Volunteer with your family in Namibia – help protect wildlife!

Families with children over 12 yrs old are welcome to join our wildlife conservation programmes throughout Namibia. We offer families the chance to select your favourite projects and locations according to your interests and we can make a bespoke family programme just for you – usually we ask families to commit to a min of 10 days to 2 weeks in duration to get the full experience!  Families usually start off with a few days or a week at our Wildlife Sanctuary as that is close to the airport, and then you can either choose to stay on for the full duration, or head off to different sites including our TimBila Game reserve or Kanaan Desert project or take part in our Neuras adventure week to name a few. Below you can find info on all the options available to you:

• Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteer Project
• Wildlife Conservation Kanaan Desert
• Wildlife Conservation Volunteering – TimBila Game Reserve
• Adventure Week- Neuras Mountains
  
• Wildlife Sanctuary at Harnas with San Bushmen Experience

Wildlife Sanctuary Volunteer Project

Volunteering at the wildlife sanctuary will provide families with a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with African wildlife. The project provides refuge for orphaned and injured animals including baboons, caracals, wild dogs, cheetahs, leopards and lions.

Families will be involved with caring for and feeding the animals as well as helping to maintain and develop the sanctuary (please note there is no hands-on contact with predators). During your time on the project a typical day will include preparing the animals food, cleaning and maintaining enclosures, feeding the animals, taking them on walks and providing intensive care for juvenile wildlife.

Adjacent to the Wildlife Sanctuary is the Zannier reserve, home to lions, elephants, rhino and other wildlife. Families will spend time here doing game counts and also with the option to spend a day and night out with the rhino rangers.

As a Wildlife Sanctuary family volunteer you will also have the opportunity to visit the on site primary school. This amazing pre-school provides free education to the San Bushmen children who would otherwise not have access to education. The school provides a full curriculum as well as being a place for the children to dance, sing and play.

Wildlife Conservation Kanaan Desert

The Wildlife Conservation Project in the Kanaan Desert aims to establish an unfenced wildlife reserve, creating a refuge for endangered species. The area covers 33,000 hectares of stunning desert scenery. During your stay families will get hands on experience with a variety of skills such as mapping using a GPS, radio telemetry tracking, game counts, camera trapping and maintenance and security. Families will also have the chance to experience some of the must do activities in the Namib Desert such as night drives, sleep outs and waterhole observations as well sand dune surfing!

Wildlife Conservation Family Volunteering – TimBila Game Reserve

This project is located 45km North East of Omaruru. It is a 25000 ha property which will be used as a wildlife reserve with a focus on the conflict animals, whether they come from the sanctuary or via our Response Unit Program.

TimBila is home to African Wild dogs, Lions, Rhino and Elephants. Currently cheetah, leopard and brown hyaena occur naturally on the reserve. Families are involved in the related research efforts on this reserve and the management of the animals situated on it and activities include wildlife tracking, setting camera traps, doing game counts and game reserve maintenance activities.  This programme runs from a Saturday to Saturday with transfers to and from the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Adventure Week – Neuras Mountains

Neuras Adventure week is a fun week of adventure for the whole family which includes guided hiking 5-10 kms each day in the Namib Naukluft National Park, a day trip to the iconic red Sossusvlei Dunes, sleep-out in the bush, wine tasting (not for children!) and feeding/visiting the 6 cheetahs that are resident at Neuras brought there as a result of human-animal conflict.  A stunning landscape in Namibia, the dunes are an absolute must see and the hiking is stunning!  This week offers a great adventure package for families wanting to take a break from volunteering for one week.

Wildlife Sanctuary at Harnas with San Bushmen Experience

This Wildlife Sanctuary is home to countless orphaned, injured and conflict animals and is set on a sprawling reserve teeming with wildlife.  Families are accommodated at the heart of the sanctuary itself and get involved in a range of activities including:  animal food preparation, feeding the smaller sanctuary animals such as the banded mongooses, meerkats, crocodiles, vervet monkeys and chacma baboons, enclosure maintenance, feeding the magnificent carnivores including cheetahs, lions, leopards, caracals and African wild dogs.

This sanctuary is also a haven for Namibia’s San communities, those people displaying the oldest culture in the world. This programme offers an add on opportunity to join the traditional San on a nature walk then sit around the fire listening to traditional myths under the African night skies, something which is highly recommended for families!

On site, there is also a kindergarten within the sanctuary where families can spend a few hours a week helping out if they wish as well.

We can design a programme for your family!

With all of those options, you can choose!  Arrivals to the Wildlife Sanctuary can be any day of the week. Transfers to our research sites occur Saturday – Saturday and transfers to and from Harnas Wildlife Sanctuary with San Bushmen Experience is on Mondays.  Please email victoria.mcneil@workingabroad.com if you want to chat about dates/projects to choose to suit your family.

Free Time for Families

Whilst not working on the projects there is plenty for families to see and do.  At Neuras you can enjoy sundowners and a braai, swimming in nearby water pools and natural springs, at the Wildlife Sanctuary families can spend their free time swimming in the pool, playing football or paintball and enjoying nature walks in the local area as well as the traditional sundowners and a braai and families at Kanaan can spend time exploring the Namib Desert, sand boarding or sleeping out under a blanket of stars. You may also have the chance to visit Windhoek for the day or stay overnight at a luxury lodge.

The full Family Volunteer Programme is in effect Monday to Saturday, with an activity in the afternoon. Sundays are more of a rest day when you may have the opportunity to go into town, but you will still be expected to help with food preparation and feeding animals.

“Volunteers are the backbone of this project. From taking care of a myriad of rescued wildlife species, to improving the quality of life of the marginalised San community, and contributing to riveting, first-hand conservation research – we simply could not achieve what we do without their enthusiastic involvement and unfaltering support. Embark on an inspiring and life-changing journey with us!” – quote from the Project Manager