Posted October 6, 2016 in All
Madison joined UmPhafa for 2 months between July and September, during this time she experienced what it is like to work on a reserve such as UmPhafa and how important conservation and land management is to the species we care for:
“My experience at Umphafa was overwhelmingly positive and I recommend it to anyone with a passion for conservation. Before deciding on Umphafa I spent a lot of time researching volunteer opportunities in Southern Africa. I was drawn to this internship because of the variety of work we would be doing, the absence of tourism, and the reasonable price.
The work I did at Umphafa ranged from game counts to erosion control and varied from month to month. It was interesting to see how every job fits together to better the reserve. As there is no tourism component the reserve feels no pressure to introduce the dangerous ‘Big Five’ species, this made it safe for us to walk around the reserve without fire arms. It also allowed the reserve’s primary focus to be to manage the land and their wildlife sustainably rather than to appease their guests.
Money, as it usually is, was a big consideration when taking part in any internship but when comparing the price at Umphafa to similar opportunities in the area I found it to be the best value. In addition to gaining conservation experience, I met an awesome group of people (both the other interns and the staff).
If you are interested in conservation and want a unique opportunity to work in the South African bush this is the place for you!”
Madison Douthitt (North Carolina, USA)
