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A day in the Life of a Volunteer in Africa This page details the typical "day in the life" of a volunteer in Africa. Feel inspired when you browse through the day to day structure of two of our volunteer programmes. » Working with lions, Antelope Park » Teaching in schools, Zambia » Extract from a day in the life of a volunteer Working With Lions in Africa Antelope Park Lion Breeding & Rehabilitation in Zimbabwe When you are working with lions in Africa, your day may take shape as follows: 6:00am – Bottle feed the young cubs in camp at the time 6:30 – 8:00am Meet your guide and their safari camp guests and join them for a lion walk, taking cubs from 7 months to 16 months out into the bush. Watch as the cubs practice their hunting skills. Or possibly spend the morning working with the elephants and their trainers and going on a ride 8:00am – 9:00 Breakfast 9.00am – Cub feeding time again! They require a lot of care and attention! 9:30am - 12:30 You could be involved in various duties including enclosure cleaning, cub walking, snare sweeping, boundary patrols or feeding the older cubs their meat 12:30pm – 2:00pm Lunch 2.00pm – Join the other volunteers at our workshops using the fence making machines to make fencing for release enclosures 2:30pm - 6:00pm Your afternoon duties could include cub walks, making fences, horse rides or conducting a game count of the park’s many antelope species 6.45pm - Briefing by your volunteer coordinator about the following days activities Evening – The volunteers socialize at dinner at 7.00pm and around the cozy campfire pit. On some nights we take out the larger cubs for a night hunt and watch as they stalk, chase and catch prey – all practice for their eventual release into the wild. Volunteers get one official full day, as well as one morning and one afternoon off each week. Read more - Working with Lions, Antelope Park, Africa Make enquiry - Working with Lions, Antelope Park, Africa General enquiries and questions » back to top Africa Education Programmes Livingstone Community Development Projects in Zambia When you are involved in Africa education programmes your day may take shape as follows: 6:15am Sunrise - Get up and start getting ready for your project 7:30 Head off on the short drive to your project after breakfast has been served and you have had your packed lunch brought to you by an African Impact member of staff 7:45 This is generally when most schools in the area begin their day, which usually starts with an assembly meeting with staff and pupils Morning Session - Due to the lack of resources and facilities, most schools work with a system known as ‘hot-seating’, which involves the school being divided into different sessions. Some schools have as many as 3 school sessions a day. You might either be asked to coach sports or other extra-mural activities during the morning session and then assist with teaching-related activities in the afternoon, or vice versa Lunch Break - Volunteers have the opportunity to take some time out, eat their packed lunches, socialise with staff, children and the other volunteers Afternoon Session - You will then swap around and do either sports and extra-mural work or assistant teaching work depending on what you were involved with earlier. These schedules are generally very flexible and will be arranged between the volunteers, your school liaison, volunteer coordinator and the staff Approx 3:30pm - Home Time - You will be collected by your coordinator/driver and taken back to the lodge, or into Livingstone town if you wish. Here you will be able to check your emails, watch TV, socialise or just explore the town and some of the local markets Evenings are very sociable affairs. Generally, volunteers discuss their days amongst each other whilst taking supper together, prepare for your project the next day, or even venture out on a cruise on the nearby Zambezi River or having sundowners at one of the many resorts located on the banks of flowing waters that make up Africa’s 5th largest waterway. Read more - Teaching in Zambia, Africa Make enquiry - Teaching in Zambia, Africa General enquiries and questions » back to top Extract from a day in the life of a volunteer in Africa: “Halfway into a walk, I was surprised to find myself suddenly stumbling into an acacia bush. A lion cub had bounded up from behind and tried to trip me with her paws. For a moment, I’d forgotten that we weren’t looking for animals; instead, we were walking with them. Bandit, Patch and Caz were our 8 month-old feline companions and I tried to convince myself that it was quite normal to go working with lions and to have lion cubs at your heels. Once we got going, everyone quickly relaxed and began to observe and enjoy the cubs’ behaviour, rather than panicking whenever they came too close. Their distinct characters became evident immediately. Bandit was definitely the older protective brother; Caz was playful and Patch was the loner, always remaining slightly apart and observing rather than joining in. Bobby, our guide, told us to act as the pride would. We had to keep walking without waiting for the cubs even when they lay down for a quick nap in the long grass. The cubs would then play nearby, often bounding up to entice us into their games, as they would their pride. Bobby gave a running commentary on their behaviour, and I suddenly realised that this was more than just a chance to watch lions at close hand. For them, this was an essential part of their development; for me, it was like living a wildlife documentary rather than watching it on television.” Article by Anita Lewis, Published in Travel Africa Magazine Read more in our past volunteer stories     print this page | bookmark this page (CTRL-D) | send to a friend back to top

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