Cheetah Conservation Volunteer, South Africa

Overview

Make a positive difference the welfare of an endangered species by volunteering in South Africa on our Cheetah Conservation project.

This volunteer project aims to help in the conservation of the Cheetahs in South Africa, by helping out with the day-to-day care of the animals and helping to educate the local community and foreigners.

The cheetah, the world's fastest land animal is now on the WWF endangered species list. This is due to threats such as the loss of their habitat, human intrusion allied with the loss of genetic variation amongst the Cheetah prides.

The project also includes a number of Anatolian Shepherd dogs at the centre who you will also be looking after.

What's included?

• Pre-departure Briefing in London
• Pre-departure information and advice
• In-country assistance and support
• 24-hour emergency contacts
• In-country induction or training
• Donation to the project
• Transportation: airport pick-up, airport drop-off, transportation from the accommodation to the project and back
• Accommodation: volunteer residence
• Food: included, but self-catered

What's NOT included?

• Flights
• Insurance
• Visas
• Sightseeing activities
• Monthly stipend

 

Location

The Cheetah Conservation programme is situated in the magnificent mountain valleys of Stellenbosch on South Africa's most famous wine route.

You will live in a modern apartment on the beach where transport is provided to and from the project.

Project life and Photos

Only people who care, as informed volunteers, can save the African Cheetah from extinction. Before starting the volunteer work itself, you may need to know a bit more about this specific project and the African Cheetah. A small induction is given to all the volunteers, where you have time to rest, get to know the project, and have a town orientation.

The work will initially consist of:

• Preparation of food for the cheetahs
• Taking care of the Anatolian dogs
• Hosting the project's guests, informing them about the project and the cheetahs in general
• Cleaning up the feeding area and the holding enclosures

Depending on your involvement and progress, after 2 weeks you may be introduced to the cheetahs. If you listen to the rangers and fully understand and learn what they are teaching you and have a mature attitude towards the animals you will be granted access.

The amount of time that you will spend with the cheetahs depends on the relationship that you build with each of them.

You are expected to work 7 to 8 hours a day and you get 2 free days per week.

 

 

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Flights, transportation and visas

• Flights are not included.
• A tourist visa is required for Commonwealth, US and European citizens - This can be obtained upon arrival at the airport.
• An arrival transfer is included from Cape Town International Airport.

 

CIBT Visa advice... For expert visa advice we advise our volunteer, work placement, and internship participants to get in touch with CIBT - a company that we work in partnership with. Our UK, Canadian, and US travellers can use CIBT for visa advice and to get their visa applications processed - with visas returned within a week. UK travellers can contact CIBT for visa advice. Canadian participants can contact CIBT for visa advice or call Toll Free: 888-665-9956 US participants can contact CIBT for visa advice or call Toll Free: 800-577-2428 Canadian citizens should state account number: 57497 US citizens should state account number: 57496

Dates and duration

• Each year, the project is closed between 24th December - 2nd January for Christmas and New Year
• Other than the above, the project starts throughout the year - Please arrange your arrival for Cape Town International Airport over the weekend - you will start your induction on the following Monday
• Minimum stay is six weeks
• Maximum stay is 12 weeks

 

Safety and insurance

• All of Twin Work & Volunteer's placements are in partnership with recognised and established local organisations, run by or employing local people. These organisations, depending on the nature of what they do, might be small-scale NGOs, family projects, schools or orphanages, or local initiatives with environmental or social goals.
• We often use local businesses to provide logistical and support services to volunteers such as transfers, pick-ups, accommodation and so on. In this way, we support the local economy through helping independent local businesses to thrive. We take our partnerships very seriously and work extremely closely with all our partners.
• We provide 24-hour emergency support from the UK and our partners provides support locally.
• We have an agreement with the crisis management service Tranquillico, should the very worst situations arise.
• If any wider safety concerns arise in the destination, such as civil disturbances or natural disasters, we seek advice from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and implement their recommendations where appropriate.

 

Insurance options... Comprehensive insurance is available for all programmes. You have no obligation to take up insurance with any of these companies, but insurance of a suitable sort is mandatory on all our programmes. For UK participants: Here are the full details of our partnership with Endsleigh. For American and Canadian participants: We offer insurance options with International Volunteer Card (IVC).

Eligibility

• Minimum age: 18 years old
• Good spoken English
• Since you will be working with the public, as well as the animals, you need to be an outgoing and enthusiastic person with a great sense of humour and a genuine compassion for animal welfare
• International volunteers are welcome

Accommodation and Food

The project's accommodation is situated 25km away from your place of work in a beautiful apartment on the beachfront.

The location of your apartment gives you every opportunity to enjoy this beautiful South African region - you can take part in several water sports from swimming to surfing and kite surfing.
 

Eating:

Every morning you will be provided with a breakfast of cereals, yogurts and fruits. You will have a fully equipped modern kitchen in the apartment and you'll be given a food allowance of of ZAR 300 per week (included in the programme fee) so that you can prepare your own lunches and evening meals.

On occasion, the Project Co-ordinator may pop round to cook you dinner in the evening.

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