Volunteering in Zimbabwe – Lions Eat a Lot of Meat!

I always considered doing a volunteer program, so this summer I thought it was time. I looked through lots of websites looking for a wildlife conservation project; because I really love animals and nature. I considered doing one with kids but then I doubt if I would be good with kids; so I decided to do the Lion Conservation in Victoria Falls project.

In the picture above I’m there with one of the cubs. In that moment we had been walking the lions and they decided to stop and rest for a while. And yes, these are cubs even if they seem huge.

On a normal day we would leave at 6:20 am from the lodge to go in a van to the place where the lions are in the country side. Then we’d walk them for 2 hours. Most of the times there many tourist clients who pay to be on these lions walks and take pictures with them. What I used to do on this walks was walk with a big group of clients, a few volunteers, and the staff who make sure that you’re safe; because these walks take place in very wild area. The walks are very easy and they stop at many points; so don’t worry too much about if it’s gonna be hard. Sometimes during this walks we would collect data on what the lions were doing.

Then at 9 AM we’d have breakfast which was delicious! At 10 we’d go of an other 2 hour walk, and after we would head back to the lodge for lunch. Around 3 pm we would go back to the lions place to walk with them or where once a week we’d clean their enclosure and feed them 8kg of meat.

Occasionally we’d make toys for the lions to play with. And on Saturday afternoons we would go to the orphanage to play with the local kids who were so nice and friendly!The place is just magical and it’s a cool location because you’re very close to Botswana, Zambia and Namibia, where you can travel to on your free day on Sunday. Overall, I had a really great time.