Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Volunteer Programs | Most Affordable & Trusted

The accommodation was amazing for a volunteer house, you got your own room and would share a bathroom between 2-3. The rooms had fans in case it got too hot, although I found I didnt need to use mine. Your rooms and bathrooms would be cleaned everyday and laundry was done for free every Thursday if you wanted it. The food was AMAZING, the chef made his own bread which was delicious! There was a lot of variety and you could go into town and buy food to keep in the fridges if you wanted your own food. There was also free wifi.

Justine is the person who runs the programme and she helps organise weekend activities and any taxis into town. Booking activities through her can get you up to 10% off the normal prices.

The work you do can involve removing pest crops, maintaining roads, litter picking, planting trees at the local school and animal surveying and monitoring as well as many other things. I was lucky enough to be there for a rhino relocation project, whereby a young male rhino was sedated and moved to an enclosure for its own safety as the dominant male would try and kill it due to competition for females. They also took us to see Victoria Falls and showed us the local town.

My tips would be make sure you have a sleeping bag, walking boots, gardening gloves, binoculars, plenty of money for activities at the weekend and if you're going in the summer months take warm clothes as it was very cold at night!

I would 100% recommend this programme to anyone who has a passion for conservation and the environment and wants to be pushed out of their comfort zone.

Every morning you wake up at 6 and have breakfast, at six thirsty you take a game car to the assigned activity you have planned for that day. The activity could be roadwork, help a school, gardening or other activities. Before the days work activities you begin with a game drive. Once you have finished your work you arrive back at Nakavango and have lunch. You have some downtown after lunch then you return to begin another work assignment. Six thirty you will have dinner and than after dinner you have the night to yourself.
The people that I met changed my life, its crazy how you can go for two weeks and become so close to people. Our volunteer group was like my second family, I have learned about different nationalities and people. It is amazing of how different people from different parts of the world can sit down at a table and have the best talk. I have never laughed so hard in my life and I never had a bad moment with the people I was around.
The food was amazing. Personal I am a picky eater and don't like to try new things, but I have no complaints about the food and enjoyed every meal. The cooks were amazing and very friendly, every time you walked into the kitchen you felt welcomed and always had a nice conversation with the cooks. Every staff member that worked was truly amazing and was very nice and made you feel welcomed in your new home. The guides were so knowledgable and were great to drive around with we always had fun even when you were working hard.
You come for the big five animals but you fall in love with Zimbabwe for the trees and the birds and the great people. Leaving after two weeks was one of the hardest things I had to do and I wish I could have stayed longer. This trip was the best decision I have ever made.

Gloves on pants off! And get ready for Nakavango. You won’t need many things. Just take your boots and your sunscreen with you. You will probably need an alarm in the morning, but don’t worry you will get use to it. Try to be ready for breakfasts by six, so you are able to see the sunrise. Nakavango is facing west, so sometimes it can be hard to see it, but don’t worry you will see it if you try. The staff will probably tell you to be ready at 6:30am, but Dean is ready ten minutes before, so be ready a little bit earlier. Take always your water bottle with you, and also an apple or an orange. If you take an orange, I highly recommend you take two because everyone it’s going to ask you for a little bit.

Few hours latter you are going to be dirty, sweaty, smelly and, tired, but happy. All at the exactly same time. When you get back to Nakavango, lunch is going to be waiting for you. Food is great! Deva is probably the best cook I have ever met. You have to hurry up! If you are late, there won’t be much food for you!

I know it is hard not having expectations before going to Victoria Falls, but please try to. This place is completely different from everything you have ever seen, smell, or try. It is a magical place, full of love and lovely smiles. Enjoy it as much as you can because it will never be enough time.

Probably you read a hundred reviews before these one, and you already know it’s an amazing experience and that it will blow your mind. My only big advice that can totally change your experience in Zimbabwe is talking to Ian. Try to get to know him, and listen everything he has to say. You will be impressed by how much you can learn from someone that you just met. He taught me amazing things, not only about Zimbabwe, but also about caring, doing what makes you happy, about family… And try the Amarula!

The only problem I have is I can’t wait to go back.

My time in Nakavango with IVHQ was one of the best time of my life. I have just love everything about the program from the daily drive in the bush to the accommodation (the food is sooo good). People are really friendly, the staff is so nice and full of knowlegde, I have learn so much about conservation during my time here. The landscape are beautiful, there is many activities to do during the week end so bring extra money. Meeting people from all over the world is also a really cool part of the experience. I would highly recommend to go for 4 weeks if you can. It was my first time in Africa but definitely not the last one.

I wanted to volunteer in an area outside of my normal comfort zone. - I did. I enjoyed every single minute of it. You definitely work hard at times, road work, plant removal, weeding and gardening, but you also have a lot of fun, fishing, game drives, and weeked activities are plenty! - Bungee jumping, swinging into a gorge, crocodile cage diving!

The staff at the Conservation Program are all top notch, the cooks are amazing, cleaning staff are friendly and social- and all of them want to ensure you enjoy your peaceful stay. Many times, from breakfast, or lunch, we would watch Giraffe in the distance from our eating area. The falls are absolutely stunning, and the town is small but friendly as can be.

My only problem is, I chose this as my first volunteer opportunity. There is no way that the next one can exceed this one, as everything was so perfect from start to finish.

Where to begin?! If you are seriously interested in traveling with a purpose in a beautiful country with incredible down to earth people, learning about conservation and education... then this is the program for you! Volunteering in Victoria Falls Zimbabwe was one of the best decisions of my life thus far. During every part of my adventure, from the second I landed at the airport, to the second I boarded my plane home, I felt safe, informed, happy and grateful. Zimbabweans (and Botswanans!) are some of the kindest, generous and most helpful people I've ever met. Everyone was willing to sit down with you and tell stories, share information or go out of their way to answer your questions or to just chat.

Each day we (the volunteers) were ready at 6:30am, with our backpacks full of waters, apples, work gloves and extra rain gear totally geared up to take on the morning work load! Since we went during the beginning of the rainy season, we did a lot of road construction, digging irrigation trenches, invasive species removal, and clearing and rebuilding bridges/dams. So we'd spend the morning doing these various projects, then come back to the Nakavango Conservation Center for lunch! A delicious meal was served by the wonderful Deva, and volunteers would just sit around and chat about the day so far, or get intellectual and chat about conservation ideas and wildlife management methods. Sometimes Ian would give lectures in the classroom about his experiences managing African wildlife and how his work has been effected by factors like poaching or climate change. Other times volunteers would call up Sheppy (our kindhearted taxi driver) and he would drop us off downtown Vic Falls to explore the shops or get some ice cream. Then at 4pm, we would rally the troops again and head back out for an afternoon of work. Sometimes afternoon work would consist of tilling the sustainable garden in the backyard, or turning the compost beds, or simply going on game drives to look for jaguars, baboons or an African sunset. Dinner was served around 7pm, and volunteers would once again sit around, sometimes drinking African wine, just chatting about the days adventures. One night we all sat out in the backyard admiring the gorgeous night sky, filled with stars, galaxies and planets. We would go to bed early, to wake up and do it all again the next day! Nakavango offered consistency in our work days, so you definitely get used to a schedule, however each day is different and there is always something exciting happening! As for weekend activities, Justine McGregor is AMAZING at offering her advice and organizing our big group adventures. On Saturday our group did the Gorge Swing (amazing for adrenaline seekers and badasses!) as well as the Canopy Tour (little bit more low-key with incredible zip line views.. thanks Michael and TK!) On Sunday a group of ladies adventured into Botswana on the Chobe National Park day trip (highly recommend!!) We got some more stamps in our passports and had the opportunity to see gorgeous Botswana and Namibia.

At the risk of sounding cliche and sappy... I'll say that journeying to Nakavango Conservation Center in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe was an absolute life changing experience. Thats all there is to it. It seriously was a transformative experience. To see the way these people live and to be so grateful and appreciative, gave me new insight into the human spirit and what it means to be happy. The Nakavango Staff (Justine, Dean, Delta, Damien, Ian, Deva, Derry, Noel, Cornelius, Ndaba, and all the rest!) was hospitable, kind and always willing to provide information. They truly became family. As for my fellow volunteers...they too became family. We already have plans to journey to Cartegena, Columbia for Juan and Aura's wedding at the end of the summer! If you are at all hesitant to sign up for this trip... JUST DO IT! It's a once in a lifetime experience and every part of this trip is worthwhile and incredible!! Ngiyabonga (thank you) Zimbabwe!!!

I've travelled a lot and done other volunteer programs, including 6 months in Ghana. But one of the best adventures I've ever had was bush camping at Nakavango. It was indescribable. We set up our tents and campsite just in time to enjoy one of Africa's epic sunsets in one direction and to the other was a herd of 27 female elephants (from 40 years old to 2 months old) walking out single file to meet at the watering hole and take a drink. Meanwhile, giraffe are walking past and hippos are surfacing to the top of the water to get out and enjoy their nightly grazing of the grass. As the sunset and we ate a delicious meal of chicken and rice around the camp fire under a blanket of stars. Taking in the scene and the sounds of the wild animals was almost too much. No photo can do it justice.

For anyone who has any interest in animals and nature, do yourself a favor and go to Nakavango. It's a unique experience that people paying four times as much to stay at 5-star lodges miss out on. You will learn so much about the entire ecosystem and the issues that these animals and the environment are faced with and hopefully you will feel as empowered as I do to help educate others.

I had never traveled out of the country before this trip and I only recently got my passport in May of 2016, but for some reason when I was looking at the different programs through IVHQ this one really stuck out in my mind and making the decision to travel across the world to Zimbabwe, as my first trip out of the United States, was one of the best choices I have ever made. First, the site coordinator really tries to do everything she can to help make you as prepared as possible for the trip and to relieve as much stress as she can. Second, the program is based on a wildlife reserve so every day when you drive to whichever location you are working at for the day you're going on a mini safari drive. The staff is absolutely wonderful and the accommodations are quite nice for volunteer housing as well. I would highly recommend this program to anyone that is interested in wildlife and learning more about ways to help to make a difference in the environment to protect these animals.