Volunteer Life at SOUTH AFRICAN ANIMAL SANCTUARY ALLIANCE

WHO IS SAASA SAASA is the South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance, incorporating Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary, Birds of Eden Bird Aviary Sanctuary, and Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary.

Our mission is one of education and understanding, and to meet these objectives, we strive for all guests who

have visited any of our sanctuaries (Monkeyland, Birds of Eden and the Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary) to leave with a

greater understanding of the primates, birds, apex cats and wild animals in general and to understand the threats

and challenges they are facing. One of our main areas of focus is to educate the public about the adverse effects

of keeping wild animals as pets, in terms of both their physical and psychological health.

Why Volunteer at SAASA 1. Your choice of Sanctuaries to choose from

I. Monkeyland Primate SanctuaryII. Birds of Eden, Bird SanctuaryIII. Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary, Apex Cats and More

2. Dedicated volunteer co-ordinator to assist you with queriesI. In the event you want to move from one Sanctuary to anotherII. In the event you wish to move from our accommodation to homestay or vice versaIII. In the event that you would like to attempt to stay longerIV. For assistance with local information V. If you wish to travel and is looking for additional information on the places you wish to visit VI. To book you into local activities which our co-ordinator can get you in for a great deal and sometimes freeVII. To assist you with booking taxi’s and other reservations

3. A Volunteer program that has the test of time behind it, running successfully since 1998 4. The opportunity to meet fellow volunteers from a range of countries5. Volunteering in, what is considered one of the best locations in South Africa – the Garden Route – renowned for its

prized activitiesI. Bloukrans bungy Jump – The highest Commercial Jump from a Bridge in the WorldII. Tsitsikamma Zip Line Adventures or Tsitsikamma Tree Top ToursIII. Radical Raptors – Birds of Prey Rehabilitation and Awareness CentreIV. Skydiving with Plett Skydive!! V. Elephant parks – Knysna Elephant Park as well as The Elephant Sanctuary VI. Whale Watching with Ocean Blue or Ocean Safaris VII. Swimming with Seals or Adventure Boating with Offshore AdventuresVIII. Hiking trails in Natures Valley, Tsitsikamma National Park and on Robberg Nature ReserveIX. These are just a drop in the bucket as there is also horse riding, game viewing, and many more.

6. Working in a multitude of areas/positions within every Sanctuary…..

Volunteers Required in the following positions/areas at SAASA

We are looking for hard-working, fast-learning and enthusiastic Volunteers. Volunteers will be expected to welcome people, explain our basic rules and show them to the reception. Volunteers can assist in the curio store, reception, guides and with animal care.

We are particularly keen on filling these positions:

1. Multilingual guidesI. We welcome all languages, German, Dutch, Spanish, Russian, Hindi, Hebrew, Portuguese and Italian guides are particularly in

demand

2. Students with photography/filming skills for documenting I. Compiling and typing up information, along with taking photographs and film footageII. Volunteers need to bring their own photographic equipment

3. IT specialistI. Our equipment needs servicing and regular fixing, if you have IT knowledge but wish to live in a beautiful environment with a

chance to help out on outdoor projects whenever time allows, then this is a perfect place

4. Public relations/Marketing/JournalistI. PR and marketing are extremely important for raising awareness about our project

5. VeterinarianI. Our volunteer vet must be experienced and qualified to work closely with local vets, which will be an enjoyable and

educational experience.

6. HandymanI. Volunteer carpenters, gardeners, electricians, plumbers, painters etc are always welcome

The only qualifications and/or experience we require is a genuine interests in animals and Fluent in English.

A Day in the life of a Volunteer at Monkeyland, SAASA

Welcome Guests – this is the first thing you will start doing at Monkeyland!

It is very important for us that Guests are greeted friendly and preferably in the guests own language which is why we welcome all language-volunteers!

On arrival you will do as many tours as possible with other volunteers and our permanent guides to get comfortable with

our 12 hectare forest and the format of our tours. Everyone at Monkeyland does what we call “Walk-ins” this is walking the guests from This is a very important aspect for us as we have found that clients appreciate it, this is also the time the staff and volunteers can start selling to the clients all 3 our Sanctuaries the gate to the reception!

While walking them in it is also the perfect time to inform all our visitors of the guidelines , the “do’s and don'ts” at Monkeyland. They then introduce them to the reception staff and close the door behind them to keep the Kleptomaniac monkey’s out!

Odd jobs and keeping busy Sometimes we consider ourselves very lucky to have volunteers here to help out in a singe! 1. In this photo below left, you can see two of our tallest volunteers assisting me in removing a sticker the monkey’s started

ripping. Removing it was very important as our Monkey’s should not digest it and we had to get it off as soon as possible!2. In the photo below right, Chantal from Germany jumped in to assist us on the deck checking tickets and stamping them,

as you can see the clients really enjoyed her presence

Guiding at MonkeylandThis is what some of our Volunteers enjoy the most. Our tours depart every 15 to 20 minutes and are an hour long! It

has always been our pride and joy to be able to offer tours in an array of languages. Once a volunteer has gone on a few tours, and feel comfortable with the forest and their knowledge they will go on a test with our Curator or his assistance,

as soon as they clear them, then the volunteers will start doing tours. Tours are for as small as a single person on a private tour to a group of 20 people (never more unless requested)

Special Projects at MonkeylandOur Media Volunteers are also very important as it is thanks to their knowledge and expertise that we get amazing videos and photos.

We often send our Media volunteers into the forest to find a photo of a certain monkey for one reason or another.

If Ever I thought I might be pushing the Media Volunteers too much by asking them to find a small monkey in a 12 heactar forest and coming back with the perfect photo then I can think again as apparently that is what Media Volunteers crave. Therefore I share this thank you note from Matt Prinzing (Photo above right – USA) Dear Vijver - I can't thank you enough for the enormous help you have been in my time here Vijver. You provided a wealth of ideas and projects that I never would have experienced if it were not for your guidance. I can tell that you appreciate the work that I, as well as Luke, did as media volunteers, but I must let you know how grateful we are to have someone who takes a serious interest in our capabilities and pushes us to realize our full potential. I could have easily wandered around the same forest for weeks on end taking endless amounts of photos of the same forest over and over again until I resented the idea of being a environmental media producer, but instead I had you to give me direction and find purpose in my work. I wish you all the luck in the world with kicking ass as volunteer coordinator in the future and I hope that you don't have to go too long without having a media volunteer around! -Matt Prinzing

Feeding and Cleaning Cages at MonkeylandFeeding is always fun as the Monkeys are waiting in anticipation for your arrival and Volunteers have always fully enjoyed taking part in this activity.

For our Monkey’s safety we always clean the feeding tables before putting out new feed. Especially in our Pre-release cages where the Monkey’s are still getting used to our Sanctuary.

A Day in the Life of a Volunteer at Birds of Eden, SAASA

At Birds of Eden we do not have set guided tours as we have at Monkeyland but we do have a lot more work to be completed there. Starting with cleaning the walk ways

Helping out in our Pre-Release cages are also important as those are the birds that need extra attention.

Very important jobs at Birds of Eden our Volunteers can assist us with.

Helping with the cleaning of the Feeding Tables and setting out fresh food is also an important job our Volunteers assist us with daily at Birds of Eden.

Guided tours are becoming more and more popular at Birds of Eden. Most of the tours are small or private tours but we are starting to get much bigger groups. Here special Languages also come in very helpful!

Odd Jobs at Birds of Eden We have found that the volunteers helping out at Birds of Eden are always more than willing to jump in and assist with weird and odd jobs that comes up!

Volunteers are never expected to do hard labor and most of them “volunteer” to assist as the jobs are almost always a lot of fun to assist with.

Special Projects at Birds of EdenEvery now and then the volunteers as well as the birds get something special, like putting out treats for the birds. The Photography Volunteers especially like this as they can then get super amazing shots.

At Birds of Eden a hardworking, dedicated volunteer will always be trusted with an interesting and important project from our Bird Curator – Lee Dekker. This is always a special treat and must be why volunteers are so enthusiastic at Birds of Eden.

A Day in the live of a Volunteer at Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary, SAASA

Everyday at Jukani starts with the preparing and feeding of the animals. This is also how every day ends. With a variety of animals we have a variety of food preparations going on.

Not everyone is as brave as Elsa our French volunteer and most stick to the cutting of Veg and Fruit but Elsa also assisted us in preparing the meat for our carnivores.

Very important jobs at Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary

Once all the food has been prepared our 50+ Animals need feeding, volunteers will not be placed in harm by feeding Apex cats but the Raccoons and smaller animals also need food.

Animals are messy eaters and we do not want them feasting on old rotting food during the day so while they indulge in all the fresh food assistance is needed in cleaning up the old discarded bites.

Odd jobs volunteers can assist with at Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary

Media, Photography and film-making volunteers are always much needed and appreciated at our Sanctuaries.

Jukani also feeds a few local horses and check on their well being and thanks to Volunteers this can occur daily

Welcoming clients and checking ticketsClients can purchase their tickets at any of our Three sanctuaries and it is thus important to check our clients tickets.

The concept of Jukani is quite new here in South Africa as SAASA believes in the animal’s rights! Therefor it is important to inform clients before they enter that the animals have the right to NOT be on display.

Afterhours in the life of SAASA volunteersHere are a few photos that our past volunteers shared with us of their adventures.

At SAASA we appreciate all our volunteers!