Guided by an experienced ranger, you will experience and explore breath-taking landscapes and unforgettable wildlife sightings, including: The Big 5, Black Wildebeest, Cheetah, Giraffe, Zebra and numerous other antelope.

The “Big Five” Safari Reserve is a unique volunteering project that allows animals to be re-introduced to the area where they once roamed freely. This initiative is located in the Eastern Cape and is the kind of project that requires the love for animals and nature.

Guidance & Supervision

The coordinator on site is an experienced game ranger who will take you to and from the volunteer house to the reserve, work together with you and teach you all there is to know about the land, plants and animals.

Volunteer Tasks

As a volunteer at the Big Five Safari Reserve, your primary responsibility is managing the free roaming lions, with the rest of the day filled with tasks and duties based around the reserve.

The list below provides the details of various projects experienced by past volunteers. Please note that duties may change at any time, which means no week at the reserve will be the same!

Short-Term Projects

• Game capturing, counting and monitoring
• Medicinal use of plants and vegetation biomes
• Guided walks, tracking and trails through the reserve
• Nocturnal predator monitoring

Long-Term Projects

• Game counting
• Animal tracking using telemetry sets
• Territorial ranges and feeding range monitoring
• Lion health and breeding monitoring
• Giraffe movement and breeding monitoring
• Local community sustainability
• Assisting vulnerable children and AIDS orphans
• Birds in reserves project

General reserve duties:

• Erosion control
• Fence patrol and maintenance
• Alien plant control
• Bush clean and clear up
• Road and boma maintenance

Why Volunteer at this project?

Working and living on a safari reserve is a dream of many, and this is your opportunity to be a part of the bigger picture of conservation. Don’t forget that although small changes can take a very long time to make an impact on nature, and are difficult to see in a few weeks, your role as a volunteer or gap year student adds immeasurably to the restoration of the land to what it once was. By participating, you do not merely help on a temporary basis on the reserve itself, but you also contribute to the future financially, and impact the environment positively. You have the possibility to see more than just the reserve and can spend some time at the community project in Paterson as well, giving you the chance to see South Africa and its people in a different light.

Gap year students and volunteers can be part of this bigger picture and work and live on this reserve and help with all the aspects of running a safari reserve in Africa.