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hey,

I did the live with lion cubs project last summer and have booked it again for next july:)

i had the best time of my life!

who else is going to be there next july? If you have any questions about the project, feel free to ask;)

Debra

Hi Debra

I would love to hear your thoughts on the project you went to? What time did you travel, what was the weather like etc?

How much interaction do you get with animals, and is it very physical work outside of the animal interaction?

What is the accommodation facilities like? How many other volunteers are usually placed at one time and what was the general age group of everyone?

One more question! How much down time did they give you? Is there good sightseeing of surrounding areas nearby ?

Thanks so much in advance!!! Apologies for the 20 questions ;)

Anushka
Melbourne, Australia
Turning 30 next year!

Hi Anushka,

I was there in August. During the days it was pretty warm (20 -27 C°), but at nights the temperatures dropped to -5 C°.

When I came there, there were about 30 volunteers.
But everyday someone left or new volunteers came. I stayed there for 4 weeks and at the end of August there only 7 volunteers left.

You get devided into 3 teams: cubs, kitchen ranger, ranger.
you're on cubs every third day. And then you have 24 hours of animal interaction. at night they stay in your room and the day begins at 7 in the morning with feeding them. You take care of the little lions all day long until 8 in the evening. then you give them to the volunteers who will be on cubs team the next day.
When you're on ranger team, you help the rangers. That means: cleaning enclosures, picking up dead animals, feeding the bigger lions. This is not always fun, but everyone gets used to it.
Yes, it it disgusting to touch a dead horse full of blood, but the bigger lions need something to eat.
But you are not forced to do anything you do not want to do :)

And when you are on kitchen ranger team, you help the rangers, but also help to set up the table for everyone.
When there were less volunteers, we only had a cub and a kicthen ranger team, which meant you are on cubs every second day.

the accommodation facilities are not the same for everyone. They have 4 rooms (with 2 beds each) which are built in an lion enclosure. When you open the door, you have 3-4 month old cubs running around the house;)
then they also had some rooms (with 3 beds each) at the pool area. They are a little bit bigger.
My room mate and I stayed at the staff house, because they had so many volunteers last August. But the staff room was okay too:)

Most of the volunteers and staff members are between 19 and 25 years old. but there was also a 60 year old woman and a couple aged early thirties.

You don't get any days off, but they offer some trips. I went to the krueger park for 4 days and I also did day trips to an elephant and monkey sanctuary. And once a week they offer a half day trip to the mall in brits.

Hope you can understand my English (I'm from Germany and not a native speaker);)
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. If you want to look at my Africa pictures on facebook, you can add me (Debra Kappenberg)

-Debra

Hi there... I'm booked on this trip 2 weeks from 20th Feb, 2012...

I've not been on a conservation trip before so any advice you can offer would be great.
In your experience, what essential items should I take?....

...and any other advice would be very much apprecaited... I'm so looking foward to going
Thanks
Tracey

you don't need much but sunscreen and lotion;D
if been there when it was winter and the air was hot and dry. In february it will be even more hot!

don't take any clothes you still want to wear when you come back from Africa. The lions bite little holes in everything. They have a laundry service but they will wash too hot and unfortunately all my clothes were two sizes smaller when I got them back from the laundry service.

In August the mornings and evenings were very dark and it was useful to have a flashlight to find the way to the kitchen and back to your room etc. but in february the days are longer and i'm not sure if you will need one..

they don't have a hair dryer there. but they provide towels. (if you want to use the swimming pool you shold bring an extra towel)

But you don't need a lot of stuff at ukutula and there are not many possibilities to spend money.
if you want you can book day trips : elephant sanctuary (15 euro), monkey santuary (15 euro), safari (40 euro) and there some other trips but i don't know how much they cost.

I spent most of my money at the bar in the evenings;) but there were some volunteers who didn't come to the bar at all..

so if you like to have fun nights at the bar with the other volunteers and the staff you should bring more money.. but if you don't drink you don't need to bring a lot of money..

Hi! I will be attending this in July, im only 17. Its my second time in Africa, but my first time alone. Just wanted to positive feedback to build up my confidence!(;

Hey guys,
I will hopefully be going out on 7th Jan 2013 to do this project, I would just like to ask what your thoughts on the project was and also were there people there from other companies or other volenteers?
many thanks

Hey, It's a great project. And yes, there are people from other companies. I never booked wit i to i because they are too expensive and there are other companies in Germany who offer the same project for a lower price. You can also book directly at the lion farm. When I was there in August it was fully booked and there were about 35 volunteers.

Hey Debra - Thank you so much! I am heading in the November this year, Thanks for suggesting your post to read! I have never done anything like this before but I have always wanted to go Africa and i can't think of a better way to go than to volunteer - especially with lion cubs!! I am happy to do all the chores you have written about (i mean you have to do all aspects to get the most out of it). :)

Hey, I'll be attending this project in the start of July. I was just wondering, do they make you prepare the meat for the bigger lions? :/ I'm not sure I'll be able to handle it.

Hi Alissha, you don't have to cut horses or cows, but you have to carry them to the enclosures. Last year we picked up quite a lot of dead animals from other farms and we also shot a horse. you also have to cut meat meat for the little lions and carry dead chickens to the cheetah enclosures. But you are not forced to do anything you don't want to do. If you don't like touching dead animals that's okay, but maybe some of the rangers may laugh about you then;) when I arrived I had problems with cutting meat and touching a dead horse, but i got used to it very quickly;) Btw I will also be there in July again. See you at Ukutula then:)