Bambelela Wildlife Care And Vervet Monkey Rehabilitation — Attraction in Bela Bela Local Municipality

The only positive was the monkeys. My son and I came to volunteer for a week and it was so bad we let after four days. The monkeys were adorable, we loved them and loved spending time with them. However: 1. The monkeys are terribly neglected. Except very basic needs, they get nothing. We understand that those going back into nature should have minimal human contact, but the elderly ones and handicapped ones will never go back. They have no toys and none of the employees pay any attention to them at all. For the monkeys that do go back into nature, no research or followup is being done to see if the program is effective and do the monkeys survive. They are being kept in captivity for almost five years, based on no actual research. There are no professionals among the staff who know anything about monkeys, their development or their behaviors. The employees are nice but totally ignorant. Care and medical, decisions are based on nothing professional. 2. The place is racist and quite upsetting. White employees all get decent housing. The employees of color all get paid less and live in caravans with no kitchens. It is appalling that in 2022 the board and founder think this is acceptable. 3. Though they advertise a very full and busy volunteer schedule, there is really only about 20 minutes a day of actual work. The rest of the time we played with the beautiful monkeys, but there is not actually any program in place. 4. The place is filthy. Not only where the monkeys are, but what should be the medical facility, the volunteer kitchen, the villas. We were terrified of getting food poisoning or bed bugs. There is no hand sanitizer anywhere and the soaps are watered down. Overall, we were so excited about this volunteer opportunity and left with a feeling of sadness for the monkeys and a need to decontaminate oursleves. If you are looking to volunteer go elsewhere. This place needs to be closed down and the...

Absolutely the most magical couple of days. We stayed at one of the lodges; stunning surroundings,knowledgeable and caring staff. Most importantly the education and interaction with the monkeys and wildlife was beyond amazing. We have sponsored a baby verve monkey and encourage others to do the same. Special thanks to Nix for your time, knowledge and inspiring care of the primates and Eric for driving our car out of the reserve and for taking so many great photos and videos for us to share...

Place is defnitely very educational and informative about the monkeys. But I personaly do not think the facility is very hygienic in and around cages. And some of the cages is in very poor condition and monkeys, staff and guests might get injured. At the 1st cage there was a dead baby on top of the cage and Tourguide was not even aware of it. That baby was already dead for quite some time. Staff need to be a little more friendly and smile.

Positive Note Baby Monkey interaction...