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People always tell me that I’m adventurous, but I don’t really think that I am. I love to travel and do so at every opportunity but I like to stay in comfortable hotels in cities or at nice lodges on the beach or in the mountains. So, when I decided to go to Africa in the summer of 2013 I had a lot of decisions to make.

Where to go, where to stay, what to do, etc.

But, in the end the decision was more or less given to me by the divine internet gods.

When I began teaching in the United Arab Emirates in 2012 I started a blog. Strangers started to like my posts and so I would check out their sites in what seems to be some sort of blogger

respect code. One of my blog “followers” had recently been to Zambia and visited Mukuni Big 5 Safaris. I went to the Mukuni Big 5’s website and saw that they had a volunteer program and decided that if I was going to go to Africa I was going to do something like what Big 5 was offering. I contacted Cliff (Volunteer Manager) and got some of the details, then went about planning my trip.

 I am not exaggerating when I say that the two weeks I spent at Mukuni Big 5 Volunteer and Cheetah conservation Trust were life changing. I am not an animal lover, though I am very interested in animals, I am not going to just pick up your cat or pet your dog on first sight. So, spending two weeks working with Lions, Cheetahs and Elephants was a huge leap for me. But I was determined to do it.

I could spend hours, seriously hours, talking about what I did during those two weeks. My sleep was often interrupted by the roar of a lion or two. One night I was torn from a peaceful sleep by the sound of Deterrent Crackers (a wild elephant getting a little too close to the Mukuni elephants). My days were spent learning more than I could ever possibly remember, talking to guests and staff and spending quality time with the animals.

Because I was there in the “low season”, winter, I got some amazing quality time with the animals. My first day, actually about an hour after arriving in Zambia, I got to take Lulu for a walk.

I was scared out of my mind. But the whole time I was with two amazing guides who taught me all the important skills for walking a Cheetah. It was lovely and Lulu is wonderful, full of spirit and yet calm and collected for such a young animal. The following day I went down to meet the Lions. I thought it was going to be like walking Lulu, just two guides an animal and me. Boy was I wrong!!

We walked three juvenile lions, two females and a male, and after a little sniff or two, they were on their way to explore the bush and I was able to breathe again. They are beautiful creatures but I can admit it took me nearly a full week to be comfortable around them. The rest of my time was similar to the first few days, though not as private as helping guests was a major (and rewarding) part of my job. The longer I stayed the more I learned and the more comfortable I got with the animals.

We took the elephants for a walk to a watering hole through a village where the people came out of the houses to greet us and the elephants. We visited the Mukuni Village nearby and learned about some of their traditional foods and ways of living. And there was time to just relax, enjoy the company of staff and other volunteers and see some of the surrounding area.

So, the question shouldn’t be, should you volunteer at Mukuni Big 5 Safaris, but rather when will you go?!