Cheetah Experience
If you ever wanted to see wild big cats up close, then visit our Cheetah Experience in Bela Bela, previously based in Bloemfontein, and go on a once-in-a-lifetime educational tour to learn about our precious animals, see them up close, take some amazing photos and learn how you can join us in the fight to protect these precious species.
Our registered and recognized, non-profit endangered species breeding centre is home to a number of endangered and threatened species, including not only cheetahs but also leopards, male non-breeding lions, servals, caracals, African wildcats, wolves, meerkats and a Siberian tiger. Our project takes in rescued animals from the local area, so we also have various animals from time to time, such as a goat and chickens.
Our animals always come first, and everything we do is for their wellbeing. Our mission is to raise awareness of the vulnerability of South African species and other endangered species through educational experiences, as well as ethically breeding cheetahs in captivity and releasing them into a protected wild yet self-sustaining natural habitat where they are still monitored by researchers and medical experts but live free. Understanding their needs, behaviour and instincts plays a key role in saving animals from extinction.
Our current focus is to ensure that our breeding project aids in the conservation of the cheetah, by using the DNA samples taken from our cheetahs to maintain genetic diversity. We work along-side other ethical and responsible projects to help secure the cheetahs future survival. The global cheetah population is now confined to 9% of their historical distributional range.
We also offer a wide range of working holidays, volunteer and internship programs, which have seen over 1000 hard-working, dedicated, likeminded people from 33 countries come and be a special part of the Cheetah Experience Global Volunteer Family, who contributes to conservation in South Africa. This is your once in a lifetime opportunity to work closely with many African animal species.
Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre
Our unique Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is home to many of South Africa’s abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife, and is located within the Klaserie in the shadow of the majestic Mariepskop which forms part of the mighty northern Drakensberg mountains.
At Moholoholo we are often faced with the difficult decision of what to do with an injured or poisoned animal which cannot be released back into the wild. As a result, we have a number of “permanent residents” at the centre and at our own cost we use them as “ambassadors” for their respective species. Members of the public are therefore able to get an up close and personal experience of these incredible creatures and with our hands on approach we have the ability to demonstrate to you the threats and problems our wildlife is facing today.
We have a long standing and successful serval breeding project and could successfully reintroduce more than 160 animals to areas where they have become extinct. We are also actively involved in research on the movement and behaviour of leopards as well as a number of vulture species that we monitor daily at our “vulture restaurant”. A visit to our centre is an experience of a lifetime and will leave you with lasting memories.
Make it a whole relaxing weekend and stay either at our comfortable Moholoholo Mountain View Camp, located in a Lowveld acasia woodland, at our luxury Moholoholo Forest Camp, nestled beneath the majestic northern Drakensberg mountains and amongst the huge African Quinine trees of the Klaserie which is home to a variety of bird and African game species, or at our resort-style Moholoholo Ya Mati.
Volunteer/ Student Program
Since 1998 the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre has been accepting volunteer students. These students travel from all over the world for a unique African experience. They are involved in all day-to-day activities and have become a pivotal part of the animal care and treatment at the centre. A large part of the student’s duties is to care for these animals, and this involves everything from feeding, cleaning and providing stimulation for our more intelligent residents (such as the honey badgers). Whilst working here you will also be involved in any call-outs, drop-offs or hand-raising of baby animals brought to us.
To date we have captured a number of leopards for research purposes, with astounding results. During your stay at Moholoholo you may be lucky enough to be involved in the capture or release of a leopard. There is no typical day at our Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, anything can happen! Working with wild animals can delay meals and rob you of your sleep, so be prepared for the unexpected. However, everything adds to making your experience more memorable.
Mother Nature Camps
Mother Nature environmental conservation camps are currently located at two locations on Zanzibar (rain forest camp in Jozani and on the beach of Matemwe) and in Mweka at Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. You will stay in a fully furnished tent and take part in a daily program (Monday to Friday), which allows you to contribute to environmental conservation under expert guidance, as well as being part of local village communities and learning about their way of life.
The programs are a great experience and can be an alternative or addition to more conventional holidays in Tanzania and Zanzibar. Participation is possible for one to 12 weeks. The program is aimed at participants of all ages (from 16 to 120). Families with children can also participate.
Program activities in Zanzibar include sea turtle egg relocation, coral reef monitoring, activities such as recycling and upcycling, permaculture farming, mangrove planting, seaweed farming, teaching swimming to local children, providing environmental education at village schools and working with a farmers' cooperative.
At Mount Kilimanjaro you will do volunteer work at a tree nursery, plant trees and bamboo, help promote energy-efficient cooking, aquaponics, climate-resilient seeds and jatropha as a biofuel, and do community work. You will be part of a rural Chagga community. For a small surcharge, there is also the opportunity to be a guest student at the College of African Wildlife Management in Mweka.
To compensate for the CO2 emissions of your long-haul flights, we plant 10 trees per participant in all our global programs on Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as fast-growing bamboo.
World Unite! Kenya
Join World Unite! for volunteering or an internship in nature and wildlife conservation in Kenya. Work with rangers in the sanctuaries Lumo and Taita Hills, both bordering the Tsavo National Park without a fence. Accompany the rangers on daily safari drives and bush walks to register animal sightings and carry out maintenance work in the reserve. Also get involved in the ranger’s environmental education of pupils in 4 surrounding villages.
World Unite! is an organization that provides Intercultural Exchange and Global Learning opportunities. Since 2007, we have been organising Internships, Volunteering Assignments, Active Travel and Cultural Experiences in various countries. Many programs are available online and you can join remotely without travelling!
Personalised connections make us who we are! Many of our our former participants are still in touch with us, with their volunteering/internship project and with other participants, even after many years of their first travel with World Unite! Many participants have chosen World Unite! several times to travel to various countries.
World Unite! South Africa
In Cape Town and its surrounding areas you can teach, intern or volunteer in the field of social work, support an inner-city nature reserve, do a hotel internship, help at an animal shelter, complete a healthcare internship (elective placement) or psychology internship.
If you want to get involved in environmental and wildlife conservation and protection, we also arrange volunteer work with rangers in South Africa, for penguins and other seabirds, vervet monkeys and other animals. For ethical reasons, however, we do not work with any projects that keep large African wildlife in captivity.
World Unite! is an organization that provides intercultural exchange and global learning opportunities. Since 2007, we have been organising internships, volunteering assignments, active travel and cultural experiences in various countries.
You can also combine our programs in South Africa with our programs in Tanzania and Zanzibar. Our support team is happy to assist you planning your time as a volunteer or intern in Africa!
World Unite! Tanzania
World Unite! is one of the organisations that is active for the longest time and that is most established as a provider of volunteering and internship support services in Tanzania. Our head office is in Moshi at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Our programs in the Kilimanjaro region include healthcare internships (including elective placements), volunteering and internships in teaching in kindergartens, community centers, schools and special education, in social work, women's empowerment and capacity building, law internships, veterinary internships, and others.
In Mweka we run our own year-round Mother Nature environmental and climate protection camp on the grounds of a tree nursery. Under expert guidance, you can participate as a volunteer in reforestation work and in the promotion of indigenous seeds, energy-efficient cooking, and innovative concepts such as aquaponics. Another focus of the program is community work and immersion into the local Chagga village community, which is a unique cultural experience!
Other locations in Tanzania where we arrange various internships (e.g. media internships, medical internships, architecture internships) are Dar es Salaam and Mwanza.
You can also combine our programs in Tanzania with our programs in Zanzibar and South Africa. Our support team is happy to assist you planning your time as a volunteer or intern in Africa!
World Unite! Zanzibar
World Unite! is the largest and most established provider of volunteering programs and internships in Zanzibar since 2005. We are registered as an NGO committed to environmental conservation, sustainable rural development and cultural exchange. All our programs can be arranged at short notice and are flexible in terms of duration (usually from one to 12 weeks).
In Zanzibar Town we arrange a large number of possible options of volunteer work and internship in areas including healthcare (including medical electives), psychology, education (teaching in kindergartens, schools and youth work), culture (music, museums, fine arts), sports, social work, hotel and tourism internships e.g.
We run our own Mother Nature conservation camps in the Jozani Rainforest and on Matemwe Beach, where activities for volunteers include the relocation of sea turtle eggs to a protected area, monitoring coral reefs and coral farming, planting mangroves, waste management, permaculture farming, etc. Another focus of the camps is cultural immersion into rural Zanzibar.
In Kizimkazi we organize internships and volunteer work in the areas of women empowerment, educational work, social work and permaculture farming. Throughout the island we arrange hotel, water sports and tourism internships. We also organize Swahili lessons, courses in herbal medicine and courses in the construction of traditional wooden dhow sailing ships.
You can also combine our programs in Zanzibar with our programs in Tanzania mainland and South Africa. Our support team is happy to assist you planning your time as a volunteer or intern in Africa!
Zanzibar.eco
Zanzibar, the trendy travel destination off the Tanzanian coast in the Indian Ocean is a true paradise for nature-lovers. Zanzibar.eco is a comprehensive resource about eco-tourism in Zanzibar and its fascinating neighbouring travel destinations such as mainland Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, the islands of Pemba and Mafia (as part of the Zanzibar archipelago) which you can easily combine with Zanzibar for your holidays in Africa.
Even though ecotourism is not as well established in Zanzibar as in other travel destinations, there is now an increasing number of accommodation and activity providers concerned about it and optimizing their offers to eco-friendliness and social sustainability. Zanzibar.eco is promoting recognition of eco-friendly and socially responsible brands or companies in Zanzibar and East Africa and increases ecotourism practices awareness among tourists as well as local businesses. We offer you a comprehensive overview about the existing ecotourism offers in Zanzibar and make them easily bookable online.
Wildlife
Enjoy a superb holiday in Zanzibar, a tropical archipelago which is a semi-autonomous republic and part of Tanzania. It alone can count with a rich variety of habitats including paradise sandy and rocky coasts, coral rag forest, groundwater forest, mangroves, coral reef and sea weed beds, plus many different animal and plant species, out of which many are indigenous.
Zanzibar is known for its great marine life. It is a breeding and hatching environment for the Green Turtle. You can also often observe dolphins, whale sharks and whales. Zanzibar's fascinating land animals include the indigenous Red Colobus Monkeys, the huge bats called “Pemba Flying Fox”, massive coconut crabs and many reptiles, amphibians as well as mammals. Particularly the mangrove areas and forests are bird lover’s paradises with birds such as fish eagles, Pemba sunbirds, Roseate Terns, Fischer’s Turacos, Brown-Headed parrots and Pemba Scops owl.
Looking for volunteering in conservation? e.g. teaching local children how to swim; relocating sea turtle eggs; doing coral reef monitoring or planting trees at Mt. Kilimanjaro, then contact us today.
