GVI Wildlife Research Project South Africa

South Africa was my first ever GVI project, but certainly not the last. The reason I chose this particular project is because I was desperate to see the big 5 in their natural habitat and Karongwe certainly delivered that!

After landing in Johannesburg, we had a 5 hour drive to base which allowed us to get to know each other and start learning about with whom we would be sharing the coming weeks with. My first game drive was phenomenal with sightings of Elephants, lions, hippos and the rhino! One of the most memorable experiences of my life was being less than 4 metres away from a female cheetah as she was feeding... it was simply breath taking!! Not only the things I saw, but the people I met and friends I made will stay with me forever.

This particular project is very scientific and the research they carry out is very informative. I learnt the basics of telemetry, species identification and tracking of animal footprints. The living conditions are basic, but not in comparison to other projects. You still have hot running showers, variety of food including fruit and veg and comfy beds in a mixed dormitory.

Overall, I would rate this project a 10/10, it is one that cannot be missed nor forgotten!

I did the GVI internship on April last year. For that I spent 3 months on a game reserve and another 3 months in a work place.

First thing you should know: game reserves are, above everything else, a business. There's no truly wild place in South Africa. Being the property of someone and a profitable business, it must be managed. I would say the reserve is like a zoo without cages.

For that, we need to give way to the tourists satying at the lodges, going on game drives. As I said, the reserve is a business, and a lot of wrong decisions can be made, not regarding the well being of the wildlife. What we in our time in GVI is locating everyday the lions and the semi-imprinted cheetah (which sometimes you will get out of the vehicle and go into the block to locate her on foot). We take basic data as behaviour, location and wheater conditions and type it at the computer back at base. Only the volunteer responsible for data on that specific drive will do it, though. Other activities during drive include operating the telemetry equipment, doing vehicle check before drive, operating the spotlight on the way back to base when it's already dark.

We collect data on other animals we might come across, like rhinos, elephants, buffalos, hyenas, etc. But these we do not track, so it's not the priority to locate first, coming across them only by chance or if we have time left after finding the "key" animals.

Sometimes volunteers will do other tasks such as reserve work by cleaning the roads, educational bush walks, base work (which is a rotation of volunteers to look after the base - cooking, cleaning - during the day).

As an intern, you will have some extra activities that the common volunteers don't. That would be basically for your education about the bush and conservation through game reserves. You will have a few lectures and will have to do some assignments. You will have a mentor to talk about your goals. And you will learn about tracks, birds and trees. But most of your knowledge, will come from your own effort. There as several books available at base and staff members willing to answer your questions. But if you don't commit yourself with your self education, you won't learn as much as you could.

There's three bathrooms, two of them with shower (not the best of showers, but at least there's hot water). Currently there are three dorms for volunteers. Most of the matress are very old and used and you will sleep on bunk beds. It's something you can get used to quickly, sleep in a room full of people and later on you can even miss it. Most of volunteers go to bed early, before 9, as we need to get up before the sun rise. The meals are prepared by the volunteers in charge, a pre made menu that can be adjusted to any diet requirements.

My second part of the program was spent in CROW (Centre for Rehabilitation of Wildlife) based on Durban. Even if I had all the help from GVI to get there, with tips of flights, places to stay and transport, I had to deal with the costs.

CROW has nothing to do with GVI except the booking, so I won't give the feedback of my time there here. But I got there thanks to GVI. When calculating the fee for volunteering at CROW, through GVI the value is around 4 to 5 times more. So if you're interested, I recommend booking directly with CROW and not any travel or volunteering agency.

The cost for internship or volunteering with GVI is very high. There are plenty of game reserves that take volunteers for much less. Of course I can only talk about my experience with GVI, and in general I'm really thankful that it started a 2 year journey through South Africa. In the end was definetely worth it. I will always remember my time at the reserve and cherish deeply as one of the greatest moments of my life.

I recommend this program for whoever wants to do a safari in South Africa and take good pictures while making friends and getting closer to the environment. Is a much better way to know the wildlife and also to keep yourself busy during a trip. You will have an amazing experience. It just wouldn't be my first option for an educational internship.

Before I joined the Thailand Elephant Project with GVI I hadn't done any travelling, let alone flown half-way around the world on my own. I would have been nervous if it weren't for the great support I got from the GVI staff prior to beginning my journey, but they were very helpful and made everything very easy for me. When I got to Thailand I was picked up at the airport and taken to the fantastic Eco Resort in Chiang Mai where I was introduced to other volunteers and staff members who wasted no time in getting me up to date on what I would be doing. The next day we drove to the village where I met the rest off the staff and volunteers on the project, who were all very friendly. The local villagers prepared a delicious feast and welcomed me and the other new volunteers into the village with giju (a kind of good luck ceremony). The next day we all went on a short hike to meet the elephants and feed them bananas. It was incredible to get so hands on with such iconic animals in their natural habitat. When choosing which expedition to take this was a decisive factor and the thing I was looking forward to most, but amazing as it was, the thing I enjoyed most about the project was life in the village. There is always something going on in the village to get involved with and all the locals are welcoming and so friendly that living there felt like a privilege. The next couple of weeks passed by too fast despite every day being packed full of fun activities that I will never forget. Working with the elephant project also gives the feeling of really making a positive difference. My only regret with my time on the project is that I didn't stay for longer and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

You can never really prepare yourself for a trip, but no matter what, in time you get used to all circumstances. I was excited about living in the bush, the base existed of 3 houses, two small, who were housing some of the staff members, and the main house, where our big dorm was, the kitchen, lecture room, toilets and bathrooms, more staff rooms, and data room.

I loved base so much, it became like a home to me. We always talked about base as home. The staff members there were amazing, dedicated people, who are very friendly and fun!! Most of the volunteers, including me, were between 19 and 26 years old, but no matter what age you had, we could all party together, when we had partynight, which was 1 time every week. Some nights we went to the local bush pub in the neighbour reserve, to have a good steak and cheap drinks!

The bush was incredible. You have good days and bad days, and some people just have more luck than others. I was amazingly lucky to see a honeybadger, serval, caracal and pangolin, but if you expect to see rare animals, you won't enjoy your trip. Some drives you 'just' see impala and zebras, but you are still driving around in the beautiful bush, doing a great work to conserve the bush and its animals. 90 % of the drives you see the focus animals, which are our lions and male cheetah coalition, because you track them down using telemetry.

I recommend this trip to everyone, and I can't stop talking about it. Almost every 2nd thing I say includes the word 'South Africa'. I must go back! I now have friends on every continent, and they will always be very close to my heart.

I have just got back from the South African conservation volunteer holiday with GVI, and I miss it so much! It was an absolutely brilliant experience.

The project is based at Karongwe game reserve in the north of the country. It's basically like a safari... but so much better! For a start, you know you're doing good. Instead of my money going to travel companies, it's going to GVI to allow the research on the reserve to continue. That's the second feel-good thing, we were actually contributing to some brilliant research into conservation and reserve management. The team who work there are trying to improve knowledge and understanding of reserve management which could lead to big improvements in the area. And that's the 3rd thing - you're there as part of a team. You get to make friends with people from around the world. The staff and the volunteers I was there with were great! In fact, the staff really wanted us to get the most out of our relatively short time there. They really went out of their way to enable us to see all the animals we wanted and more. They were more than happy to share their knowledge of animal behaviour, explain how they were tracking the animals, or go for a walk in the bush to experience it in a different way.

If you want to really contribute to some research, unfortunately you need to go somewhere for longer than 2 weeks. It would take too long to have fully trained us. The staff and GVI however tried to involve us in the research as much as possible, and I know we definitely helped. You can go for 5-10 weeks though :)

There were 2 standout moments for me. The first was getting to walk in on the cheetahs. I never expected to get so close to any wild animals on foot. It was so exciting and a great opportunity to get some close up photos! The second moment was watching the pride of 7 lions hunt. They passed within a few metres of the car whilst stalking their prey - a group of Impala (the ever-present antelope).

100% unmissable as a safari

I literally had the time of my life on this trip. It absolutely exceeded every expectation that I had! If you think that the information provided by GVI sounds amazing, then prepare to be blown away.

Waking up to the sounds of Hyeanas, Hippos or Lions literally outside the base acts as a constant reminder at how you are in their territory, you are the intruder here!

You get such an adrenaline rush when you are literally right there, just a few metres away from WILD African animals, big and small. Although at Karongwe (where I was based) you are in a relatively small reserve, you get to see so much, and everything IS wild. The animals are used to the presence of the vehicles so behave in a completely natural way, which is fantastic.

You undertake a strict training week where you are taught everything you need to know, and what to do, including a first aid course. OH yes, and not forgetting the numerous amounts of Risk assessments that are read to you. During the programme itself, you carry out research on a daily basis over 2 drives. Each day you have a different duty within your team, this also includes a Base Duty where you don't head out on drive but stay behind to cook and clean for everyone else. This does mean that you get more time to do what you want on these days, i.e. washing & contacting home. However just because you aren't out on research doesn’t mean to say you aren’t going to see anything. I myself came face to face with a heard of impala when i went to hang my washing out!

The mountain phase was equally amazing to the time i spent on the reserve; spending just 5 days in such a breath-taking setting, knowing that you are helping to carry out vital research. The sundowner sitting on top of the Blyde canyon is one of my best memories of the trip.

As for the Staff, they were outstanding! They were much younger than I expected, but worked so well together. They were so enthusiastic about their job, and so willing to help you and pass on their knowledge. As for my fellow expedition members, they were also really enthusiastic, and genunie people who wanted to get the most out of the expedition. In all honesty I've never met a crazier bunch of people in any one go. But I wouldn't have changed any one of them!

I have such amazing memories, faced so many of my fears, and literally fulfilled a dream whilst I was out there. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. This isn't the end for me, it's just the beginning.......