Orientation
Upon arrival in Cape Town all volunteers are involved in a comprehensive orientation programme, which is included in your fee. This is facilitated by your project manager and entails:
- An introduction to the town of Cape Town and surrounding Cape Peninsula and the communities you will be working in.
- An introduction to all our projects. Not only will you see where you will be working, you will also see where your fellow volunteers will be spending their days.
- At the orientation, volunteers will also receive our detailed ‘welcome pack’, which will contain further useful information for your time with us.
Accommodation and Meals
Volunteers will stay in a fully furnished house in the seaside town of Fish Hoek, within easy walking distance of the safe and beautiful Fish Hoek Beach and a short drive from Cape Town. Fish Hoek is a delightful little town on False Bay and the house is comfortable, and staffed with a cook and laundry/cleaning lady. The houses all have a large living/dining area, several bathrooms, a large garden and a safe for your valuables. All bedding is provided.
We find that volunteers living together and working closely together with their project managers is the surest way of guaranteeing their safety and being able to attend to their most pressing needs. Your assistant project manager will be staying with you. For this reason we expect all volunteers to stay only in the accommodation provided for them and do not allow volunteers to spend nights away in the town or nearby villages, unless they are away on pre-arranged sightseeing excursions.
You will be provided with three meals a day. Breakfast is on a help-yourself basis and usually consists of cereals/porridge, toast, tea and coffee. Lunch and dinner are full meals, and will be cooked or prepared for you by one of the cooks at your volunteer house.
Please Note: Sometimes at weekends you will need to cook your own meals with ingredients that will be provided, as our staff will need to be given time off. Weekends are usually good times for tourist activities and exploring the surrounding area, so that is the time that a lot of volunteers are out and about anyway.
Free Time
You will have your weekends on the project as free time. There are many activities and excursions that you can take part in during your time in Cape Town. Some of these include:
-
Aquila private game reserve: A Big 5 game reserve 2 hours out of Cape Town. This costs approximately R850pp, including buffet breakfast and lunch at the reserve and 3hr game drive. Also possible opportunities to pet cheetahs!
- City hop-on hop-off double-decker bus in Cape Town
- Loads of sights to visit in Cape Town, just a short distance from Fish Hoek
- Garden Route weekend
You will also have a tour of Cape Town, visit a few local areas of interest and have an introductory BBQ.
Project Support
Throughout your stay in Cape Town you will have the support and guidance of our experienced project managers. They are part of our greater African support team, which will provide you with competent 24-hour field support and assistance. You will also have access to a 24 hour emergency contact number so that you can always reach a member of our UK team should you need to.
Project Age Limit
Minimum 18 years, maximum decided on potential participants’ health
