An incredible experience

Booking my trip to South Africa with Oyster Worldwide was the best way to go. I am 19 years old and had never travelled alone before, especially not to the other side of the world! And so, understandably, my parents were quite concerned for my safety and I was also very nervous about navigating through a completely foreign place. However, thanks to Oyster I actually didn't feel alone. Every aspect of my trip was organised, and no matter how silly or irrelevant the question may have seemed, Oyster (Georgie in particular!) gave me a thorough answer in no time at all. Even when Georgie was away I did not have to wait as one of her colleagues handled my problems. During the booking and planning of my trip and also during my time in South Africa, Oyster was only ever a phone call or email away. I am extremely grateful to Georgie and everyone at Oyster Worldwide for helping me to have the most incredible experience volunteering in South Africa.

The actual experience in South Africa was once in a lifetime. It was very hard work, but there wasn't a second where I wasn't willing to do it. Although I was tired, hot, sweaty and sometimes doing tasks that aren't particularly exciting (for example, washing hundreds of mangos!) I never felt like I didn't want to do the work. This was for many reasons, firstly the people who you are surrounded by are all lovely - this includes the owners, the staff there and the other volunteers. Also, the work is so rewarding. I would wash mangos for the rest of my life if it meant I could see just one monkey or baboon go through the incredible rehabilitation process that this project provides. Watching primates who have been so poorly treated in life just completely come out of their shells and interact with other monkeys is an amazing sight to see. It's so rewarding to literally see the difference you are making to these animals' lives. Nothing is as beautiful as this.

If you are considering taking part in this project then please do, the monkeys and baboons are so deserving of all of the help that volunteers provide.