I was greeted warmly by Laurie, our volunteer co-ordinator, and Debbie the research leader. I settled into the comfortable volunteer accommodation, which is perfectly located right at the heart of the park- you can even see the elephants from the lovely outdoor terrace. The rooms are recently redecorated, all en-suite, very spacious and with wifi and computer access in the living room, dining room and kitchen.

After checking out where I was to be calling home, I received the volunteer induction, which includes watching a video about the park and its elephants. We then went to visit the elephants, and they were incredible. I had only ever been close to Asian elephants before, so I was bowled over by the size and the majesty of the African elephant. They were gently grazing their way around the vast grassy pastures, heading in the direction of the lake- which had plenty of mud around it to keep them cool. They all had a fantastic time playing in the mud, splashing in the water, and tearing leaves off the surrounding trees. To be so close to them and see their capers in their natural environment was a privilege- and an exciting one at that!

In the evening we helped to bring the elephants in to the boma where they sleep, providing them with plenty of branches for their dinner and promoting enrichment- buckets of food descend from the rafters and the elephants have to work out how to access the food. You could then watch them bed down for the night, falling asleep as they munched away, or lying down for a good snooze.

The following morning was an early one, waking up to take part in the elephants’ sunrise walk. The volunteers and the elephant carers head out to the fields where the elephants roam around in peace and quiet, munching their way through all that can be seen, whilst the sun rises slowly over the mountains behind. It was truly beautiful, and a fantastic start to the day.

Following that, I mucked in with helping with clearing up the boma- taking away the remains of the ellies’ dinner the night before, removing the dung from the boma and even helping with some dung samples- not as mucky as it sounds at all! Next we had a very hearty breakfast and got out on the field to help with the research. Monitoring the elephants’ behaviour is crucial, as it means that you get to know the African elephant very intimately. You can tell if they are happy or stressed just by how they interact (or don’t) with the rest of their herd and with people. This research is used to improve living conditions, but also for many research projects conducted through universities in South Africa and further afield.  Being outside to watch the elephants for hours is beautiful, and knowing that what you are doing will help these elephants is incredibly motivating.

You get a couple of hours to relax each day, which I did relaxing with a book by the lake just down from the volunteer accommodation. It was lovely. When the evening came we once again helped to put the elephants to bed. At the end of a stay each volunteer has the opportunity to spend a night sleeping in the beautiful lodge accommodation next to the boma- so you can enjoy watching the elephants sleep from the comfort of a lovely comfortable room- a real treat! I slept like a baby, and loved hearing the musings of the ellies during the night.

This project was very moving, and the amount of access that you get to the elephants is really stimulating. They are very affectionate, and want to interact with you- and it is impossible to say no! The best part of being a volunteer with elephants is that you know that all that you do is helping towards the survival of this species, and improving the lives of all of the elephants that you have the pleasure of interacting with.

For more information on this project, check out our volunteer with elephants webpage on www.oysterworldwide.com

We are pleased to say that if you fall into that category, we still have good availability on a selection of our volunteering trips in countries across the world. So if you are more interested in watching and helping mother turtles to protect their children on the beaches of Costa Rica than seeing who wins the 100m, or being a surrogate mum to baboons and monkeys in South Africa than  battling the crowds through London, then do get in touch.

The projects that we have on offer over those dates are:

- Turtle conservation Costa Rica

- Monkey and baboon rehabilitation South Africa

- Shark conservation and research South Africa

- Sports Coaching and teaching South Africa

- Conservation Australia

- lion sanctuary volunteering South Africa

- Elephant conservation Thailand

Contact anne@oysterworldwide.com for more information on any of these projects. These are all available at least over the Olympics period 27th July – 12th August.

The project was everything that I expected it to be, and much much more. Arriving at the sports field on my first day, I saw our 20 volunteers all leading sports coaching stations: from football to cricket, from rugby to netball, from hockey to basketball. Organised into groups, you will be playing with the kids, doing drills with them, sharing your knowledge of sports in a way that really excites and motivates these kids- and you get to have a good run around with them too!

One of the most amazing things to see on the programme is how much the kids at the various schools we work with depend on it, and how much they love it. The sessions are worlds away from the Physical Education lessons that many of us enjoy at school: the kids are desperate to play, they want to learn, and they are so enthusiastic. School in South African townships is regarded as the way out of poverty, and the kids are incredibly motivated. Many of the kids require feeding at school, as there is simply not the money at home for their parents to do so; coming to school to play games, learn a skill and be running about outside might well be one of the few occasions that they have to do this. Playing and enjoying your childhood does not feature so much when you grow up in this sort of environment- so you being here to play sports, teach sports and laugh with the kids is an incredible way to get an insight into a different side of life in the affluent and touristy city of Port Elizabeth, but also to make an incredible difference to many young lives, through doing something that you love.

Whilst I was here, I spent time at the Schools of Excellence, where a few lucky children from the township schools are selected to go to some of the fantastic state schools on a sports scholarship, where they will receive an excellent education and play the sports that they love. The fact that you as a volunteer will have been working with these kids, helping them to get into these schools which make the future a much brighter place for them, is such an incredible thing to do. Even those who don’t make the scholarships have an afternoon of great fun once a week- and that is such a gift!

Port Elizabeth itself is lovely, with great accommodation with swimming pool, table tennis- and even its own gym! The groups are very sociable, and loads of extra activities are arranged at the weekends, so even though your daytimes can be quite tiring (kicking a football around all day, teaching kids to bowl a cricket ball or getting a game of Bulldogs going under the South African sun is no lazy feat!) there is plenty to do to help you relax in the evenings. Port Elizabeth has a vibrant nightlife, and is perfectly located for the world’s largest bungee and exploring the beautiful Garden Route.

By the end of the three days spent here, I was beginning to formulate how I could do gap year sports coaching programme!

The programme has cameras on these families of animals living the daily struggle to survive in the wild, following their victories and their hardships. The world has fallen in love with these beautiful creatures, and support for this programme has been overwhelming.

Oyster Worldwide are privileged to work with the species on Planet Earth Live in South Africa and Romania. There are animals around the world which need help, and we hope that this inspiring programme will motivate animal lovers the world over to contribute to their struggle. Many people inspired by Planet Earth Live volunteer to work with the animals seen on TV- and you can too!

To find out more about the volunteering projects that you can get involved with, check out www.oysterworldwide.com. You could spend two weeks or more caring for baby monkeys and baboons in South Africa, researching and conserving elephants along the South African Garden Route, bringing freedom to the King of the Jungle on the African plains or protecting brown bears in Romania.

The lovely Baghira

Before I arrived at LIONSROCK, in my mind I had a really clear image of what I expected: beautiful rolling hills, lions prowling gracefully around a roaring their content, and a friendly welcome from an inspiring team- and somehow, my expectations were far exceeded.

The drive to LIONSROCK from Jo’burg is about three hours, through stunning countryside with plenty of animals to be sighted en route. Approaching the sanctuary, the road becomes dirt track and you begin a winding ascent to the area.  The first sight of a lion is unbelievably exciting. As you pass the large lake, you strain to see more, and they are not hard to see.

The first day of volunteering was incredibly varied, which is one of the great things about this project: no day is the same. We set off first thing to check on several of the lions, starting with Baghira, a beautiful she-lion who has to live on her own due to the conditions she was subjected to in her past life. This means that volunteers are really encouraged to develop a relationship with her, which is not a hard job at all. We visited all of the other lions too (the males are just as magnificent as I had imagined!) before helping out with a school tour of about 50 3-6 year olds.

The sanctuary works closely with the community to educate kids about animal welfare, and to give the kids a tour around the sanctuary, before lots of fun games related to the animals. I was amazed about how well behaved the children were, and it was a real pleasure to be with them!

What a view from the bedroom window- look out for the lions basking in the sun!

The highlights of my day however had to happen in the afternoon: feeding and enrichment. Feeding happens twice a week, to reflect feeding patterns of wild lions. Large cows are brought in from local farms and fed to the lions- they suddenly turn from majestic large cats to the hunting king of the jungle. What a privilege to see! This is also a great time to learn off the staff members, who will tell you all about the sanctuary as you drive around doing the feeding.

Following the feeding, we worked on enrichment. This involved giving the lions tasks to do to bring out the instincts that they have in the wild. Sarah, my co-volunteer, had filled cardboard boxes with vanilla flavouring, and the lions spent time picking them apart and sniffing them out. It was fantastic to see.

As the sun was setting we strolled in the direction of the lodge, where volunteers often go for some food and drinks after a successful day outside with the lions. En route, we visited Coda the showcase tiger, a real attention seeker, and also the leopards. It was so pleasing to see them happy in a lovely environment, far from the fate that they were born into. We spent a lovely evening relaxing and eating fantastic food in the lodge restaurant- a perfect end to a fantastic day!

The following day we spent with Oyster’s lovely rep Jolene, as she showed as around the NGO that she works with full time. Our tour took us to the townships, to some incredibly inspiring HIV centres and shelters for street kids. The trip is very moving, and one that I would recommend to all volunteers without a doubt.

For more information about the project to become a volunteer with lions in South Africa, check out our LIONSROCK webpage

Chilling out in the Romanian bear sanctuary

Oyster Worldwide is delighted to be working with Jeff Jung of Career Break Secrets, who was the lucky winner of our competition to spend some time of a career break volunteering with bears in Romania.

There were many entrants to the Travel Bloggers Unite competition, held at a conference this year in Umbria, Italy. However, Jeff was the lucky winner, and will soon be spending time working with bears in the beautiful foothills of the Carpathian Mountains.

Jeff will be blogging and tweeting about his trip both through the Oyster Worldwide blog and his own site, Career Break Secrets. This is a great opportunity for other future and potential volunteers to find out more about what it’s really like to be up close to a brown bear, helping to support their survival in a sanctuary in Romania.

The bears in the sanctuary have all been rescued from cruel conditions, either as a tourist attraction in cages outside hotels, kept in poorly equipped zoos or paraded around to dance for the tourists. The sanctuary provides a haven for these rescued bears, and Jeff will be helping, along with other volunteers, to improve their living conditions and share in their recovery.

We are very much looking forward to sending Jeff, and all of our other fantastic volunteers, out to the bears in Romania!

I have just returned from South Africa, where I spent an incredible few days volunteering with the delightful monkeys and baboons at our monkey rehabilitation centre deep in the South African bush. Armed with fantastic memories of a warm welcome, delicious food and thoroughly enjoyable days spent with monkeys scampering over my legs, darting into my arms and hopping on to my head, I thought that I would share the experience that awaits you at the Oyster Worldwide monkey and baboon rehab centre.

Home to over 400 vervets and baboons, the site is massive- and extremely beautiful. Flying into the lovely rural airport of Phalaborwa, driving the 90 minute drive to the sanctuary, seemingly deeper into the South African hinterland, and arriving at the leafy, green rehabilitation centre, I was definitely ready to get stuck into the life of a monkey volunteer.

My first afternoon was spent exploring the sanctuary, having a tour and meeting the team and the other volunteers. It was a great way to ease into life in the centre, which by all accounts is relaxed and hectic all at once. The enclosures are large, and become larger as their inhabitants are slowly adapted to the idea of once again living in the wild in a troupe with other monkeys.  The baby monkeys need the attention that they should have received from their mothers- which includes lots of feeding and play. Whilst I was there, the baby baboon Tom Tom had to have a surrogate mum every day, and each volunteer had the chance to look after all his needs. I have never before seen such contented faces as the volunteers nurtured and hugged this cute little creature!

The following day started early, before the sun’s heat gained in intensity. The first two hours were spent helping to look after the baby monkeys in their enclosure. This involved a thorough cleaning of the area (removing all inedible foodstuffs and their by-products), washing down the sides of the enclosure and basically making sure that all of the occupants were happy little monkeys. And boy were they pleased to see you- when you arrive in the enclosure, you are greeted by four or five monkeys wanting to pet you, to hug you, to sit on your head and to generally get in the way of your cleaning. What a pleasure.

After these two hilarious and exciting hours, a magnificent breakfast was served. The baby monkeys were taken out of their enclosures for some exercise, and to get up to their fun and games around and about. They love to chase up plants, scamper all over you, and leap from one object to the next. We took them down to the swimming pool to bathe before preparing their food for the evening. Lots of lovely fruits and vegetables- really lucky creatures! We also checked on the quarantined monkeys, giving them their food and re-filling water bowls. There is so much scope here for people interested in getting involved in the veterinary side of life too- with so many animals here, there is a lot going on to keep them healthy and happy! The centre really relies on the help of the volunteers for looking after the monkeys, preparing food, cleaning the enclosures and providing lots of love and affection!

The evening meal was a delight to eat, and was a perfect round off to a full day in the great outdoors. The mood was relaxed and cheerful, with volunteers chatting and laughing on the patio, and glancing up at the incredible Milky Way that was amazingly clear. Baby baboon Tom Tom was scuttling about, playing with the dogs and exploring the new world- it was lovely to watch him. Some of the volunteers were heading off on the Kruger trip the next day too, so all was go go go. I could not believe how well I slept after that day!

" 'Scuse me, coming through! "

Each day is different here, with volunteers spending three days on each specific job (be it food prep, cleaning or looking after the quarantined monkeys) so that they know in-detail what is needed to be done. You then move on to the next job, so get a really in-depth knowledge of the running of the centre, and also plenty of hands on monkey time. No day is the same, with plenty of adventures around every corner. I was very sad to leave after my three short days there, but will look forward to my return- as soon as possible!

To find out more about becoming a volunteer with monkeys in South Africa check out our monkey and baboon rehabilitation webpage or contact me, Anne, on anne@oysterworldwide.com

Wulfric Willis an Oyster volunteer who has recently returned from three weeks spent volunteering in the bear Romania bear sanctuary loved his time away: ‘ It was great seeing the bears everyday, just watching them in a natural state, interacting with one another, and taking photos of them, it was brilliant.’ 

The sanctuary works to rehabilitate bears after years of mistreatment, providing happier and healthier lives for the them. Volunteers can enjoy being fully immersed in the day to day running of the sanctuary knowing that they are helping to secure better futures for these bears, and supporting the staff at the sanctuary.

Located just outside of Brasov volunteers will stay in the city centre and will have lots of opportunities to explore the city and the local mountanous area. Taking a cable car to Tampa mountain and visiting Draculars Castle at Bran are just two highlights not to miss. Wulfric writes ‘ I have some wonderful memories, and would not hesitate to recommend it to a friend.’

Thanks very much, Wulfric, we are so pleased you had such a great time in Romania!

If volunteering like Wulfric with the bears appeals then why not visit our volunteer in Romania web page, or contact Anne at ann@oysterworldwide.com

As some of you will know, we have been offering a variety of treks in Nepal for some years now as part of our Nepal volunteer program.  These have proved so popular that we have decided to offer them more widely under the name ‘Oyster Trekking’.

You won’t find Oyster Trekking on our website for another few weeks, but we’re already handling enquiries and potential bookings for the coming season. We’ll let you know as soon as the new site is live. In the meantime, here’s a taste of the treks on offer:

• Annapurna Sanctuary
  A 10 day trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary – a vast plateau enclosed by a ring of soaring mountains.  This area is sacred to local people and was only discovered by Westerners in the 1950s.
•  Everest Trek
  A 14 day trek to Everest Base Camp to experience the world’s tallest mountain up close.

•  Langtang Trek
  A 6 day trek through the Langtang region, near Nepal’s border with Tibet.  It’s a lesser-known area of Nepal offering quiet, pastoral calm and breathtaking views of the Tibetan mountains ahead.

•  Annapurna Cultural Trek
  A 7 day trek through beautiful scenery to visit some well-preserved mountain villages.  It includes a couple of nights staying in local homes, making it a great option if you want to find out more about Nepali culture and experience traditional food, dance and family life.

In each case you’ll be met by our local rep at the airport and enjoy a couple of nights in Kathmandu before being taken off to your starting point.  You’ll be given a guided tour of the main sights in this captivating city, as well as a full briefing on what to expect during the trek.  Once the trek starts, you’ll be in the safe hands of our local trekking guides and porters.  We’ve been using them for years and are confident that you’ll be well looked after by them.

If the idea of exploring the lush forests, high uplands, remote villages and historic temples of Nepal appeals to you, then Jon Arnold will be happy to tell you more about it.  You can email jon@oysterworldwide.com or telephone 01892 771972.

It’s the end of the winter season in Whistler, and what a fantastic season to have experienced! With over 12 metres of snow over the last 5 months Whistler has once again had an impressive winter. Our Oysters are preparing to say goodbye to their home for the last 5 months as they fly home this weekend, and I’m certain they will be longing for the mountains before long again.

Whistler is a fantastic place to live and work all year round, and the Telus ski and snowboard festival is a big highlight at the end of the season, as the village comes alive with live music, pro skiers, and the amazing big air competition. I know from experience that Telus is a great way to end the season with a bang, so we wish all our Oysters a fantastic last few days in Whistler and I’m sure more than a few will be heading back in years to come.

If spending a season in Whistler on your gap year appeals or even taking a career break and heading out to the mountains sounds ideal, check out our earn money in Canada pages or contact Jon at jon@oysterworldwide.com, We still have places available for the 2012/13 season in Banff and Tremblant, and a few ’den’ staff positions working for Whistler Ski School,  so if you’re looking at getting out to the mountains this year then now is the time to enquire!