6:15am, alarm clock is ringing. Opening my eyes, ‘’where am I?’’ Oh, right, I’m a volunteer in South Africa. ‘’What is this sounds?’’ Oh, right, that’s probably Boris and Monty, the two lions, talking.

Hearing the animals talk at night as I drift of to sleep, whether it be the cows (and my room is right next to them) the elephants rumbling or Roxy the hyena calling, it will always make my heart melt.

A shower and a clean mouth later, it’s time for a quick walk around the quarantine before the 7:30am meeting. As a French gentleman,

A French gentleman? Giving yourself compliments hey? :p

Well as a French man then, I always start by the ladies: Sahara, Savuti and Serabi, the 3 lions.

It has been beautiful to see them grow, when I was a volunteer last year they were very young and needed a lot of attention due to some heath problems. It has been beautiful to come back as a project leader and be able to see them grown into absolutely beautiful Lionesses.

They are chilling on the grass, 2 metres away from me. Quick greetings to the rabbit and the gunieapig, pet the horses, then direction the servals, good substitute to my cat…well, may be not that house cats like…

These beautiful wild cats have stolen my heart forever and always.

The mongooses are sleeping, brief look to the ostriches and their ‘’puppies’’, cute.

It is unbelievable to see how much they have grown in the time you have been here Nick, let alone the past 3 months.

Granny, the old pony is browsing the grass, with Jack, the peaceful zebra. 

I truly believe that Granny and Jack are the underdogs of volunteers favourite animals on the farm, a lot of volleys (volunteers) debate over which lion is there favourite, which elephant etc but Granny and Jack the love is universal.

From there I would go to say hi to the elephants before they go on a walk. Through the door, Marty is sniffing me, so I blow his trunk that he knows it’s me.

Cheeky Cheeky Marty, she is incredibly playful and incredibly boisterous. Its always an incredibly special moment when you have that intimacy with the elephants. They have such a special heart. It is a magical moment to watch them swim.

7am hits, coffee at the couches, some volunteers are here, with sleepy smiles. Everyone is chatting quietly about what has been done the day before, previous travels, life in their countries. 7.30am, the 3 project leaders arrive, split the team between the Elephants house and the cows pen. So Elephants house it is. Grab my gummy shoes, gloves, my best 7:30 am smile, a shovel and pile on Marty, Three and Hannah poo in a wheelbarrow.

Every morning for the volunteers before breakfast the routine is the same, once the elephants, the cows and the horses leave all the enclosures need to be cleaned and ready for a new day. Although I don’t think I can look again at anymore elephant poop after a full feed of beetroot.

Everyone is teaming up, some brushes, other shovels the rest come and go to the shit trailer. I sometimes complained about my job back in real life, saying that I have crappy days. Well, now i can literally say that i’m dealing with shit everyday, and you know what, i’m loving it.

It makes me so happy to hear this. It surprises a lot of volunteers with how much cleaning enclosures and dealing with poo on a daily basis could make people feel content and happy within themselves and the world.

Volunteers are laughing, we are in Africa, everything is good. Hoses are on, brushing the last pieces of hay, we are done. As it’s ‘’one team one dream’’, we all go to the cows pen, helping the others, few shovels later, all good.

You guys amaze us, you smash it out before you have even sat down to have your cereal… Happy horses. Happy Elephants. Happy Cows. Happy Volunteers makes me very happy.

9am,breakfast time. phone in the pocket to check the emails, flip flop and glasses on, let’s climb the ‘’hill’’ for some flakes, bread, banana.

THE HILL TO THE FOOD QUARTERS IS A KILLER. I HATE HIKING SO SO SO MUCH.

Sitting at the table, we chat, we laugh, the ‘’veterans’’ brief the nubies on the life here, give some tips.

This is such a beautiful thing to see, volunteers helping each other, forming bonds, giving each other the lingo. What a beautiful site to see people from all over the world supporting each other and making friends. Sod everything that is going on in the world, volunteers here show that there is peace, love and camaraderie.

10am, it’s with a full stomach that we all go down to the quarantine for the new assignment: The creek needs to be widen a bit: shovels, pic axes, sun screen, we are ready.

Don’t forget your smiles 🙂

We cut the branches, remove the bad weeds, the rock and the mud…

All for the sake of the animals being able to have a natural water flow around the farm with easy access.

When all the sudden, someone yell ‘’mud fight’’. and here’s dozen of grown ass men and women throwing mud like it’s a christmas snow war.

I definitely wasn’t involved… I stood there all innocent and the thought never even crossed my mind.

Everyone is properly dirty, the job is done, we take a picture for the posterity.

Work Hard. Play Hard. Perfection.

Almost lunch time, we take back all the tools, clean up, and go grab some lunch. 1pm, we chill at the quarantine. A pool tournament is on his way, we can here some ‘’damn it so close’’ with volunteers cheering. Around the couches, the others are showing pictures, reading a book, listening to music or simply chatting about anything.

Perfect time to get to know each other more and learn so many new things about different cultures and beliefs. I believe travelling broadens the mind and this is definitely a reason why.

At the pool table the competition is fierce, almost time to go back to work, the 8 is finally in the hole and few high fives later, 2pm, we are all ready back to work.

Teams are made, i’m on tigers and big lions enclosure duty, the goal: cleaning poo, carcaces and cut the branches which reach out. The lions are nearby, in their shade safe enclosure. I still can’t believe that few meters away, I have the king of the savannah, chilling while i’m making his life easier, safer. Within the team, tasks are split, everyone is helping each other out, poop is gathered, branches are cut, bones are taken out, we are good to go.

Every Monday, the routine is always the same, unless there is something that urgently needs attention or fixing. Its know as ‘Shit Mondays’ and its universal among previous and present volunteers, surprisingly it turns out to be many volunteers favourite day.

4pm hits, it’s feeding and chop chop – time to cut some meat and prepare the meals for those beautiful beasts. We start by the Leopard and the cheetahs, who are a 3 legged toothless rescue called Bailey and his mate Oliver, then the lionesses…and then here comes the moment for the lions…i cannot describe the sounds when the food approaches…you can feel the authority, the mightiness.

There is absolutely no way to explain with words through a computer screen the noises that you hear. You close your eyes for a split second and feel the noises of wild animals and nature overtake you. Its stunning. I will not upload a video of this, you just have to come here yourself to see it and hear it with your own eyes.

Roxy, the hyena, smells dinner and starts her dancing and singing and then it is Tiger time, it’s amazing how graceful they are when they jump to catch their meals.

It is incredible to see how high they can jump. Can really see why they are called the ‘SuperCat.’

All are satisfied and now it’s shower time and a well deserved dinner. Food in our stomachs, we hit the bar for some beers/cocktails, we chat about the day, how the mud makes us having a glowing skin while other trying to mimic Roxy’ dance. I sit at the deck, watching the sunset, I can see a giraffe waking by the hill, i feel blessed.

Sitting at the deck I could do for a life time, you can just watch for hours and see so many walks of life, from giraffe – zebra – wildebeest the list goes on…

Time to go back to the quarantine for an inflaming card game, in the meantime, revenge is taking place at the pool table…

10pm, we’re all weary after a fulfil day, everyone reaches their bed. I put my head full of amazing images and sounds, on my pillow, sleep time….

There is nothing better than an African lullaby.

Nick.

Volunteer from Paris, France, volunteering at the wildlife sanctuary for 6 weeks.

Much Love, B xo