China Giant Panda Conservation

Wonderful experience, met some great people, a fantastically interesting country.

The pandas, obviously! Evening activities organised by the in country team including walks and evenings sitting round campfires with beer, were great.

Remember you are there to work and to help - you are not on a 5 star package holiday - so keep your expectations realistic. Don't worry - trust Real Gap to look after you because they will! Get a Doctor's note saying that you are healthy in advance - Real Gap don't make this clear but you need one to work with the pandas

If it had been made clearer in the itinerary that there would be opportunities to work with other animals at the reserve as well as pandas I would probably have gone for longer and spent a week with the bears or red pandas - so I would have liked this to be in the itinerary

Please Make It Clearer That A Doctor's Note Is Required - Perhaps Put This On The Check List. Also It Would Have Been Nice If Transfer Back To The Airport Had Been Included, But Since Not Everyone Will Want It I Would Suggest Making It An Optional Extra At A Suitable Extra Cost, If Possible.

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Wonderful, emotional, dream-fulfilling experience. Adorable Pandas. Remarkable people. Truly Memorable.

Working with Pandas and other endangered species. A dream come true; particularly with the Pandas being so close to accommodation. Meeting other travellers and getting on so well as a group. Fantastic food at Mr Deng's - (i am a non mushroom eating vegetarian and don't eat chinese food in the UK; but thoroughly enjoyed Mr Deng's food). Visiting local Taoist temples and mountain walks with fellow travellers and 'Tiger' (Real Gap in country employee). Tiger's support was fantastic. He helped not only with language and orientation but became our local plumber and handiman when water supply/pressure ran short. A truly amazing guy - very suited to this supportive role. He slept on site with the volunteers so was always on hand.

1) ENJOY every moment - it's a Privilege to work with these animals (even though we pay for this experience). Enjoy the company of your fellow travellers. Be generous with each other. Have fun. 2) Pack some MUSCLE RUB (eg winter green/ deep heat). Shovelling panda poo can be back breaking stuff - and leg muscles might need a rub after mountain/hill walks. 3) Baby WIPES / large wet wipes essential as water tends to run out or pressure very low; showers hit 'n miss. I sometimes used bottled water to wash/shower (only 2 or 4 yuan a 1.5L bottle - in sterling that's 2p-4p). It' all part of the 'experience'. Embrace it!

Itinerary was sufficient.

Make The Most Of The Experience. As Well As Working With The Animals (Pandas, Red Pandas, Takins, Serows And Gorls Etc. ), I Also Visited A Local Primary School On Two Occasions Teaching 10 Year Olds And 12 Year Olds Basic English. As A Group Of Volunteers We Also Delivered Basic English To The Adult 'keepers' Using A Very Interactive Method Of Learning (using Props). This Was Very Well Received By The Learners And The Centre. The Keepers Were Very Enthusiastic Learners - And Keen To Learn Some English Language. Keep It Basic, Simple And Relevant; But Most Of All Fun!. Remember To 'give' As Much As You Can To This Experience - To The Animals, The Workers And Keepers, Your Fellow Travellers. By 'giving' Your Time And Energy, Thoughtfulness And Kindness, Will Ensure You 'take' Away A Lot More. I'm So Glad I Got The Opportunity To Experience This World And Fulfill By Dream Of Working With Pandas. Thank You Real Gap. Keep Up The Good Work. X

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the best trip i ever had.will miss the animals and people there!

seeing the pandas from my bedroom window

#NAME?

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Waking up every morning and knowing that you would be working face to face with pandas! Experiencing new food, culture and ways of life. Feeling satisfied that I could help both people and animals :)

1. Don't have to high aspectations of accommodation as things such as running water may not be so accessable in other countries. 2. Try everything even if you think you may not enjoy it, atleast you can say you've done it! 3. ENJOY!!! There are things (such as the panda conservation programme) some people will never be able to do, count yourself lucky.

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Working with the baby panda's. Around the edge of their outdoor enclosure were lots of weeds, and during my time at the panda centre I weeded all around the side of it so that the panda's could be well exercised. Doing this, as well as watching the baby pandas improve during training every day, really made me feel like I was helping.

- Bring a torch as the light in the bathroom often doesn't work and you have to shower/go to the toilet in the dark. - Bring very strong mosquito repellant and a mosquito net as the mosquito are horrendous. -Bring wet wipes as the water supply is very unreliable.

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Working with every single animal at the enclosure. Meeting some of the most incredible and interesting people I have ever come across. Discovering that there is a bigger world out there!

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Great people, rich culture, safe and beautiful environment, unmissable animals!

The rich culture and the pandas.

1. prepare to explore independently 2. take both summer clothes and waterproofs - the weather is as unpredictable as it is at home 3. take a torch

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