April 2015 B11
MetroVanIndependent.com
Lifestyle/Entertainment
Lion Park
Nursing the one-month old cub.
Photo by GK Limcangco
African Elephant.
Giving a Piece of Myself to South Africa
By: GK Limcangco
The seed of South African travel
was planted in my head when a former
colleague showed me photos of her
surrounded by lion cubs during a
volunteer work in Johannesburg. South
Africa may be known for its violent crimes
and discriminatory past but beyond that
external conflict is a country incredibly rich
in culture, wildlife, beauty, and love.
Planning the trip down south took a
lot of research. There are many volunteer
programs all over South Africa, so many
to choose from that filtering your searches
and reading a lot of reviews is highly
recommended. There are wildlife volunteer
programs more specific to big cats and
other animals but I personally wanted
one-on-one cub interaction. The Lion Park
seemed to fit the bill.
The Lion Park (www.lion-park.com) is
a 500-acre tourist destination that houses
four lion prides, cheetahs, hyenas, wild
dogs, and over twenty other African wildlife
species. They offer game drives, cheetah
walks, and close encounters with African
wildlife.
Participating in a volunteer program
would cost $990 for a week. It is a little
heavy on the wallet but accommodation,
Purdie, the giraffe.
Photo by GK Limcangco
meals, and activities are included and it
sure is cheaper than going on those pricey
safari trips that could easily cost around
$250 per day.
Booking with www.volunteersa.com
will make the arrangements quick and
easy. They will require a down payment
to secure your spot and they will give you
all the information you need via email so
all you need to do is to book your flights.
Unfortunately, traveling to South Africa
from Vancouver would require 20 hours of
travel time.
As a volunteer, the new arrivals receive
a warm welcome at the park and are given a
long orientation to get familiar with the park
grounds and learn the daily duties. The day
at the park starts at 8 a.m. taking the onemonth cubs out of the nursery and to the
fenced public area, preparing the meals
for all the baby animals, and scooping up
big cat poop. We take our breakfast to go
if we have an 8:30 a.m. shift either at the
giraffe station selling giraffe food, picking
up tickets at the gates or assisting staff at
the cub petting area. Most times, it’s easy
work but sometimes it does require some
sweating and heavy lifting. I spent my first
official day as a volunteer raking for an hour
to tidy up an area but that opportunity to
just be around the animals makes all that
hard work all worth it in the end.
There were eight one-month old cubs
during my stay at the Lion Park. They were
very playful, sometimes smelly, and they
would often bite and scratch but adorable
nonetheless. Anyone can easily fall in love
with the other animals calling the park
home as well. Purdie, the giraffe that
acts like the queen of the park, prancing
around doing whatever she fancies is one
of the characters you will never forget. Her
daughter Zoe, that is following in her diva
footsteps, the rebel meerkat that figured
out how to sneak out of his enclosure
but also behaved enough to go back, the
naughty cheetahs that managed to get
out of their fenced area and attacked and
ate an African antelope called an impala –
so many of these gorgeous creatures will
leave a permanent mark in your heart.
The volunteers also have a chance to
visit a crocodile farm, elephant sanctuary,
and a safari in Pilanesburg, a National Park
game reserve, two hours away from Lion
Park.
The volunteers stay in comfortable
air-conditioned/heated tented rooms
usually with four beds. Kitchen and
bathroom fa