View from the window of the airplane at sunrise. Landing in OR Tambo, South Africa

Our first impression of this wonderful country was set during the Lobamba tour. Sanele, an All Out Africa Tour Guide, guided us through the village where local people would kindly welcome us and offer us a sip of their traditional beer. I must admit it was not exactly tasting like the beers I´m used to drinking in Belgium, but it sure was an experience, without any doubt. Another great happening that day was our visit to the national museum to get to know the history of this country with its culture and traditions better before starting the volunteering adventure.

Anna, Simona, Alex and myself sharing traditional beer during our Lobamba Tour

The day after this so-called ´Orientation Day´, the six of us (Eleanora Cimadom, Anna Vanhaeren, Linde Colle, Simona Mambrin, Sabrina Miniotti and myself) woke up early to begin our trip to the Kruger National Park. For me, this was my first safari. I can tell you with great confidence, there´s not a single doubt in my mind that this was my last. I fell from one amazing feeling into another. To see wild animals in their natural habitat from that close gave me shivers all over my body. It was magnificent to be able to spot The Big Five and many more. I will forever remember the early sunrise game drives with our coffees in one hand and our blankets in the other to keep us warm in the jeep, or the many great stories and even greater laughs we shared at the bonfires in the evening. Tired but with hearts full of gratefulness, we returned to eSwatini to initiate what we´re here for in the first place: volunteering.

Eleanora, Anna, Linde, Simona, Sabrina and myself on a safari game drive.

I was placed on the Childcare Project at the Ezulwini NCP, together with Simona Mambrin from Italy – who had already become such a good friend of mine over this short period. We got lucky to volunteer in teacher Gugu´s class. She has the purest heart and truly cares about the children she teaches. Every single day we would arrive at the NCP and get overwhelmed with the sweetest hugs from the children. I will never forget the sentences “teacher, teacher, pick me up!” or “teacher, I missed you so much!”. In the blink of an eye, I had fallen in love with every single one of the little kids I got to teach. It´s unbelievably rewarding to see the kids grow through the exercises and to be able to be there with them through their journey. Especially when being able to help the ones who need your assistance the most, it´s such a heartwarming feeling to see their faces light up when congratulating them on their good work.

Writing exercise at the NCP

Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, the volunteers would go all together to the Elangeni NCP to help older students individually with their homework. First, we would do at least one hour of homework with them, and after the homework is done, we would play games. Some days, we would invent a whole quiz with different types of games: some educational, some just for fun. The girls were always enthusiastic to see us and at the same time, so eager to learn from and with us.
During our free time, we did a whole bunch of activities in the region. For example, we visited the handicraft market, the Swazi Candles factory, the Yebo Art Gallery, went for a biking tour at Mlilwane National Park, hiked the Sheba’s Breast, participated in karaoke at the restaurant near Lidwala Lodge, went for a spa day with the girls, to the movies, to the cute coffee shop nearby, and so on… We also signed up for the ziplining on our second weekend. Such a memorable experience! I felt like a bird flying through the mountains, so freely and without any worries on my mind. No worries, only good vibes and fully enjoying the moment we live in.

Myself, Eleanora and Simona at the peak of Sheba’s Breast

Every year, the people of eSwatini celebrate the Umhlanga or Reed Dance ceremony. When I first heard about it, I got so excited to see it with my own eyes! I felt so lucky to be in the country during this impressive ceremony. Dressed in traditional clothes, I showed up there and immediately got overwhelmed by the number of girls dancing and singing together. Everyone was so enthusiastic that I just could not manage to stop smiling. There was such a nice atmosphere of people in the crowd hyping up the girls that were dancing and singing. All the bright colours of their beautiful clothes together were just amazing to see. Right when I thought it couldn´t get any better, the king showed up. This was such a memorable day for me.

Simona and I during the Umhlanga or Reed Dance ceremony in Eswatini.

Last but certainly not least was the trip to Tofo, Mozambique. Being there felt as if I had just entered some hidden paradise. I am very much a beach person, so my first swim in the Indian Ocean was for sure a core memory for me. I enjoyed every single second of my time there. On our first day, we cruised by sailboat to Survivor Island. Let me tell you, it´s not given this name without a reason. People there live in a very primitive manner, but not a single person is complaining. I got my hair braided and drank out of a fresh coconut; I even climbed a palm tree – although I have to admit that I wasn´t even close to reaching the end of the tree to grab some coconuts. The next days were filled with an ocean safari where I snorkelled together with a whale shark only approximately 2 meters under me. As you might imagine, the adrenaline rushed through my body. At that exact moment, I realized I was dealing with a once-in-a-lifetime experience here.

Eleanora and I drinking coconut water in Tofo

The surfing lesson afterwards was also so much fun. Since it was my first time, my only goal was to just stand up on the board for more than a split second before losing my balance and falling off. In fact, I underestimated myself and managed to surf until the point my board reached the sand again. Such a good feeling! We ended our last evening with a sunset cruise and were able to look back on some unforgettable days when we got to meet the friendliest people. Tofo: I will be back one day to expand my surf skills!

Taking off for an ocean safari tour in Tofo

Written by Elisabeth Sucaet, who signed up for Kruger to Coast 

Ecosystem services and conservation in Tofo Mozambique

Ecosystem Services

The Scientific Journal called “Ecosystem services” is a very widely read and respected international journal covering issues that relate to… you guessed it… “ecosystem services”. To publish an article in this journal you need to do some unique scientific investigation, write it up in a scientific way with facts and figures and get it accepted by the journal as something relevant and interesting. Together with two colleagues from the University of Florida, Susan Jacobson and Bob McCleery, I have just published an article in this journal entitled:

Assessing contributions of volunteer tourism to ecosystem research and conservation in southern Africa

In this article, we explain the topic of volunteer tourism and take a look at how important it is in general and then more specifically for nature conservation in southern Africa. We conclude that volunteer tourism is a big deal and has grown in importance quickly over the past twenty years. We show that volunteer tourism offers many opportunities for doing good, particularly in under-funded areas such as Eswatini/Eswatini and Mozambique, but it can also have some negative impacts. Despite this, there have been few scientific studies that evaluate the outputs of volunteer tourism programs.

In this article, we take a look at the volunteers of a model volunteer tourism operation in southern Africa – our very own All Out Africa! We looked at the information of 2,085 volunteer tourists who had joined All Out Africa over a period of 8 years. We found that 77% were female, 59% were aged 17-22 years and 63% were from Europe.

Students at the Savannah Research Centre in Eswatini (Eswatini)

Volunteer Tourism

We surveyed 304 of these volunteers to find out more about their experience and their motivations. We found that:

97% would recommend the experience
98% were motivated by gaining new skills and knowledge
88% were motivated by helping people
74% were motivated by helping the environment

In this article, we look at the outputs and inputs over an 8 year period of two of All Out Africa’s conservation projects – the Savannah project in Eswatini/Eswatini and marine project in Mozambique. Over 15,154 volunteer days were spent on these projects during this period. Outputs during this period include 52 scientific publications and 51 conservation actions that are listed in detail.

Conservation volunteers studying ecosystem services in Eswatini (Eswatini)

Conservation Impact

In this article, we present the project outputs in a framework to evaluate their conservation impact. We recommend that this framework can be applied to other programs to help make better assessments of how much good volunteer tourism projects are actually doing. We also present guidelines on how to do a better job of running volunteer tourism projects so that they do more good.

University students researching ecosystem services in southern Africa

The conclusion of this article is that volunteer tourism can make an important contribution to research and conservation, particularly in under-resourced regions but a lot depends on how it is managed. We hope it makes a useful contribution. For recent articles in the Journal of Ecosystem Services visit their website. The reference for this paper is:

Roques, KG, Jacobson, SK, & McCleery, RA, (2018). Assessing contributions of volunteer tourism to ecosystem research and conservation in southern Africa. Ecosystem Services 30. DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.12.014

What All Out Africa doesn’t tell you before you arrive as a volunteer, is the extent of which being a volunteer truly connects you to a world of rich, multi-cultural experiences that will boost your own health, both mentally and physically. 

When you stop thinking about your own personal issues and focus on someone other than yourself, your stress levels start to decrease, your immune system is strengthened and your overall sense of life satisfaction increases. This is because helping someone else interrupts tension-producing patterns and replaces it with a sense of purpose, positive emotions and high confidence levels.

This new found confidence enables you to make new friends on the job; the people you volunteer with could become lifelong friends. The people you will be volunteering with come from all over the world and this in turn could be a way for you to have an excuse to travel to their countries to visit them.

Perhaps the main reason one would look at volunteering, is the perks of having a more captivating resume and or college application. What future employer wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to hire an internationally and cultured individual, that probably has gained from the maturity that being alone in a foreign country has manufactured. In terms of university applications, you will definitely set yourself apart from the monotonous few who simply donate to their local alternative to Goodwill.

Before painting a picture of total and complete advantages to the experience, the more realistic approach is, being away from a familiar environment will come with a little homesickness, which is absolutely okay. It is important to know that you aren’t alone in this emotion, there is a whole group of people who are sharing the same circumstances. Plus All Out Africa provides a list of contacts that will be able to listen to you voice your feelings and provide comfort. This is lesson that you benefit from, the strength that is acquired from this ensures personal growth and maturity.

Finally, and most importantly, fun.Besides the two separate weeks spent on Safari at the Great Kruger National Park or on the white sand beaches of Tofo, Mozambique, volunteering can be a tremendous and exciting way to explore your interests and passions. Simply by substituting a few hours of leisure time, you can volunteer in a variety of meaningful and interesting ways that can be relaxing, or an energising escape from your repeated routine of work, school, or family commitments. Volunteering also provides you with renewed creativity, motivation, and vision that can carry over into your personal and professional life. 

Many individuals combine volunteering and leisure time, and therefore seek out opportunities that align with their hobbies, passions and interests. So in short, be a little selfish. Being a volunteer is a wonderful way to create change in the lives of others, but also in your own personal journey.

Written by Hugh A Green (Marketing Intern 2019)                                                                                                             

Nhatofo Salva Vidas is a local lifesaving association based in Tofo, Inhambane province Mozambique. It is a voluntary non-profit association.  Tofo Lifesavers was established after concerned citizens decided Tofo beach needed lifeguards in order to maintain a safe environment for all people to enjoy the beach and water.

The goal is to advise people against dangerous beach activity and provide a safe, life-guarded area in which to swim to reduce the drownings on Tofo Beach each year.  The vast majority of people in Mozambique cannot swim and are not comfortable in the water resulting in a high number of drowning cases each year with peaks occurring on weekends and during holiday seasons when beach-use increases.  These drownings could often be avoided if someone were present on the beach to warn swimmers of dangerous conditions, point out rip currents and advise safer swim locations or could affect an on-water rescue.

All establishment, training, and fundraising for Nhatofo Salva Vidas have been the tireless work of a very small team of dedicated volunteers.  In order to make sure this initiative is sustainable, durable and ongoing into the future, the lifeguards trained were all from the local area and these lifeguards are now the solely paid workforce of Nhatofo Salva Vidas.

However despite this, running costs each month greatly exceed current monthly donations, currently, without financial support from the Mozambican government, Tofo Lifesavers is struggling to achieve the baseline monthly running costs.  We also seek contributions towards completion of the establishment of the association, which will make Nhatofo Salva Vidas a secure, registered and licensed part if Mozambican life, a key step in our mission to ensure this association exists not just to save lives today but into the future.

Lifesavers

If you would like to contribute and assist Katie in getting the lifesavers program firmly off the ground, you will directly result in more lives being saved and more people learning to safely enjoy their ocean.

Check out their go fund me page here.