www.EcoAfricaExperience.com
Experience a gap
year in conservation
Lucy Alston spent a week as our roving reporter in South Africa, visiting
Eco Africa Experience projects at the Shamwari Game Reserve.
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Experience has taught
me that a gap year is an invaluable investment and chance to pick up a
myriad of skills, half the time without realising that you're doing
so. In this context the ultimate experience must be (or at least mine
has been) spending some time abroad, getting up close and personal
with people and the environment. The simplest way to do this is to
join in an established gap year programme, for example working in
conservation on a scheme like Eco Africa Experience. |
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Eco Africa Experience
organises voluntary programmes at a number of game reserves in
malaria-free areas of South Africa. You can stay for between one and three
months, in one or more reserves, and/or work at a marine research centre.
Conservation work in South Africa involves working with people, plants,
animals, and the environment, it attracts a wide range of people, and
everyone can gain from the adventure. You don't need a biology GCSE or
conservation experience to join in. The most important qualifications are
interest and enthusiasm, you can learn everything else on the job.
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I recently spent a week
with Eco Africa Experience at Shamwari Game Reserve, near Port
Elizabeth, and to put it simply I had a great time and learnt more
than I would in a typical month at University. The balance of work and
leisure time was perfect. We worked Monday to Friday, roughly
nine-to-five, but there all similarity with a mundane office job
disappeared. We were picked up every day from our student house, which
was incidentally the cleanest I've ever experienced and the only one
with a swimming pool and banana trees in the front garden. |
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We commuted in the open
back of a pickup truck, spotting the occasional baboon or vervet monkey
along the way. Khaki and sunglasses were the standard uniform and the work
itself varied widely from day to day. The variety was partly due to the
structure of the programme, and partly due to the inherent shifting of
priorities that characterises conservation.
For example, we set off one morning to continue with a wild dog
identification, but got a call to say that a pride of lions had been seen
out of cover. We veered off the road to try to spot them, but were sadly
too late. Moments later we got another call saying that a leopard had also
been sighted nearby. We got there just in time to get a cursory, but
nonetheless awe-inspiring, glimpse of her behind a bush. It also gave us a
great chance to listen and learn both about the methods used by the
anti-poaching rangers to track animals (their main job in this reserve),
and about the recent reintroduction of three leopards and the potential
problems that can arise. It then began to rain, and I mean rain. We were
soaked within a couple of minutes, but it did little to spoil the sense of
wonder of being in the proximity of such a magnificent animal.
We did eventually tire of being so sodden and squelchy, and began a chilly
ride home for lunch, only to run into an amazing sighting of elephants. It
was one of those David Attenborough moments: we drove quietly in amongst
them, spoke only in the most hushed tones, and revelled in watching the
herd, including an obligingly cute youngster, going about their daily
business of eating acacia trees. Opportunism is a large factor in animal
conservation, because on a large reserve you can't predict where they're
going to be. This kind of experience can also give you an insight into the
priority juggling that is expected in many other fields of work.
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The most physically
demanding task of my stay was the anti-erosion work. Soil erosion can
be abated by structures called gabions. These are a little like small
dams, but on land, placed in the gulleys caused by erosion. They are
made from rock and stone bound together with wire netting and trap the
flow of silt in the heavy rain. Teamwork was essential to their
construction. Passing rocks chain gang-style to the gabion site was
not only a good workout, but also an adventure in rapid trust
building. |
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Other tasks for the week
included a day at the Born Free Foundation's Rescue and Education centre.
This was a chance to do something with direct social benefits for local
people. We cleared a camping ground for local school groups to stay
overnight in a wild, but predator-free area of Shamwari. Eco Africa
Experience offers its volunteers optional overnight camping trips, which
can include a no-frills, or even tents, survival experience. These were
one of the most talked about activities among the group. Creating a space
for local children to experience a similar adventure left us with a good
feeling of ‘giving something back’. The programme also includes more
direct interaction with local children.
You cannot ignore the poverty in South Africa, and I couldn't help
questioning the injustice of a world in which foreigners stay in luxury
lodges when people live in shacks just down the road. But one of the many
positive things about reserves like Shamwari and the newly established
Bushman Sands, is the genuine contribution they are making to the local
economy and society. Eco Africa Experience thus gives you an opportunity
to learn not just about wildlife and the environment, but politics,
economics, development and ecotourism.
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Whilst at Born Free we
also got behind the scenes and had an incredible view of the big cats
being fed. One of the distinct advantages of the voluntary experience
over a tourist safari is this opportunity to observe the day-to-day
running of this kind of facility, which involves getting much closer
to the animals (and staff) than you would on a tourist trail. We also
gained a lot of insight from chatting with Steve and Terri, the
dedicated rangers for the Shamwari volunteer programme. Both were only
too willing to share their knowledge and experience with us.
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On one occasion, when we
were improving a large but stagnant pond by planting reeds, we spotted
tracks down to the waterside. We were treated to a debate about what
exactly had made some of them, and I am proud to be able to distinguish
between the footprint of a wild cat, dog, warthog, or antelope as a
result.
To my mind, Eco Africa Experience provides sound value for money: the
costs range between around £2500 for one month to £3900 for three months.
This includes flights, transport to the reserve, accommodation, meals and
daytime costs. Insurance is extra, and you'll need to take some spending
money for evenings out and trips away, but exchange rates are favourable,
and beer is cheap, so your money can go quite far. The experience you gain
from raising the funds will only add to the long term value of the whole
gap year package.
For more details see:
Website:
www.EcoAfricaExperience.com
E-mail:
info@EcoAfricaExperience.com
Tel: 01483 860 560
www.EcoAfricaExperience.com
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