"I would highly recommend this volunteering experience"
Elizabeth Roe, from the UK, joined the project in August
I volunteered at the elephant sanctuary for 1 week, which was an incredible experience. The location is beautiful with the added bonus of gracefully magnificent elephants. It is incredible to see them in their natural environment, see and learn about their different personalities and how we can do more to help support them. It is right in the heart of the Cambodian jungle and the project is run in partnership with the local village people.
The project really puts its elephant’s well-being at the heart of everything it does. Over the week we had the opportunity to meet all of the elephants, which includes light trekking, volunteering activities and to carry out health checks on the elephants. The volunteering activities included working in the seed nursery, clearing pathways, building bridges, making medicine balls for the elephants and some indoor jobs for when it was raining. The staff were all really friendly and helpful.
The accommodation was cleaned every day, it is in the jungle so be prepared for a few creepy crawlies. The weather was very changeable and they would adapt our volunteering activity to reflect this. It can be very muddy and slippery, plus you are asked to not wear revealing clothes, cover shoulders and wear long trousers to respect the locals. I would highly recommend this volunteering experience, there is never a dull moment always something to do and if you do have some downtime you can relax in a hammock overlooking the outstanding jungle.
