group and stop to look behind as a male lion is seen walking through the bushes in a straight line directly towards us. As …
The Top Volunteering Companies
So when you have a basic idea where and which volunteering in Africa position appeals to you, the next step is to choose a company to organise it for you.
There are a reasonable amount of them in the market but some of them specialise in these positions so based on my experience, trip reports, forum opinions and general consensus in the industry here are my top three volunteer vacation company recommendations...
i-to-i: South Africa and Kenya conservation projects with offices in the UK, USA, Australia and Ireland.
Volunteer Adventures: Projects in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe - based in the USA.
Responsible Travel: Namibia and South Africa wildlife projects - based in the UK.