So I haven’t written a blog post in a long time now! And seeing as I have been back from my volunteer trip to South Africa for almost 2 months now, I thought I would write a post about my experience out there – complete with photographs of course!
So on August 16th I headed to Heathrow ready for the 11 hour flight to Johannesburg airport, South Africa. I was going to be volunteering for four weeks at Glen Afric on Volunteer Southern Africa’s ‘Living With Big Cats’ program which I booked through Amanzi Travel, their UK partner. It was something I had always always always wanted to do, and excited wasn’t the word for what I felt!
Glen Afric is a country lodge located in Broederstroom South Africa that has countless African and other animals on the huge property. You may recognise it from the TV show ‘Wild At Heart’ as it is where the show was set and filmed! I would be living and working here for the next four weeks, helping care for (and clean up after!) all of the animals as well as many other duties. All animals were either rescued from unsavoury places or bought by Glen Afric owners from film and television companies to prevent them being sold illegally on the black market after their ‘acting’ careers were over. All of the animals will be living the rest of their lives on the farm here, as they are captive animals used to human contact they cannot be released into the wild. But Glen Afric has great big enclosures for each animal, they get fed well with the right kind of food and nutrients and they get plenty of exercise around the huge 750 hectare farm as well as bundles of love!
A typical day at Glen Afric would begin by waking up around 7:30am and getting ready for the day ahead. If you had signed up to do an elephant walk, you would wake up earlier than this and go on a lovely walk with the elephants and their handlers across the whole of Glen Afric before the day begins! We would then meet at 8am on the volunteer couches in ‘Quarantine’ – which is what the volunteer quarters was referred to as – to be told whether we were cleaning out the elephant house, the cow and bull pens or the horse stables. These three involved a lot of poo shovelling, not the best way to start a morning, but it was a good way to warm up, seeing as it was winter the mornings could be a bit chilly (yes, even in Africa!). After we had done this we would head up the hill to breakfast, which was usually toast and cereal, although on some days we would have bacon and eggs too! Then it was back down the hill to meet on the couches again to be briefed on what we would be doing for the day. On every Monday all volunteers would be split into four teams, each named after one of the animals on the property. So we would be told by group the activity we would be doing – sometimes it would be fun, animal interaction things like lion walks, game drives, taking the cubs to the exercise camps or interacting with Bailey the cheetah. Other times it would be maintenance tasks like painting and building enclosures, fixing fences, building enrichment apparatus for the animals, scouring the property for snares set up by poachers and locals to try and catch an animal for food or parts and picking out milk weeds which are poisonous to baby animals etc. Mondays were the least enjoyable day, as they were what everyone called ‘shit Mondays’ and involved cleaning ALL of the animal enclosures of poo and bones from their meat. We would move from enclosure to enclosure cleaning them out, fun times! And then once all of the poo and bones were cleaned up, we would all head to ‘shit trailer’ which was exactly what it sounds like – a big trailer of animal shit. The team leaders do try and make it ‘fun’ though, as they make it into a competition on how quick volunteers can empty the shit trailer, trying to beat previous volunteer records!
On days other than Monday, we would tend to do one activity after breakfast, then head up the hill (again!) for lunch and have a little chill time. Then we would meet back on the volunteer couches after lunch and get told what our afternoon task would be, then head off to do that. On Mondays and Fridays at the end of the work day we would go around the property feeding all of the animals. This would entail throwing large slabs of horse meat over the enclosure fences for the bigger animals, and placing bowls full of horse meat into enclosures for the cubs and smaller animals. The cubs get fed every day because they are growing and need all of the extra nutrients that is added to their meat to keep them healthy. The other animals are only fed twice a week to keep their eating frequencies as close to what they would be in the wild. After all of this is done volunteers are left to chill out and go up the hill for the third and final time of the day for dinner! After dinner we would often head to the bar and terrace area at the main lodge, where we would all have a drink and a laugh together. Other times we would head back down to Quarantine and chill out on the couches by the fire playing games or watch a film in the volunteer living area. Sometimes we also had a South African braai (barbecue) at the bomer in Glen Afric, which is where they hold all of their weddings and other events as it is a really pretty area. Whilst here we would get some meat to cook ourselves and eat it all together on a long table with some drinks, followed by a little sing and dance around the fire, with the occasional game of limbo and jump rope!
Sitting around the fire in the bomer
Having a traditional South African braai, which was so yummy!
There is also a very sad story surrounding Glen Afric. There was once a beloved white rhino living on the property called Isabella. She was so tragically poached in 2014 during the night, snatched from right under their noses. Poaching is still a huge problem in South Africa as rhino horn can be sold for such a lot of money. Every month a memorial is held at Isabella’s memorial site in Glen Afric, and all volunteers place a flower and a candle there in memory of the beautiful Isabella. One day whilst I was volunteering there, it was the one year anniversary of Isabella’s death and we all headed to the local mall decked out in Isabella t shirts with signs and placards, protesting rhino poaching and trying to raise money for rhino charities by selling bracelets and t shirts for the cause. We managed to raise quite a lot of money and had a lot of fun doing so!
So with all of that said, that would be a typical day – with a few new activities thrown in – in the life of a Glen Afric volunteer! Here are some photos from the various activities we participated in during typical days!
Elephant walks, me and Three! ❤
Getting a lift back to Quarantine after an elephant walk!
Watching Richard exercising the big tigers Nataya and Kallie
Exercising Serabi in the training camp!
A magical moment, watching the three elephants go for a swim ❤
Lion walks! If one of the lionesses is walking at your pace you were allowed to gently hold her tail and walk with her. It was incredible!
Jasmine and Pi’s first time playing in the pool we built them! They loved it!
Playing football with Jasmine, she usually wins and runs off with the ball to chew it!
Interactions with the three lioness girls. Selfie with Savuti!
Feeding the resident giraffes and Charles the Kudu on game drives!
Feeding Zebra, Giraffe, Wildebeest and Donkey on game drives.
One particularly exciting day, a few of us were asked to stay behind when the others went to clean out the animal enclosures in the morning. We were told that two schools were coming to visit Glen Afric and asked if we could be the guides to show them around the property. I was super excited at this as I love talking about all of the animals we had there and sharing the knowledge I had learnt whilst volunteering there. So we met the school children at the bomer, and began our tours around the property. We had not prepared at all as it was sprung on us on the day, but seeing as we were quite confident in what we had been told whilst volunteering there the day was a success! The children and the teachers had a great time interacting with the elephants and seeing all of the various animals we have there. We also kept them entertained by having a game of bokdrol spoeg, which is Afrikaans for shit spitting! Yes, whilst at Glen Afric we learnt that this is an actual sport in South Africa, they will pick up small balls of Giraffe or Impala poo, place it into their mouths and see who can spit it the furthest. The team leaders got us volunteers to do it once whilst on a task of finding snares around the property. I did not partake, as I wasn’t so keen! But the South African kids and teachers were all keen on having a little contest of this, so I set it up and they all got stuck in!
Whilst at Glen Afric, every Thursday and Sunday (our day off) you had the opportunity to sign up to do an excursion, if the one for that week tickled your fancy – which it always did for me!
Harties Cableway and Predator’s Pride
The first excursion I went on after I had arrived at Glen Afric was a trip to Harties Cableway and Predator’s Pride which was a park that had lion, tiger and cheetah cubs as well as fully grown big cats amongst other animals, both of which are in Hartbeespoort. The cableway was amazing and the view from the top was incredible. It was my first time in a cable car and it was a great experience!
Amelia, me and Gill on the cable car!
Selfie!
Incredible view of Hartbeespoort Dam!
After this we headed to Predator’s Pride to go and see all of the animals there. Now this was a new park that was set up very recently in the area, and Zoi who was in charge of organising excursions at Glen Afric said that no Glen Afric volunteers have ever been there before, we would be the first. She expressed that they don’t know how ethical the place is etc, and made it clear that if we did not find it a very happy place they would not send anymore volunteers there afterwards. She encouraged us to ask the people who worked there lots of questions to try and suss out whether they could be linked to canned hunting and whether they breed their animals and sell them on etc. So we went there with a view of finding out whether this was a good or bad place. As we arrived, it was quite evident that this place was not great. The enclosures were a hell of a lot smaller than at Glen Afric, as we walked around, a lot of the bigger animals looked groggy and zoned out – we came across an enclosure full of fully grown white lions, all of whom stared at us blankly – we definitely agreed that these animals had probably been drugged. The park had two leopards sharing an enclosure, one of which was a black leopard, and within the enclosure there was hardly any shade from the hot African sun for these poor animals. They must have been boiling. We also noticed that all of the animals’ water was put in metal bowls, which were left out in the sun all day long – meaning they must have warmed up very quickly, making the water very hot as well as the metal at risk of burning the animals. Not good. The two cheetah cubs were beautiful little things, and it was admittedly amazing playing with and stroking them. When we got round to the lion and tiger cubs, they were all sharing a rather grotty looking enclosure. We got to go in with them in small groups, interacting with them. These guys were definitely not drugged as they were very playful and mischievous. However it was still quite a sad experience, as amazing as it was playing with these beautiful babies, we did not know where they would end up. All the way round all of us volunteers were constantly asking questions. We found out that the park does breed all of it’s animals, with each female having around 3 lots of cubs a year!! This was awful news to us animal lovers. The guide also informed us that they sell the cubs on – a big sign that some of these poor cubs are likely to end up in a canned hunting facility. All in all we all reached the decision that this was a bad place, and no more volunteers should be sent here. We did not want to support this kind of thing, canned hunting is an awful, barbaric thing. Glen Afric had previously stopped sending volunteers to visit Lion Park which was a similar facility that was also linked to canned hunting. So if you ever find yourself heading to South Africa and Hartbeespoort, do not visitor Predator’s Pride or Lion Park!
After some high-energy playing, these guys cuddled up next to each other. I just wanted to take them with me.
The group of white lions we thought may have been drugged, heartbreaking 😦
Playing with the cheetah cubs
Pilanesberg National Park
The second excursion I went on was a day trip to Pilanesberg National Park to go on safari! This was my first proper safari experience and it was incredible! We saw so many of Africa’s native animals in their natural habitats, wild and free how they are supposed to be! We went on two game drives, the second of which was with one of the park’s rangers from whom we learnt a lot about all of the animals and of poaching risks etc. Our second game drive carried on until it was dark, where we could see the nocturnal animals come out to play! It was an amazing experience, with a beautiful lunch time setting!
Wild monkeys!
A stunning bull elephant, he was huge!
Chilling by the pool during lunch!
Changing Lives Children’s Home
Another one of the excursions that I went on was a visit to a nearby children’s home, Changing Lives run by Milly a wonderful woman who has been looking after all of the lovely children there since 2002. We began our trip by stopping by the local Spar supermarket and buying bits and bobs to give to the children’s home, things like food items, female sanitary products, toiletries, games and stationary! On arrival at the home we laid out all of the bits we had purchased as a volunteer group, and it was quite a lot, we were very proud and the home was extremely grateful! Our first activity at the children’s home was helping out with some maintenance like moving pieces of scrap material, pulling weeds, picking up rubbish, building fences and painting etc. After this when the children had finished school, we got to meet them all! Some of the children grabbed a few of us and showed us around their bedrooms and living areas which was lovely! Then we had some face painting and hair plaiting, as well as playing with the children and their little resident piglet Miss Piggy! It was lovely to spend some time with the children, getting to know them and hopefully brightening up their day a little bit!
All of the stuff we bought for the children’s home! 🙂
The kids loved Ben!
Monte Casino and Upperdeck
Frequently at Glen Afric there would be evening excursions to go out to eat and to a bar or club. Monte Casino was one of the favourites. It was a huge complex in Johannesburg that was like an indoor village. It had fake streets and a fake sky and was full of restaurants, bars, shops, a cinema, an arcade, laser-tag and of course a casino! It was one of the coolest places ever! The first time we visited here we went for dinner at a Greek restaurant called Mythos where we had Greek tapas which was amazing! And being South Africa everything is crazy cheap! We then headed to a really stylish bar with some live music and had some cool drinks, the menu for which was an iPad! The second time I visited Monte we looked around all of the unique shops, had some dinner and then headed back to the same bar, seeing as it was just so much fun! This place was honestly so impressive, I loved it!
The grand entrance to Monte Casino!
The inside streets!
The amazing 3Sixty bar we kept returning to!
Candy floss tube shots and a classic cosmo!
We also went to a Chinese restaurant on one of our evening excursions, followed by a local club. Which was a hilarious experience, we basically just danced for the entire night which was lots of fun!
We also had trips to Upperdeck which was a local restaurant/bar that had live music most weekend evenings. We had a lovely meal here and some drinks a few days before I left which was lovely.
International Primate Rescue
One day we headed to IPR monkey sanctuary, which cares for a wide variety of primates. This was something I was very excited for as I just love primates! We got shown around by one of their volunteers and got to see all of the primates that they kept there and heard their stories. We then got to feed all of the Marmosets, who are kept in enclosures of two or three, but there were lots and lots of enclosures and lots of marmosets! They are the cutest, tiny little things and you had a little pot of puree type food for them which was enriched with nutrients that you fed to them through their enclosure fence with a little spoon. We spent some time watching the capuchin monkeys also, and they are one of my favourites. They are so enquisitive and intelligent, I had my GoPro on a pole using it to film them, and they kept reaching through their enclosure and grabbing and tapping it, they were desperate to get their little hands on it! They were intrigued by it, it was amazing to watch! After this we got split into small groups and got an opportunity to go into some of the enclosures with various types of primate. My group went in with the marmosets and they were so so adorable. We fed them marshmallows and cheerios as a treat, because apparently these are their favourite! Marshmallows were particularly popular!
Smiles! Focused on the GoPro of course!
Mango the capuchin was picking and grooming my hands, then paused to just hold them! Adorable ❤
The tongue out with concentration, grab that GoPro!
Feeding marshmallows to the marmosets!
One of the marmosets was a little too into Joe’s leg!
Lesedi Cultural Village
After our trip to the monkey sanctuary we visited Lesedi Cultural Village which was a traditional African tribal set up, where they walked us through various recreations of all of the different types of tribes that exist in South Africa and what their traditional villages looked like, along with their cultural daily routines and some traditions, as well as teaching us a bit of the original clicking languages – which most of us just could not master! It was amazing to see some of South Africa’s tribal history and to see them all dancing and be submerged into the culture. We also had a lovely traditional dinner where we got the opportunity to taste crocodile, ostrich and some other African game! I went for the crocodile, but did not want to eat ostrich as we worked with them back at Glen Afric and I couldn’t bring myself to do it! Crocodile reminded me a bit of lamb though!
Gill after trying a caterpillar! Mmm… not so much.
Crocodile!
Canopy Zip Lining
This was a fun excursion, zip lining over canyons and through canopies on a canopy tour! Our tour guides were hilarious. I was slightly nervous about the height of the zip lines and the sheer cliff edges! But it was very fun when you get used to the first few zip lines!
Group photo before the zip lining begins!
What a view!
Hot Air Ballooning
One of the team leaders at Glen Afric, Martin, had his own hot air balloon and was training to be a commercial balloon pilot. So he offered balloon rides to volunteers for an extremely good price, especially compared to UK prices! So there was no way I was passing up this opportunity. We woke up around 4am and Martin picked us up and drove us to where his balloon was waiting for us. We helped (but mostly just watched!) him set it all up, and get the air inside of it. Then we jumped in and set off. It was incredible! Being in that little basket so high up in the sky. There was another balloon flying alongside us for most of the way as well, which made for great photographs, especially as we were there just as the sun was rising. We saw some jackals running along the ground during the flight as well which was incredible! The experience was made all the better by the company, me and the wonderful Martin and my fellow volunteer Gill had a great laugh up in the air! That’s one activity ticked off of the bucket list!
Gill, myself and Martin 🙂
Sterkfontein Caves & The Cradle of Humankind
The last excursion I managed to go on before I left Glen Afric was a trip to Sterkfontein Caves and the Cradle of Humankind museum, a World Heritage Site. The caves were super cool, we all got geared up in our hard hats and headed down the steps into the cold conditions of the caves. We learnt about Little Foot, one of the earliest human skeleton discoveries that was made within these caves. It was all fascinating and made me want to read up about it some more! After our tour through the caves, we headed to the Cradle of Humankind museum, where we learnt more about anthropology, archeology and extinct beings like dodos etc! It was lots of fun and we had a good giggle going around and looking at all of the displays and exhibits. The views in the cradle of humankind are incredible as well!
Group photo before heading into the caves!
Down we go!
This cave formation was famous for looking like an elephant!
The cradle of humankind museum, the building was apparently inspired by Celtic Irish Graves
Early Homosapiens!
Blending in well
The evolution of me!
Nelson Mandela’s Handprints ❤
With all that I experienced whilst volunteering at Glen Afric, I have to say – with the animals coming a close second – the people I met there were without a doubt the best part of the whole experience. The people really were what made the trip as amazing as it was, we had so much fun getting to know each other, and I know that I made some incredible life-long friends there and I was devastated to leave! But I know without a doubt that one day I will return!
The best people ever!
Doing a shot of the traditional South African liqueur Amarula!
Gill, Ben, Sim, Joe and Myself ❤
My last day! Goodbyes suck 😦
Leaving our mark; Miriam, Tamy, Me and Gill
So that was what I got up to whilst volunteering out in South Africa! Soon I shall be following up this post by writing some more posts covering the rest of my time in South Africa, including exploring Cape Town, my shark diving and whale watching in Gansbaai, my volunteering at Kruger National Park and De Wildt Shingwedzi Cheetah Centre. But until then, I hope you enjoyed reading about what I got up to at Glen Afric! It was the most incredible experience of my life and I miss it every day ❤
My amazing film-editing friend Jenna helped me to make this incredible video of my time at Glen Afric, enjoy!
Make Extinction Extinct! 
Great piece! I’ve always wondered where they filmed Wild at Heart! Sad to hear about the place you expect is associated with canned hunting, but I’m glad that places like Glen Afric believe in responsible tourism and will advise their volunteers against going there. I wish more places took a similar approach! (Love the video and hot air balloon pics too!).
I don’t know much about ex performing / actor animals, why do they need to have exercise on the frames? Is it not safe to walk them and let them climb?
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Sorry for the late reply! Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! It was very sad seeing first hand some of these awful places that mistreat animals. But yes they do have a good set up at Glen Afric. There were some things I didn’t agree with there I will admit, but on the whole it is definitely a great place.
The exercising on the frames is basically done to get them out of their enclosures and give them some enrichment and exercise. They’re not forced to do it or anything like that, they just like the meat! If they weren’t in the mood they were simply left alone. It is also not something they allow the public to be involved in, just staff/volunteers.
Like I wrote in my posts, the lions are also taken for walks out into the hills and are left to run/climb/play wherever they like, we just walk along with them. There have been times where they have run off into the hills after a distant game animal and everyone had to spend hours trying to get them back ha! Glen Afric is 750 hectares but it is all enclosed so even when the lions do rarely run a bit further than usual, they won’t be in any immediate danger. We just have to be careful to pay attention to where they are at all times, because if you have your back to them there is a high chance of them jumping on you! They can’t do this with the tigers as tigers are a lot more unpredictable and dangerous.
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