Namibia: Volunteer With Desert Elephants

Namibia

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Spend two weeks with elephants

Life for Namibia's desert-dwelling elephants is harsh. Competition with humans over scarce water resources causes conflict, threatening the elephants’ existence. Be part of a solution to the conflict between elephants and humans.

The Elephant Conservation Volunteer Project has been in operation for the last six years. During this time, hundreds of volunteers have made a huge difference to the conservation of the desert elephants. You’ll spend two rewarding weeks with elephants and like-minded people from all over the world!

Namibia is a beautiful part of Africa. Damaraland is probably one of the most stunning areas of the world, and the desert elephants of the area are one of the most special groups of elephants you will ever see. This project gives EHRA the opportunity to expose dedicated volunteer enthusiasts to the work they do in the field and offer a unique chance to make a personal difference and a real contribution to conservation and biosphere development in Namibia.

Suggested Length: 15 days/14 nights
Starts from: $2,500 per person

"Lana did an awesome, awesome job. The three extra days I had in Swakopmund she a great job on connecting with day trips that really were of interest to me. And every time I called her with a question she was very nice and never rushed me, always kept me up to date. It was a great pleasure to work with her."

Donna Blalock
Namibia

Highlights

Be part of a solution to the conflict between elephants and humans by volunteering with the Elephant Conservation Volunteer Project.
Help build protective walls around water sources or alternative water points for elephants and newly-released black rhinos.
Experience local culture by living in mobile base camps, cooking over the fire, and sharing meals with the volunteer teams.
Share stories around the campfire in the evenings, surrounded by the sounds of wildlife.
Join the EHRA trackers on elephant patrol, tracking herds, recording data, and gathering information to support effective conservation management.
Sleep under the stars in different locations each night during the patrol, feeling the charm of Namibia's wilderness and wildlife.

Sample Itinerary

Day 1 - 7

Building Week

Tuesday morning we travel to the local Namibian farm or homestead where you will spend the week building protective walls around water sources or building alternative water points for the elephants and the area’s newly-released black rhinos. Volunteer teams will be living in mobile base camps in the vicinity of the homesteads and elephants. Tents are provided this week, and soon you will make the camp home! All cooking is done over the fire and you’ll take turns being on kitchen duty, which includes providing the first cup of coffee to everyone in bed, to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have great recipes, and we can also cater for vegetarians.

You’ll rise early to beat the Namibian heat and then stop around noon to travel back to camp for a traditional African siesta and lunch. In the afternoons you start work after 2:30 pm and work for a couple of hours, before the time comes to head back to camp in time for the obligatory sundowner. Evenings are spent talking and relaxing around the campfire, listening to the sounds of Africa.

Saturday morning you pack up the camp and travel back to the EHRA Base Camp for a much-deserved shower and relaxation. The next two days are yours to explore, read, relax, take a swim in the elephant drinking dam, and enjoy yourself!

Day 8 - 14

Elephant Patrol

On Monday morning, volunteer teams pack the Land Cruisers and leave on elephant patrol. This is an amazing week where you join the EHRA trackers on a (mostly) vehicle-based patrol to track the local herds of desert elephants. This week is your reward for all the hard work on building week. The aim of this week is to track the elephants, record data on births, deaths, and new elephants, GPS their positions, and take ID shots and notes about each and every elephant.

EHRA believes that effective conservation management is only possible through knowing each elephant personally — through its physical features and its personality traits — as well as having accurate and up-to-date information on numbers and movements. This is particularly important when ‘problem’ elephants are declared. The information gathered on patrol is entered onto our online database which maps each herd’s movements on Google Earth. From this, we can ascertain which farms and homesteads are visited and may require protection walls. The database also holds all ID shots of each elephant.

During patrol, you’ll sleep at a new place every evening, depending on where the day’s tracking takes you. Sleeping out under the stars is one of the most magical experiences of the project.

It is likely that you will see no other humans the entire week. Your only company will be the area’s wildlife. Aside from elephants, you can expect to see giraffe, oryx, ostrich, kudu, zebra, springbok, and if you are very lucky, black rhino, as well as hundreds of different birds.