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Monkey business is certainly allowed on this project which is set in a stunning area of South Africa close to the wilderness of the world-famous Kruger National Park. The Vervet Foundation is a huge rehabilitation centre and currently looks after around 500 monkeys, so there will be plenty of opportunities to meet the cute little things. Your time may be spent caring for injured or orphaned monkeys, doing general maintenance work around the centre and contributing towards the building of new facilities. In your spare time you can even take advantage of the great location and enjoy the country’s animals in the wild.
The Vervet Monkey Foundation operates the biggest rehabilitation centre for injured and orphaned monkeys in South Africa. Currently this very busy centre looks after over 500 monkeys. Monkeys taken into the centre sadly cannot be released into the wild due to various restrictions that class them as vermin in many states in South Africa, so the sanctuary offers the monkeys a vital salvation which is made to be as close as possible to their natural environment.
You're needed to help care for the monkeys, supporting all their daily needs; from cleaning their cages to feeding them. Without volunteer help these needy monkeys would not be able to live safely and happily in a habitat close to their real one.
Working directly with the world-renowned primatologist Arthur Hunt, volunteers primarily look after indigenous vervet monkeys. Monkeys taken into the centre sadly cannot be released into the wild due to various restrictions that class them as vermin in many states in South Africa. Arthur works hard to introduce the new monkeys into troops so that they can live as they would in the wild. Because of their long term residence, the enclosures at the centre are very large and require a lot of maintenance. Typical tasks include:
Currently there are three new camps; each camp has a capacity of 25,000 cubic metres – room for seventy to eighty monkeys to live in comfortably.
You'll be staying in tented camps and facilities are basic, for the ultimate wilderness experience!
You'll be provided with all the necessary materials and equipment during your time at the project.
Three meals a day included in your placement fee. Simple but nutritious meals will be provided and volunteers may be asked to assist with cooking. All meals are vegetarian friendly.
You will be met at the airport if arriving on the scheduled arrival date . Please book your flight to arrive into Johannesburg. Oliver Thambo international (airport code JNB), we advise you arrive before 16.00 to avoid missing your orientation in the afternoon. Your transfer will be by public transport.
The project is based near Tzaneen, about six hours from Johannesburg. Tzaneen is a large town which has most facilities including internet access. The project is in a rural location and you will need to rely on lifts to get into town.
You don’t need to be a specialist or rocket scientist to take part in this experience, but a little love, care, patience, commitment and enthusiasm will go a long way! Keeping an open mind will also help you enjoy the best experience possible. It will also help if you have the following:
Date: 2008-11-24
I have been lucky enough to meet volunteers from all over the world with different types of personalities and backgrounds. Volunteers bring different skills and can teach us many things generally about the world, life as well as helping the monkeys. They can really make you grow as a person without judging others. I have also made very good friends with one of the first i-to-i volunteers I met who I am still in contact with. She did extra tasks because she really wanted to make a difference not just to the monkeys lives but also to our lives. I helped her through some troubled times whilst she was here and now she has returned the favour and has been a great inspiration to me. Her positivity has even helped me through times of ill health, without i-to-i I would never have met such wonderful caring people.
Date: 2008-11-24
We had a celebratory opening of our sickbay in Sept 2007 thanking everyone for their hard work. It was a very special time and Ali from i-to-i came to the event which was great to have the support from an organization that helped make the sickbay happen.
Date: 2008-11-24
New fundraising ideas such as a recipe book, new skills, enrichment ideas for enclosures and very importantly - enthusiasm.
Date: 2008-11-24
One of the nicest things is that i-to-i meet the volunteers and give them an orientation before they arrive with us - this ensures they are immediately felt at ease.
Date: 2008-11-24
We are always very happy when i-to-i volunteers come to our project, they usually arrive as a group and put in a lot of time and effort to achieving what they came here to do.
Date: 2008-11-24
We successfully completed our new sickbay enclosure in 2007 thanks to all who worked on it and of course the i-to-i helping hand award which enabled us to put up 10 new recovery cages
Date: 2008-11-24
Without the volunteers, we wouldn't have been able to achieve half as what we have today. A few examples are; a new baby care centre was completed in 2005, new enclosures have been built, a new sickbay area was built and completed in 2007, firebreaks have been maintained, branches have been given to monkeys, vet nurses and students have come to help in sickbay sharing their skills. Without this dedication it would be very difficult to have completed all these tasks.
Date: 2008-05-21
We have had a quiet few months but volunteers are picking up again now so we will be able to achieve our goals and get going with those very important firebreaks. Although the hours of physical labour may seem tiring, it's all worth it in the end knowing that the firebreaks help us stop fires on the land and therefore prevent putting monkeys at risk. Some of you may remember the tragic fire from last year... and we thank all those who helped on firebreaks for those enclosures we were able to protect. Volunteers have also been busy eradicating invader species of purple flowers. It's important to get rid of them before they seed and take over the natural indigenous plants needed for the monkeys. (Evil purple flowers - as Deb calls them!). Some of you may think it odd but we have had some very keen blanket washers amongst our volunteers lately - first Margherita, then Dani who both requested to do the washing daily to the delight of the other volunteers! This month we have achieved so much already and even have a new quarantine area for our sickbay. The floor in the cottage has been sealed (no more dust) thanks to Cameron and my Dad, we will be working on some tables and chairs to sit out the back of the cottage and a toilet before we enter our busy season with volunteers. Volunteers are also working on making tent village monkey proof again! Josie Du Toit
Date: 2008-05-09
I had an extraordinary experience at the Vervet Monkey Foundation! I spent 6 fantastic weeks working with the vervet monkeys. It was amazing to develop relationships with each of them as well as with the other volunteers and staff at the VMF. The work was challenging which made it so much more rewarding and taught me much more than I expected. I really felt like I had an impact on helping protect the vervets. The foundation was very organized and the permanent staff and volunteers were a wonderful, helpful group of people. I chose to go there because I really wanted to feel what it would be like to live in Africa and being at the VMF exceeded my expectations at doing that. Veronique Jarrell-King Durango, Colorado USA Feb 2008
It may seem like a strange concept to pay for your volunteer experience. You'd be right if you think you shouldn't and the truth is you actually don't! Your placement is free; it's the benefits around it that you pay for. It's important to note that i-to-i is a travel company and not a charity. We provide a professional travel service. We are responsible for finding and assessing worthwhile projects across the world, preparing you for the volunteering experience and supporting you whilst you're there.
Here’s some more information about what your placement fee covers….
We work with hundreds of locally run partner projects around the world and are constantly sourcing new opportunities. We visit all projects to check that they are worthwhile and legitimate and we also conduct a thorough safety assessment before we'll send volunteers there. More
Almost everyone who works for i-to-i has traveled extensively or worked overseas. This means we're a goldmine of information; we're always available to offer support and guidance before, during and after your trip.
Once you book on to a project you'll receive a Welcome Pack that contains loads of general information about volunteering, about your chosen country and project, and a DVD about how to have fun and stay safe. We'll also give you advice on visas and inoculations.
If you are volunteering on a Teaching project then a 40-hour Online TEFL course is included in your placement fee. This is an internationally recognised and accredited certificate that will help you to make the most of your time overseas. More
It can be pretty daunting arriving in a different country for the first time… especially after a long flight! If you arrive on your project start date, there'll be a welcoming face at the airport to pick you up and take you to your accommodation.
Soon after you arrive you will attend a thorough orientation with our in-country team. This is to cover important safety and security information. You'll also get some tips about sight-seeing options for your time off and maybe even learn some of the local lingo!
Accommodation is included with all projects and meals are even included with some. We only use locally-owned and operated accommodation so that part of your placement fee is filtering back into the local economy. Most projects offer homestay, guesthouse or shared volunteer houses as standard accommodation, but some offer the chance to upgrade to a more comfortable living standard. More
Your in-country coordinator (ICC) will pick you up from the airport and conduct your orientation upon arrival. All ICC's are English speaking and are locals of your destination country. They won't be at your project every day, but will be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week if you need them. More
Aside from the local support from your in-country coordinators you'll be given access to a 24/7 emergency phone line manned by i-to-i staff in case any problem should arise while you're overseas. We also hire crisis management professionals Docleaf to be on hand in case of a situation that requires additional expert support. More
The safety and security of our volunteers is paramount. For this reason we provide ongoing crisis management and emergency response training to our local teams around the world. At the end of 2006 we flew all our in-country coordinators to the UK for thorough training to help them offer the best safety to the thousands of volunteers they support each year. More
We don't fund our projects directly, but once a year they are all invited to apply for funding for special projects or resources from our registered charity arm, the i-to-i Foundation. i-to-i funds the operation of the i-to-i Foundation and is the largest single donor. Along with the generous support of our volunteers, we have distributed over US$200,000 in funding in the last two years alone! More
We make no secrets of the fact that part of your placement fee is reinvested in to recruiting volunteers just like you! The volunteers recruited in one week will typically deliver over 2000 man-days of service. The difference this makes to projects overseas is immeasurable. Many of our overseas projects rely on assistance from international volunteers, so it's necessary for us to put together brochures and websites to find the people who can support them. This recruitment process is vital to ensure programs have a constant stream of reliable volunteers.
VVolunteering through a company like i-to-i has a lot of intangible benefits to developing overseas communities and the individual projects that we work with. To find out more about our placements. click here
It's important that you get adequate travel insurance for your i-to-i experience and as many of you will be working this often means standard policies won’t work. The good news is that no matter where your coming from we have already found a policy to suit you.
The best time to get your insurance is when you book your project as this means you can get a fully tailored policy exclusive to i-to-i, just ask your consultant for further details at the time of booking.
EU Customers – find out more here >>
Australian customers - find out more here >>
All other customers - find out more here >>
As with insurance we advise you get these booked as early as possible to avoid high prices and to make sure you arrive on the right day. The i-to-i team is right up to date with the best deals no matter where you’re flying from; their insider knowledge could save you some time and money.
A journey into South Africa’s history is to haul through periods of racial tension, oppression and hope. Its multicultural mix originates from the earliest settlers, the San (also known as Bushmen) and Khoi-Khoi tribes, followed by Bantu-speaking groups, and through to the swarm of European traders. The Dutch were among the first European settlers and arrived in the 17th century, establishing their presence through their own dialect, Afrikaan, and religion in the form of the Dutch Reformed Church. By the end of the 18th century, the British began to push their presence forward into the country’s towns. It was a period of flared tensions with Zulu chief Shaka renouncing war on neighbouring tribes. Meanwhile, the Boers (Dutch Afrikaner farmers) and the British became locked in conflict; the Anglo-Boer War lasted from 1899 to 1902, ending with the British taking control of the Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State (OFS) and consequently ruling the country.
By 1910, the Union of South Africa was created and gave political power to whites, while blacks set up political parties in protest, the African National Congress (ANC) the best known. It ushered in the beginnings of apartheid, which became widely ingrained after the Afrikaner National Party came to power in 1948. Violence against protests from blacks was enforced and the black population were evicted to so-called Homelands. In the 1960s, leaders of the ANC were imprisoned, notably Nelson Mandela, and the country became isolated having left the Commonwealth and declaring its republic status. After a long period of racial divide and conflict, in 1989 FW de Klerk came to power with the aim to rid the country of apartheid and instil democracy. The following year, Mandela was released from prison and in 1994 became president after the ANC won the country’s first non-racial general elections; the country also returned to the Commonwealth. The country’s democratic stance has steered it toward a more harmonious future, though economic inequalities between whites and blacks exist, but as the most developed economy on the continent it is in a good position to reconcile with its past.
Naturally, South Africa’s seasons are the reverse of the northern hemisphere with summer heat burning from November to March and cooler winter temperatures from June to August. Temperature wise, spring (September to October) and autumn (April to May) provide a happy medium. Certain must-do activities are restricted to specific times of year: safari is best from June to September and the whale watching season is June to December. The busiest time, hence the most expensive, is during the summer months, while the major school holidays are during December and Easter.
Given the distances involved, flying is the most convenient way to travel between the main destinations, while land transportation can efficiently pick up the rest of the mileage for exploration in and around. There are an assortment of domestic carriers to choose from that fly the main routes, with most running from Johannesburg or Cape Town; these include South African Airways, Nationwide Airlines, Kulula and 1Time. Booking early is advisable to secure discounted rates.
There country also boasts a comprehensive bus network that covers the main cities; the road trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town is around 20 hours (compared to a 2 hour in a plane). The main bus companies are Translux, Greyhound and Intercape. Baz Bus is aimed at the backpacker crowd and provides a hop-on, hop-off service and also travels to remote areas. It’s a good way to discover the picturesque patch of coastline that is the Garden Route, which it services en route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth.
Train travel can work out longer than by bus, with the trip from Johannesburg to Cape Town edging toward almost 30 hours. If you’re after a little luxury, try the Blue Train or the Rovos Rail for a taste of stylish travel.
Car rental is an attractive option thanks to the good road conditions, great scenery and the flexibility driving allows. The big car rental companies like Avis and Budget have outlets and it’s essential to be fully insured and have a valid driver’s licence. It’s also a convenient way to get around cities as public transport can be unsafe.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office’s website provides up-to-date political news, travel advice and information on visas
The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA)
Bus company Baz Bus
Domestic airline 1Time
Bus company Greyhound
Bus company Intercape
Domestic airline Kulula
Nationwide Airlines
South African Airways
Bus company Translux
We work in partnership with hundreds of established projects that are run by local communities. The information on our website comes directly from the projects and we work with them to ensure this information is as accurate as possible. However, due to the very nature of the projects themselves the exact details of what happens on a daily basis can change with little or no notice. If you have travelled with us and have any updates to this information, please let us know.
* We can be held responsible for any starry-eyed and amazing journeys of enlightenment, discovery and thorough enjoyment...
