African Conservation Experience — Local services in Djohong

August 2022 - Game Ranger Conservation Experience. Greatest experience of my life!

I booked the trip in August 2020, to travel August 2022. I had my initial consultation with Ellie, who was incredible from the start. Any questions or queries I had throughout the 2 years, Ellie quickly responded and helped the best she could.

The trip I have recently experienced was my first ever trip alone, so I was incredibly anxious, but everyone I spoke to was very helpful and knowledgeable which put me at ease.

When arriving in Johannesburg I was greeted by Martin, who was incredibly polite and instantly made me feel comfortable, I knew then it was all going to be ok! Martin met myself and 3 other travellers who were doing the same trip as myself, and waited with us for our road transfer to camp, which was near Phalaborwa. While waiting, Martin provided us with lots of information about lots of different topics, which also helped break the ice as we were all strangers so gave us lots to talk about!

The experience itself lasted 14 nights, and was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had - we spent 2 week out in the bush getting involved and learning so much about the environment, animals and struggles the reserves are facing with poaching etc… on a couple of occasions we also got involved with removing barbed wire, old cattle farming fencing, other man made materials to help restore the land back to how it used to be! We also wrapped some trees to help with elephant debarking.

An average day would be wake up 6am, bush drive for a few hours, back to camp around 11am, brunch, read, rest, study & observe (the camp had a “tower” which had incredible views over Olifants river so we could watch all the different animals heading for water!). We would then go back out in to the bush at around 3/4pm for a few hours - we would be out until after sun down so got to experience night drives often (always look up, the view of the sky and it’s Milky Way is incredible), During the drives we were always looking out for different species of mammals, birds, trees, plants and much more, I left South Africa with so much more knowledge than I could ever imagine, on lots of things including identifying and tracking. During our experience we did 1 bush walk, This was really fun and would have been great to do more, but I fully understand the work and effort that goes in to arranging these walks to ensure the safety of everyone.

We got the opportunity to speak with many people who live and work on the reserves including wardens, land owners, anti-poaching/security - it was really nice to be able to speak with them and get their views on anything we wanted to know really, if we had any questions they were more than happy to answer. Helped give a real good insight in to the real world in reserves.

Camp itself was very basic, there was no electricity (but there was solar power at a camp down the road that let us charge phones etc), water had to be boiled for showers. But it really made the experience the best it could be - there was limited phone signal so it was nice to switch off from the world and really take in the surroundings - listening to all the different animals calling during the night was very exhilarating! It was very nice to sit around the fire with fellow travellers, and others who work on the reserve to talk about anything and everything.

Massive thank you to JD our guide, who spent 2 weeks with us showing anything and everything - he really made the experience the best it could be!

Thank you to Ace for providing the opportunity for this incredible experience, i most certainly would not hesitate to book again when the stars align to experience the wonderful South...

Teeny Talsma 72 Australia Okavango Delta Wilderness Project. May 10 to May 24

After 3 years waiting I was able to link another trip to Botwana with my long awaited two weeks volunteering in North East Botswana . From the start the ACE planning , flexibility and information was clear and precise Correspondence was well organized and the response from head office was always prompt and comprehensive. Nothing was left unexplained. All went so smoothly .Arrival at camp was a pleasant surprise. Beautiful, remote setting ,great tents well set up in a glorious location with everything we needed . Mopani 1 was home for two weeks . We were immediately immersed in the African way of life living in the bush . The flush toilet and shower block was a real bonus . The lack of internet was a real pleasure and if needed we could acess wifi at the Lodge nearby. We were immersed in the bush and loved it .The other volunteer ( we were only two,both 70 ish) was easy going and we just went with the flow. Early morning starts monitoring and logging animal sightings with cyber tracking ,cups of tea and snacks on the road . Everyday was a different route with different animal sightings . It just doesn't get an better than hours in the open vehicle driving in the countryside and enjoying the thrill of animal interaction within a few feet of your vehicle . Both KT and Timbus constantly aware of safety. OK maybe the night the elephant 🐘 was outside my tent at 0100 hrs...was a bit scary ....but that's Africa. Lots of tracking and the joy of seeing what you have been tracking along the road is amazing. Photography opportunities were unbelievable. Being keen to learn more about track recognition was great fun and thousands of questions were answered... lots of books were available too. The joy of the warm showers provided daily,the great African food and the peaceful campfire and the silence and maybe a gin or cider rounded the days off with the mandatory spectacutar red sky sunset. We had overnright bush camps , out in the wilds , night drives ,sundowners and of course all the laughs and company and off beat humour of three wonderful locals . I had no idea what to expect and was never disappointed, everyday was a new adventure . It was easy just to let the days unfold and whatever happened was marvelous . It was one of the best experiences I've had in Africa and I have been 4 times all be it my first time to Botswana and it won't be the last. It was exciting ,tiring busy and relaxed ..yes a bit of everything ! The number of animals in Botswana is huge and the added bonus of being there as the water started to move down during our time there was the icing on the cake. Looking for something different... ..here it is an AMAZING EXPERIENCE. ... THANK YOU ACE .

review... an amazing experience exploring the bush and the Wildlife of Botswana 🇧🇼 with comfortable bush camp accommodation and different experiences with other volunteers.Great locals and Lall the while learning. Daily game drives for hours gathering information for the research project currently running in the area . Early mornings ,wildlife everywhere red sunsets and great company . .Expect the unexpected and have a go at this experience you...

Who is ACE? And what do they do? ACE is the African Conservation Experience. They arrange for volunteers to travel to Africa to see first hand the wild life and how they live and breathe. Did I know them when I booked? No! But I had followed The Rhino Orphanage for years and wanted to visit them. They put me onto ACE. It was ACE who asked all the questions of what we were looking for. How long we were staying? And to what extent did we want to “volunteer”? After giving them my brief and staying three weeks, they suggested one week at The Rhino Orphanage (see separate review) and two weeks at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre (see separate review). My wife and I had wanted to go to Africa and always withdrew at the last minute due to safety concerns, so when talking to ACE, this was paramount. What we received was nothing short of a well planned and well organised three weeks. To alleviate safety concerns, an ACE representative (Divan) met us at Johannesburg airport as we exited Customs. This is standard procedure for ACE. We went for a coffee at the airport where we met other volunteers. Some starting but also some returning, and what stories they had. We could not wait to start our journey. We had to catch a connecting plane to Moholoholo and Divan was by our side until we boarded the plane. On arrival, we were met by the Moholoholo representative as we got off the plane. When it came time for us to transfer from Moholoholo to The Rhino Orphanage, we were picked up at the door of Moholoholo and driven to our next part of our trip, some four hours away. There we were met by the representative of The Rhino Orphanage. Again once we finished there, there were ACE waiting for us and transported us back to Johannesburg airport where Divan was again waiting for us. He stayed with us having a coffee until our flight was ready to depart. At ALL times, we were never concerned about our safety, knowing ACE had it well and truly in hand and there was always a smiling face, an email to check how things were going, and finally a sad farewell to our experience. Both my wife and myself cannot talk enough about our trip and the way ACE looked after us. I would highly recommend them to anyone considering doing a volunteer program in Africa. But there are a few companies that do this, but it seems that ACE is the leader in the industry. So if you are considering going, and I highly recommend you do, make sure you deal with ACE and not some other company! I also get frustrated with people who have not been to Africa telling the locals how they should be looking after the wild life. Until you live and breath in Africa and see the complicated relationships with the wild life, you really have no idea. We had a wonderful time meeting the locals, both human and the wild life, and loved every minute of it. Look out for my reviews on The Rhino Orphanage and Moholoholo for more...