Visiting Moholoholo on a Conservation Holiday

By Mark Bottell

I've just got back from my conservation holiday in South Africa, where I was lucky enough to spend a day at the Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre. Many people wonder how they will spend a typical day on their chosen conservation project and whilst I can't stress enough that every day and every experience is completely different, here's how I spent mine:

7.00 - After a lie-in I join the other conservation volunteers who have been up since 6am for aviary duty. 7.00am is time for rounds and we are divided into four separate groups and given a choice of which animals we wish to look after.

I helped feed the stork that was injured with a broken leg; he was very originally named Storky and preparing Storky's breakfast was definitely not a job for the faint-hearted. I helped skin four baby chicks as part of his meal, and whilst this sounds bad it wasn't as bad as some of the conservation volunteers who were given rats to skin.

I held out the four skinned chicks on the palm of my hand, making sure that it was very very flat, whilst Erin, the lady in charge of feeding Storky, got very excitable when he actually took the chicks from my outstretched palm, for me this was definitely one of the most memorable parts of my wildlife conservation holiday.

8.30 - It's time for our breakfast and luckily whilst on our conservation holiday we are given better food than Storky. The breakfast served at Safari Lodge is particularly tasty.

10.00 - It's now time for our daily tasks. I clean out the yellow-billed kite's cage, along with the rest of the conservation volunteers. The cage is very filthy as the birds hadn't been disturbed in a while.

However, they had recently been moved to the clinic so that they could be treated by the resident vet, Brian. Me and some of the other conservation volunteers get covered in pooey bird water during this task. It smells awful, but luckily I have time to clean myself up before my daily excursion.

11.00 - In my free time I head with the rest of the conservation volunteers to Blyde River Canyon for a scenic boat trip. The site is home to the third deepest canyon in the world and it is considered to be one of South Africa's most beautiful attractions.

3.30 - We return to Moholoholo in time for our afternoon conservation holiday duties and I help change the cheetah's water bowl and get everything cleaned up. After this we watch Brian trim some of the Kite's claws and apply more feather mite powder.

4.30 - I walk the lion cubs Telo and Duma with one of the rangers in the reserve surrounding Moholoholo. They are getting very big and I'm not sure how much longer the conservation volunteers will be able to get hands-on with them! When we were walking them they were trying to swipe at our feet to knock us over and they certainly play boisterously.

7.00 - I help look after the baby rhinos that wander around the student accommodation. They are certainly a bit of a handful and after watching them for an hour and a half I need a rest!

The rest of the evening is spent at leisure, but after such an early morning the students and I are more than happy to head to bed early. Some of the conservation volunteers that have been here longer are 'Mothers' and get to look after baby animals whilst they are sleeping. I am woken in the middle of night by Alex, when it turns out that the baby dassie that she had been looking after had pooed in her bed!