Explore Animal Welfare and Conservation Volunteer Programs

My time at riverside was amazing! From the moment I got there I felt welcomed into the riverside family. I wasn't just welcomed by humans either; a baby samango monkey popped out of a volunteers top to greet us. Within the first hour of being there I had held the samango and been jumped and climbed on by the baby baboons. One even fell asleep in my top. That feeling is just indescribable!! From then on it was just hands on everyday. There isn't a day you aren't surrounded by primates. There is a lot of cleaning and work involved but it doesn't feel like work as you are surrounded by new friends. The whole experience is very rewarding. One thing I do advice is to completely immerse yourself in the lifestyle. Don't worry about getting dirty; there isn't time to be stressed or worried. Just enjoy it!

Travelling to riverside was probably one of the most incredible things I have done in my life (even better than trekking the anna purna circuit in Nepal), I could not recommend this highly enough. Having said that though, you will need a love of wildlife if you go to this place. You'll be regularly getting down and dirty, having your hair pulled, and having dirty baboon hands placed where baboon hands should not be, but the best part is that although by the end of the day you look worse than you've ever looked before, you will love every single second of it.

So if you're interested i can give you a little insight..

You'll start the morning early (yes those dreaded words) but its so amazing to wake up to the sounds of the almost wild baboons who are in an enclosure right by the volunteer dorms. I even woke up an hour early to watch them and enjoy some peace before the busy day began. You can indulge yourself in a morning chat and a quick tea or coffee before you get to work. If you can call it that. Who would call feeding a baby baboon with a bottle of milk work?? I would happily be up at any time of the day for that. Afterwards you will have to put in a little bit of effort as its either time to clean the cages or prepare the food. And yes, if there is no shortage of the fresh fruit and veggies then the owners have no problem with you having some bananas, papayas, oranges, or even cabbage! Trust me, you will never have had fruit quite as good as there.

After breakfast its time for a general tidy up of the area, even some harvesting to collect wild plants (look out for Marula fruit) so that the monkeys can start to learn what they can forage for in the wild. This is also time to finish off any chores that need doing, and again the babies will need feeding once more! After lunch it tends to be more of a chill out time, depending on what projects are going on. This is the time when the volunteers are asked to monitor certain monkeys or baboons, or they take the baboons down to the pool to run around and climb. Don't be afraid to jump in the pool, the baboons love a good swim and your clothes will probably be dirty anyway.

From 4 in the afternoon its your time, you can take a shower (you should take a shower), use the wifi, read a book or play cards with other volunteers. Alternatively if you haven't had enough of the monkeys you can go and chill in the cage with them for a bit longer. Just make sure you have clean clothes for dinner!

I need a new paragraph for dinner because Lynne does fantastically with that one. All sorts of foods are provided. Breakfast and lunch are similar every day, but dinner is something new all the time. Saturday night is braii night which is a south african barbecue (although they'll kill me for calling it a barbecue) which is great if you like meat - they do also provide veggie options. Lynne also makes other south african dishes, but i have no idea how to spell them, so be prepared to get to know about south Africa a little bit more. Ask anything you want and you'll be sure that Bob and Lynne (the owners) will give you some insight, they have so many stories that they are always happy to share.

You may be on baby duty, which means you'll need to do the evening feed for the babies and bring their boxes down to your dorms at night! The volunteers tend to play cards and have a couple of drinks, its all very social. Some people even sneak off for a midnight swim. But generally everyone is in bed by 10, ready to wake up early again the next day.

Hmmmm.... the only thing left that I haven't said is some advice:

-Dont take any clothes that you care about, they will get dirty. And the washing is good, but it is still south africa so items of clothing may get a little damaged.

- Take an old towel that you dont care about (or a couple). You can donate them to the baboons once you're done there and you have space in your bags for souvenirs.

- Take as much money as you can (best on a travel card, and maybe a spare card). It's a one in a lifetime opportunity and you don't wanna miss out on the trips like kruger.

- Bring something from your country, there are so many different people, it'll be a great conversation starter.

I'll stop talking now, but i'm always happy to talk about the place I love! Can't wait to go back for a few months in the summer.

I would recommend this experience to people of all ages and background who have the desire to work and play hard whilst furthering an interest in nature and the large carnivores such as bears and wolves. It is not a holiday, but rather a taster of a lifestyle where you will give as much to a community as what you can take from it. Daily tasks at the sanctuary can be physically hard work, but there are also many opportunities to just watch, relax, and absorb your surroundings. We enjoyed ourselves so much first time round that we went back for 3 months the following year, and again the next year for a week. It was good to see at first hand the progression made at the sanctuary, and most importantly, to find the bears responding to their newly acquired enclosures and seemingly able to put behind them their years of captivity.

I arrived in Brasov on the 4th of July 2014 and was to stay for four weeks. My first weekend was relaxing but by no means is that a reflection of how many things there are to see and visit while you are in Romania. I managed to fit in visited the city of Sighisoara, Bran Castle, Rasnov Fortress, Peles Castle, I climbed 7 Ladders Canyon and took a tour of Brasov.
The beginning of a work week begins on a Monday and continues through to Friday, allowing plenty of time for fitting in all these activities on the weekends but also meaning you get to spend a lot of time with the main reason you will be travelling to Brasov, the bears.

The bear sanctuary is nothing short of amazing, a great set up, lovely staff, beautiful surroundings and at the time of my visit, 81 gorgeous bears. The bears are a mixture of characters and you have plenty of time to grow attached to them all.
Jobs vary from food preparation, painting fences, raking and helping out around the sanctuary, but also 'free time,' for wandering around and watching the bears, scattered amongst the work. Don't get me wrong sometimes the work does get very repetitive and you do get tired, but it doesn't change just how amazing the experience is and how grateful you will inevitably be by the end of it all. Don't go expecting not to get dirty, sweaty and gross because that is definitely part of the experience. If you are on food prep by yourself, like I was for my first week, I would recommend some form of music to pass the time. Once you have someone with you it is a completely different story, it is also awesome to be able to share the experience with someone else who loves the bears just as much as you do, someone that will also no doubt become you friend.

The apartment is located in a great spot, only streets from the main square and road, the local supermarket and plenty of places to visit as a tourist. Not a minutes went by that I didn't feel a hundred percent safe, comfortable or at home. With everything that is considered essential within walking distance the small completely gorgeous and picturesque section of the Brasov offers complete independence.

I will greatly miss Brasov, my temporary home, my amazing room-mates who I look forward to seeing again somewhere down the track, and the more than accommodating Razvan the Oyster Rep, who went above and beyond. These guys help to make this experience what it was and so much more, I went for the bears but I had a better time in Romania than I could ever have imagined because of the family I feel like I made and the lifelong friends I will have. A massive thanks to Oyster Worldwide for providing me with the time of my life!

My first time travelling alone, I was a mixed bag of nerves and excitement. Throughout the whole experience I was supported by Oyster staff, who gave me a lot of vital information to prepare myself. I also found researching about the Rehabilitation centre useful to develop my understanding. I was greeted at the airport by one of the lead volunteers, and I was made to feel very welcome upon arrival. Everyday the home cooked food and family atmosphere really makes you feel at home. Every week there are trips to the local supermarket where you can buy your own snacks/other bits if you wish, as well as other trips to sign up for - Kruger park was amazing!! Personal hygiene is a must, as you do deal with cleaning up poop and on my experience, a lot of people became ill. The tap water may be safe to drink for some, however when I came home I had to go on a 2 week course of antibiotics. The experience was amazing and something I will never forget.

I spent two weeks at Riverside and even though it has been several years since I've been there, I fiercely miss Riverside and yearn to return. The experiences and memories I was blessed there with will forever remain and exist in my mind, heart, and soul.

Last summer I spent three weeks at Riverside Monkey Rehabilitation centre in South Africa. The project involved cleaning cages, preparing food for the animals, and for the most part, playing with the baby and adolescent Monkeys and baboons.
The amount of contact that we had with all of the animals was undoubtedly the highlight of the trip. Learning the differences in the personalities of the monkeys, and how to interact with them was eye opening and just down right incredible!
My time at riverside helped me come to my decision of what i wanted to do with my future, as before going I didn't know what i wanted to go on and study at university, but working with the primates made me realise that I had to study wildlife further, to hopefully go on to a career with animals.

I had the most rewarding experience when volunteering within Romania at the Libearty Bear Sanctuary and also at the Millions of Friends Dog Shelter. The dedicated staff and other volunteers I met along the way made my experience even better to be able to share it with others. It was a very rewarding, positive, enjoyable and fun experience. So much- that I returned to Brasov for another few weeks of volunteering before departing Europe for Australia.