Specialised Safaris

The Dolphin Research

Volunteers will live and work in the beautiful Shimoni Archipelago, off the coast of the Indian Ocean on the border with Tanzania, a world class location for dolphins as well as other wildlife.

What Difference Does This Project Make?

This project is making a difference by supporting our partners, including Kenyan Wildlife Services, in cetacean research.

Through education, environmental awareness and current wildlife monitoring studies, our collaborative work has been building capacity within the communities, assisting them in developing sustainable tourism practises and protecting cetacean and primate species within the area.

Highlights

Assisting local and international researchers to monitor dolphins; camping out under the African stars; living on an African island; developing your knowledge of marine studies, experiencing the amazing mega-fauna of the island that includes whales, whale sharks and manta rays (seasonal), snorkeling some of Kenya’s finest coral reefs.

Location

If you are looking to volunteer in Kenya in a truly exotic location, this is the project for you! Shimoni is a peninsula located next to the Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Protected Area, which lies at the tip of the Pemba Channel. With scattered islands covered by coastal forest, mangroves, rocky shores, sandy bays and fringed by coral reefs, Shimoni is a tropical haven and divers’ paradise. The projects main base is located on Wasini Island, which is situated alongside the famous Kisite National Marine Park.

Field Conditions

Accommodation is in shared housing that has a large communal banda where volunteers can eat, conduct training and relax after their day out on the ocean. You will be living with different volunteer teams either from the expedition or from volunteers choosing to work at the local school. This is a great way to learn more about what we do in the area and you will also have the opportunity to stop in to see other projects at work. The communal area has a beautiful view of the channel and Mkwiro beach. The base camp will have limited electricity, powered by solar panel and backed up by a generator. Volunteers can wash either in the ocean or using bucket-style showers on the base. Wholesome and varied meals will be cooked on a rotational basis

Project Life

Jambo!

We wake bright and early to the sounds of Rachel singing “You are my sunshine”… it’s the start of a marine day. Marine days are great fun! After a yummy breakfast of pancakes we head out on the water in search of dolphins, turtles, whale sharks, manta rays and other wonders of the sea, on board the mighty Stingray. With captains Kyla, Hugo, Rachel or Shaffi at the helm ably assisted by trusty captain Haruni we plod up the channel between Shimoni and Wasini Island into the Kisite- Mpunguti Marine Protected Area.

If we’re lucky we may spot a pod of humpback dolphins cruising along the channel... not today, but as we travel further into the reserve we come across a pod of bottlenose dolphins off the shelf south of Kisite Island. It’s always incredible to see dolphins in their natural environment, performing peduncle dives, tail dives, belly ups and bow riding.

When we spot a group of dolphins we have a series of forms and tasks to carry out as part of our ongoing research within the marine reserve and park. After making note of general environmental conditions such as cloud cover, swell and wind direction in the Event Log we record the sighting and carry out a dolphin behaviour survey. If we are able we then carry out photo identification of individual dolphin dorsal fins which each have specific markings. During the course of the morning we may also spot a turtle or two, which we again record on data sheets. After a morning out on boat we head back to Wasini Island in time for a generously prepared lunch of bean burgers salad and flat bread, a Kenya specialty! The trip back to the island is usually great fun as we pick up speed bouncing over the waves and getting refreshingly wet!

The afternoons generally consist of data entry into the computer and trip to the mangroves to carry out bird surveys or mangrove clean ups with the collection of flip flops which are recycled into unique crafts by members the village and plastic bottles which are recycled in Mombasa, again earning community members money whilst cleaning up this important marine environment.

"Overall camp life is a lot of fun, once you get use to the drop toilets, the resident noisy goats and the buckets showers. The community is fantastic; extremely welcoming. You get a true taste of coastal African life. The kids never forget your name, and you literally get treated as part of the family. It’s an experience of a life time".

Mellisa Pepper, Volunteer 2008


Overview

This six week programme combines four weeks of volunteer work on our South African project with two weeks of adventure; an ideal way to start or end your travels. Volunteers will have the choice of teaching in local schools or working at child care centres in the Emjindini township of Barberton. These provide care and education for disadvantaged children many of whom have broken families as a result of the AIDS pandemic.

The crèches and day care centres are understaffed, under funded and the facilities need much improvement. Likewise the schools are poorly resourced and volunteers are desperately needed to assist the few staff that work there.

During your six weeks you will enjoy two side trips; a 5 night tour of Mozambique where you will visit Maputo and then travel to the famous Tofo Beach, visit local markets, enjoy water sports and snorkel with whale sharks. The other trip is a guided safari in Kruger National Park to find the Big Five. Here you will cook over an open fire and camp out in the African bush.

Location

Volunteers will be based in Barberton, a small town in the Mpumalanga province. It is about 40km from Nelspruit, one of the fastest growing cities in South Africa, and 30km from Kruger National Park.

Side trips

In your first week you will get to visit Kruger National Park.
On the first day of the trip you will enter the park through one of the southern gates and will travel to your camp. Once there you will help set up camp, put up tents, prepare a fire etc. Day 2 and 3 is spent on safari from the vehicle. Day 4 is more flexible and volunteers have the option of relaxing, joining a drive, bush walk or night drive. On day 5 you return to Barberton.

In week 4 you will travel to Mozambique –
the tour actually departs from Swaziland so volunteers will be transferred there the day before. So on day 1 you will travel to Maputo the capital and stay overnight. Days 2-5 you will stay in a beach style reeded hut at a lodge in Tofo. Once here you will have the opportunity to visit the local food and craft markets, enjoy water sports and adventure activities as well as snorkeling with whale sharks. On the 6th day you travel back to Swaziland, where you will stay overnight before traveling back up to South Africa for your final 2 weeks.

Make An Enquiry And Get More Details About This Package

Related Safaris