My ukuphela (My destination)

   My trip will start on the 28th of January and end on the 5th of April; for the most part I will be staying at the CROW. wildlife center. I found them through Travellers Worldwide, a volunteer program based in England. Here is a little information about the wildlife center:




   The CROW (centre for rehabilitation of wildlife) wildlife center is located in Yellowwood Park (from what I get it's a suburb of Durban) located in Kwazulu Natal. The basic role of the center is to take in the injured wild animals so that they might be released back into the wild. The center does not deal with domestic animals, though cares for a wide variety of wild animals. A quote from their website says,


"...we have approximately 300 - 400 animals under our care at any given time, all of which are wildlife indigenous to Kwa Zulu Natal, from birds and mammals to raptors and reptiles, and many many monkeys."


   I am most interested in caring for the vast influx of vervet monkeys that the center gets, I am hoping that I will be able to be a foster mom to one of the babies, but I am eager to take any animal interaction I can get.
   As for my accommodations, I will be staying at the guest house that is located on the center's property and can accommodate up to 8 volunteers at a time. I will be provided with enough food to prepare 3 meals a day, and there is also a spar (general grocer) within 10 minutes walk of the house as well as a nearby internet cafe. Here is a picture of the house:

"The centre lies close to a small protected reserve of 253 hectares, called Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve. The reserve offers coastal forest and grassland habitats and includes species such as zebra, bushbuck, reedbuck, impala, blue, red and grey duiker, vervet monkeys, rock hyrax, slender mongoose, bushbaby, Egyptian mongoose, banded mongoose, water monitor and genet. The reserve also has an interesting variety of indigenous flora and over 200 bird species on record. There are 13 km of nature walks and a pleasant picnic site."





If you want to know more go to Traveller's website or Crow's website 


-Becca