The Nakavango Conservation Programme is based at Victoria Falls Private Game Reserve, the only “Big Five” reserve in the Victoria Falls region– lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo; and has been declared an IPZ (Intensive Protection Zone) for the population of Black Rhino the reserve protects. The Victoria Falls itself, is recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, and located within the largest conservation area in Africa, the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). The purpose of the program is to make a difference through the integration of Conservation, Education and Community.

For 3 weeks, I facilitated in a number of conservation activities and community development projects, which took up 80% and 20% of my working time, respectively. Every morning we were debriefed on the day’s activities, particularly regarding the importance of the activity, and aspects related to safety precautions, as well as, relevant ethical and respectful conduct during the activities. It was an incredibly fulfilling experience engaging in the “behind the scenes” conservation and game reserve management activities, wildlife research, and community development programmes.

The conservation management practices that I and fellow volunteers from around the world assisted in were all vital to the success of the game reserve including:

• Alien vegetation removal
• Applying soil erosion control methods
• Fence patrols
• Anti-poaching snare sweeps
• Waterhole creation, maintenance and monitoring
• Game monitoring, tracking, and counts
• Road maintenance
• Reserve clean-up operations
• Upkeep of river crossings
• Freshwater eco-system analyses

The community development projects consisted of assisting at local schools and under the guidance of our experienced volunteer guides through the following activities:

• Community clean-ups with the scholars
• School vegetable garden and tree nursery maintenance with the scholars
• Fundraising events for the initiation of specific community projects
• Environmental awareness
• Sustainability

During weekend’s (Sat-Sun) I had the opportunity to do a number of activities around the Victoria Falls town and surrounding countries, such as:

• White water rafting
• Devil’s pool and Livingstone Island tour
• Micro light flights (operate from Zambian side) over Victoria Falls
• Chobe day trip into Botswana
• Hi-Wire activities including the gorge swing, zip line, flying fox
• Victoria Falls day trip