Going to Africa was a lifelong dream of mine. The experience was worth all the long flights and excruciatingly painful layovers in the world. Upon arrival at my destination, I was greeted by 2 lion cubs at the orphanage. There was a 5 month old male & a 20 month old female. It was such a magical encounter. To be able to interact with a wild animal like that freely (especially the huge lioness) left me in such awe, I’ll never forget how it felt.

Our day started at 7am with making our own breakfast. We would meet with all the staff at 8 for the day’s work which would continue until 4 or 5. We were assigned different jobs with different staff and animals every day. We had baby monkeys which were so cute, but bratty; we took turns bottle feeding and playing with them as well as a little dyker and springbok.

I saw rhinos and cave paintings and had the chance to visit a village, where I met an 82-year-old chief that told me the tale of fighting a leopard that was eating his livestock. His stories were incredible and followed shortly by a dance performance by the children of the village. I could not write about this day with enough detail to do it justice, but believe me when I say it was one of the most memorable days of my life!

Teak, the 3 month old Bushbuck, was a particular favorite of mine. I especially enjoyed it when it was his ‘outdoors’ time, which was only possible when it was warm enough. He loved to run around and jump everywhere, either escaping or chasing after imaginary friends. It was really wonderful to see!

When we arrived at the African Wildlife Orphanage Nikki gave me a quick tour of the center so I could navigate it on my own. After unpacking and meeting the other volunteers, I was told I could help with feeding some of the baby animals. I was all for jumping right in and helping, after all it is what I was there for!

After meeting the staff and my fellow volunteers, I realized that I was not alone in my love for animals...[in the morning] I was given an hour to interact with any animal I wanted. It was so much fun and I made sure to pick a new animal every day

Another aspect I really enjoyed about volunteering at the Wildlife Orphanage was getting to learn more about the usually unseen wildlife, like nocturnal bushbabies. At the orphanage, there were three bushbabies being cared for by our hosts and we were able to play with them every night and prepare their food.

\"I was als lucky enough to watch 5 hyenas get darted, 2 of which received radio collars and were released back into the wild. They also received a pangolin that had been thought to be hit by a car in touch and was examined for any injuries and then released. The main duties for volunteers is caring for the babies 3 times a day and then any other random jobs that need to be done around the orphanage. They had several babies including 3 barn owls, a grey duiker, 3 pookies, a serval, and several tortoises.

The African Wildlife Orphanage’s main goal is to care for orphaned or injured animals until they are able to be released back into the wild. If that’s not a viable option, they’re lovingly cared for the rest of their lives. These animals are also used for educating young local children about the creatures that share their environment. Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, so many of the children living there have never had the opportunity to see or touch wild animals.

The part I didn’t expect was the awesome friendships we made with other volunteers from all over the world. Every night we would sit around the campfire and play games from our home countries or tell stories. It was truly outstanding and I would do this trip again in a heartbeat!

One of the main tasks for the volunteers, and the most exhausting, was taking care of Cupid, the 12 week old baby Vervet monkey. Holding a baby monkey in my arms was a surreal experience, one that I had dreamed of for a long time. Cupid had more energy than anything I had ever seen before. He was very much your typical monkey.

I dug a pond for the lions and prepared food for all the carnivores. I loved feeding the servals, especially since they were very friendly and gave plenty of kisses. I witnessed two lamb births and got to spend lots of time with the newborn lambs. I would go into the enclosure every night to kiss them goodnight.

African Wildlife Orphanage gave me everything I wanted out of this experience. It’s a haven for all animals and it truly deserves to be applauded. The amount of work they do to help animals in need is extraordinary. No animal was ever turned down, no appointments had to be made, it was as simple as just dropping them off. I’ve seen anywhere from a plover to a steenbok to an owl to a snake come through the doors of Chipangali.