Head deep in to the Namibian desert, where elephants and humans have forged a life for themselves living alongside each other. Life can be tough for both humans and elephants in this orange wilderness, as both compete for the key to survival: water. This family volunteer project is designed to open you up to life in a desert community, getting to know the locals and helping to improve the facilities in their local school. Through the work you do in the community, you will learn about the elephants that roam the desert, and how their lives are intertwined.
The first part of your project will be spent as part of the local school, helping to paint the classrooms and the children’s dormitories. Sadly the school doesn’t have the facilities to be able to do this otherwise, and it is a great way to become part of this small community. You will join the assembly in the morning, get involved with some of the lessons and interact with the pupils in their sports and crafts clubs after school. Education here is essential, as these children will go on to be guardians of the elephants and so understanding their environment is the key to the survival of these gentle giants.
The second component of this volunteer project is to track and monitor elephants in the wild, enabling the authorities to better understand and protect these gentle giants in Namibia. Seeing elephants living in the wild is certainly an incredible privilege and one of the many great highlights of this project. Children love learning to spot and track the elephants – not always an easy task with their camouflage!
What will we be doing?
Your time spent on the project will be two-fold. The first element is within the local community, and the second element is deep in the desert wilds. The whole project has been designed to accommodate children, and so there is plenty of interaction and games throughout.
You will arrive to Swakopmund on your start date where you will meet the other families and the team that you will be sharing your adventure with. The next day, the adventure starts for real, with the 4 hour drive up into the desert that you will be calling home over the coming days. You will settle in to your desert camp complete with treehouse sleeping, campfire cooking and outdoor showers – the perfect retreat.
For the next three days you will be getting stuck into life in the local school. This includes attending assemblies, lessons and clubs so that you really get to know the pupils and teachers. It also includes helping with painting classrooms and dormitories, playing games with the children and getting involved in elephant education.
After this, you will enjoy a day off, relaxing in your rural home and enjoying your stunning surrounds. If you would like, you can join a nature walk – swiftly followed by the big Chocolate Cake Baking Challenge- over the camp fire!
In the next three days, your focus shifts to the elephants in the area. Travelling by car, you will be tracking the elephants through the desert, monitoring them and identifying them. This is an extremely exciting part of the project, as you will be seeing elephants living in the wild. There are only two places in the whole world where elephants live in the desert in this way, so this is a rare opportunity to both see and to conserve this species, which is severely at risk. Learning to track the elephants is a real joy, and you will have plenty of time to stretch your legs- and even do some fishing!
On your last day you head back to Swakopmund where your time on the project ends.
Where will we be based?
This trip starts and ends in the seaside town of Swakopmund. Sandwiched between towering sand dunes and the crashing Atlantic Ocean, its location is second to none. We would recommend staying on in the area after you finish your time in the desert to enjoy sandboarding, quad biking, desert tours and dolphin cruises- to name but a few activites!
The actual project is located 4 hours into the Namib desert. Its location is rural, and you should expect to be away from phone signal and wifi for the duration of the time that you are away. Perfect for those escaping from office life!
Accommodation and food
One of the most exciting parts of this project is to really experience desert life, unchanged for many hundreds of years. You will be camping in the desert with your family, cooking around camp fires and going to sleep under a thick blanket of stars. This lifestyle is really rather rustic, which is all part of its charm.
Life revolves around the large fire where you will cook and make tea and coffee- a staple in the desert! Each day one family will be in charge of food preparation, and as such you can learn all about bush craft and cooking on fires. The food is delicious and not once in the trip will you have the same dish twice.
During the first part of your trip you will have an outdoor western style composting toilet, whilst during the tracking week you will be armed with a spade and a lighter to burn the toilet paper! Shower facilities are only available until August 6th when you head off for your elephant patrol!
When should I book?
Whilst late-availability is possible, we would advise booking as soon as you can to guarantee your ideal dates. Our projects are very popular and spaces can fill up several months in advance, especially for the months of June to September.
