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Your Expedition Itinerary:
Week 1: Zambezi River Canoe Expedition
Your first week will be littered with exhilarating team orientated tasks and frequent sightings of elephants, hippos, crocodiles and other species as you journey down the Mighty Zambezi River in a canoe. Your evenings will be spent sat around the campfire soaking up the mystical atmosphere of a wild African night. Your river challenges will include the use of compasses, maps and various navigational tools to enable teams to successfully reach the next stop off point.
Expedition Activities:
- Navigational bush and nature walks
- Negotiating grade one and two rapids and fast currents as you canoe downriver
- Exploring channels and small Zambezi islands
- Game viewing and animal identification
- Camping at the magical Chundu Island
- Enjoying the host of activities on offer in Victoria Falls town
- Experiencing the Tribal Council, where you receive awards and presentations for your expedition
Week 2: African Culture & Bush Awareness Course
This course provides a superb foundation for the rest of your time spent on this expedition. We believe it is important that anyone traveling to Africa as a volunteer for any length of time should be properly orientated and this course will allow you to properly understand the environment and cultures in which you will be living and working enabling you to make the most of your African experience. You will learn about the flavours and tastes of African food, come to recognize the sites and sounds of the bush and receive instruction on how to survive, adapt, and appreciate the character of this tremendous continent.
Your course will involve the following:
- Cultural Familiarisation
- Logistical Planning, Basic Tracking and Navigation
- Edible Plants and Animals
- Animal Identification and Tracks
- Basic Safety and Dangerous Animals
- Finding Water, Gathering Food and Building a Fire without Matches
- Basic First Aid
Week 3: Hwange National Park
From the Victoria Falls you will journey 2 hours to the world famous Hwange National Park, which covers over 14,000 square kilometres and is home to a plethora of animal species, including the Big 5. Hwange’s elephant population alone is in excess of 40,000 while there are over 20,000 buffalo, around 300 lions not to mention rhinos and leopards. Our volunteer camp is ideally situated right on the boundary of the park.
Thanks to our recently acquired Permit, our volunteers are now allowed to work inside the Hwange National Park, where you will routinely observe or be involved in snare sweeps, game counts, visual observations and the darting of snared animals and the subsequent removal of these snares. It is a genuine thrill to be able to work off road and occasionally even at night, in the presence of Hwange's Big 5!
Volunteer Activities:
- Wildlife population counts and snare checks on wildlife
- Spoor transects and Boundary patrols, which involve analysis of what game has been in the area and assisting trackers in searching for signs of any illegal activity from poachers
- Removal of snares from animals and the bush
- Assisting our game scouts in the darting of snared animals and the removal of snares
- Gaining a deeper understanding of large-scale wildlife management and the thorough exploration of Zimbabwe’s most famous National Park
Week 4: Lion Breeding and Rehabilitation Project (4 nights)
This four-night stop acts as a holiday section of your programme for which you will be transferred from Hwange National Park to this project, which is approximately 6 hours by road. The Lion Breeding project is the perfect place to relax after your time in the bush and take part in activities such as canoeing the river, horseback riding and game viewing.
You will also be able to:
- Walk alongside lions as part of the pride and observe as the young cubs learn to stalk their prey – a truly exhilarating experience
- Visit younger lion cubs if there are any in camp at the time
- Experience the African bush on the back of an African elephant or on horseback on this private reserve
- Take horse riding lessons from our experienced guides
Weeks 4 and 5: Black Rhino and Elephant Conservation Programme
At the end of the Lion Breeding project, you will take our specialised coach service through to Harare, where you will be met by the project coordinators from this new rhino and elephant programme and transferred a further 90 minutes by road to the conservancy. Here you will have the chance to experience the bush through the eyes of experienced professional guides and work hands-on with the rhinos and elephants that the conservancy is so proud of.
The Safari Ranch is honoured to be the custodian of Zimbabwe’s black rhino. To this date, they have successfully returned 10 Rhino to the Matusadona National Park in Zimbabwe: a hugely satisfying feat! The females have bred successfully within the park ensuring the continuation of the black rhino project and its population.
Volunteers will play an active role in this world-renowned rhino programme, which is striving to save these endangered animals from extinction. You will play an important part in their rehabilitation and safe return to their natural environment while experiencing the rare privilege of having hands-on contact with this exceptional species.
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