The Great Projects Reviews 112

What an amazing & rewarding experience!
Our day to day work included clearing alien plants, removing fencing from an old corral, community involvement such as re-building a jungle gym, revitalising a vegetable garden (& playing with the local kids!). We were also priveleged enough to join the reserve's medical team on a couple of important projects, including some hands on work with two baby rhinos! Incredible! One of the many highlights. The afternoons tended to be wildlife monitoring & recording, which is a technical term for being on a safari!!
Our guide, Jesse, did an amazing job of getting us some great close up views of the animals, providing us with loads of interesting information & making our experience as memorable as possible. All the staff at the lodge were so friendly & the food was top notch every day.
I would recommend the Shamwari Conservation Project & The Great Projects to anyone who wants to be part of a fantastic team of like-minded volunteers who want to help make a difference.

I had an awful experience with the Great Projects. There was no in country support and I was in a very remote part of South America where there were threats to steal all my belongings. I had to evacuate the following morning and fly back to the UK. They have no in country support that is available and the whole thing seems very professional on the uk side but absolutely unsafe. Be very cautious booking any trips that they newly advertise as an 18 year old traveller they do not offer any support when it becomes dangerous. I would recommend Think Pacific and I would avoid the Great Projects like the plague. I still paid for the experience where I was threatened by multiple people to have my stuff stolen whilst they tried to break through the door of the basic room I was staying in. I have not been offered any compensation and actually paid for the hell of this experience. Do not book this as a univeristy student/ Gap year student- it is highly dangerous !

Can a volunteer project consist of two weeks of only highlights? The N/a'ankuse Wildlife Project has it all: a beautiful country, overwhelming nature, the friendliest staff, magnificent volunteer activities, advanced learning through the wildlife team and antipoaching unit every day, a terrific accommodation, extremely delicious food, the most marvellous sunsets. N/a'ankuse offers it all. With over 50 volunteers all together at the project there's plenty of possibilities to reach out to people all over the world, come and go on any date, and join the other N/a'ankuse projects as well, including participating at the primary school or the lifeline clinic. And when you give your very best, you will be rewarded with the experience of a lifetime.

Had the best time during my two weeks volunteering with the turtles. Dudley and the team are the kindest people and take such good care of you during your time there. The work they do is incredible and you learn so much about the turtles and how the project is helping through their conservation efforts. You also spend most week days teaching English to local children which for me was daunting at first but I really enjoyed it. Would absolutely recommend joining this volunteer program to anyone, I’ve made memories I’ll never forget! Just wish I had booked more than two weeks as I could have easily stayed longer

We booked The Great Orangutan Project through The Great Projects, they were just amazing! It was a life goal, we had never done anything like this before and being in our 'later years' we were a little bit apprehensive about the travel and how challenging the work might be. The staff at The Great projects totally put our minds at ease and gave us guidance through every stage from booking, payments, insurance, flights right up to being collected from the airport.

We never imagined how amazing this trip would be! The work was at the right pace and level for each individual, this experience and the camaraderie of our fellow volunteers will stay with us forever. We'd like to thank the team at Matang Wildlife Centre for their guidance and their patience they showed us and for the work that they do to make this wonderful experience happen for us. The health and condition of the animals is a testament to their knowledge and passion that they have for the animals in their care. If anyone is contemplating volunteering with this project it is a very worthwhile fulfilling experience.

Undoubtedly by far the best experience of my life! The accommodation and meals provided as well as having the laundry done absolutely justifies the fee and overall investments. I had alot of fun and amazing learning experience with the staff members and they were amazing to involve us as much as possible into the daily work, shared alot of knowledge and had interesting conversations about the sanctuary, animals and it was both knowledgeable and enjoyable! Of course, meeting different people from different countries was also really amazing! It was amazing to meet people with the same passion, same goals and putting in the efforts into the daily activities and just have alot of fun! The activities that were my personal top 5: Food prep and feeding the carnivores, APU patrol, patroling with the rhino rangers, cheetah walk and cheetah experience! Besides these adventures, I truly loved and enjoyed every single activity, including being a teacher at the Naankuse primary school! For sure, this adventure only sparked my desire to pursue more conservation projects as it is part of my profession and my Dream! I could not thank Everyone enough for this experience for which words don't do justice. I hope to see you guys again in the future!

I have travelled with The Great Projects 4 times, volunteering with animals, and have recently returned from my second visit to the Carnivore Conservation Project in Namibia. TGP are super to deal with, even getting a dedicated contact for questions regarding the projects, through the booking process and even afterwards. All enquiries are promptly answered and telephone numbers are available even when abroad.

I have just returned from my second trip to the Namibia Wildlife Sanctuary. The memory of the last one in 2016 stayed with me always, and eventually I had to go back to this most beautiful of countries. Little had changed, and animals still needed caring for and feeding. Each day, your duties changed - feeding animals, game counts, horse management, perimeter monitoring, waterhole cleaning etc. However, you can have a cold beer at the end of each day! The animal food prep area is now much larger though which is good news, and many donations for the animals arrive from hotels, shops etc, and nothing is wasted. The food prep team can take a couple of hours to chop, cut, slice, mix whatever needs doing for the many animals sheltered here. This includes bottle-feeding baby baboons, then walking them with the juveniles in the morning and afternoon. This always creates excitement! On trucks, we feed the lions, leopards, hyena, cheetah, caracals by hurling their meats over a fence - no hand-feeding there... If you're lucky, you'll have time to walk through the bush with three cheetah, or maybe watch their game of chasing a lure in their enclosure. This visit, I rode through the bush on horseback, and walked through a herd of giraffe, who just gave us a quizzical look, but allowed us passage as they were used to the horses we rode. What an experience! The horses are let out at the end of the day to browse through the bush and mingle with the giraffe as well as species of antelope and zebra, so the animals are all accustomed to one another. There is now a K9 project, to train dogs for the Anti-poaching Unit (APU), and a visit to this is so much fun. We are trained as well as the dogs, so I'm going to see what I can now do with my own independent-spirited little pooch. (I'm not holding my breath 🙂 ) To the people at the Namibian Conservation Project, I am now known as a 'Returner". It appears there are many of our species and I even met some! In fact, a returning couple had just been asked to step up as coordinators for a few weeks, as they were to be short-staffed for a little while. You don't know what you're going to encounter day-to-day, which makes getting up before 7am worthwhile.

I had an amazing trip on yet another Great Project’s adventure. This time in Uganda, and once again, I was not disappointed. I had an incredible time and never believed we would be so lucky as to see the gorillas on both our treks. Nothing can really prepare you for the sense of wonder and awe at seeing a group of Gorillas in their natural habitat, it was a very humbling experience and one I will treasure for the rest of my life. We were so privileged to be able to spend time with the Nyakagezi group in Mgahinga National Park, watching these gentle giants enjoying morning brunch, grooming and playing with each other was simply mesmerising. The Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest were a little more elusive, but the fantastic trackers still found them, and after a couple of hours trekking through dense forest, we were able to observe our second group of gorillas (Nkuringo Group) again at close quarters. The Chimpanzee trek in Queen Elizabeth National Park was a different experience, being tree dwelling, they proved to be even more elusive, so you definitely will need to be prepared for a stiff neck after watching them up in the tree canopy. Apart from the treks we also participated in several community based activities. Through the Mgahinga Community Development Organisation (MCDO) we visited local communities, schools and a child crisis centre. We helped paint a classroom, plant bamboo trees and vegetables alongside the children and were shown how community development programmes were supporting the education of girls in school, providing assistance and equipment to the special needs children in school, and met some reformed poachers and their families who were now making a living through tourism and farming. We spent 3 days at Queen Elizabeth National Park and stayed in a beautiful safari lodge near the Kizunga Channel. As if seeing Gorillas and Chimpanzees was not enough, we were incredibly lucky on our game drive and boat trip to see a female leopard, lots of elephants, even more hippos, antelope and buffalo, as well as some pretty amazing colourful birds. Ugandans are very friendly and colourful people, especially the children and by the time you leave the country if you are anything like me, you will return with aching shoulders and jaw muscles from smiling and waving at everyone you see. All the staff involved in organising the trip and arranging our activities and those who looked after us throughout our trip were simply fantastic and made us all feel so welcome. But Denis our driver was “simply the best”, nothing was ever too much for him and his driving skills on some of the most uneven rough roads I have ever been on, are second to none! On this trip we were accompanied by James the videographer for The Great Projects. James was a great ambassador for the Great Projects, and we were extremely lucky to have him join us on the trip. I would highly recommend you lookup his video of our trip to get an even better insight of what it was like. My photos are not a patch on James’s amazing photos, but I hope they give a taster of the magical adventures that await you when you decide to book your own Gorilla trip. You will definitely not be disappointed by this project and I’m sure you will have many awesome memories of your own to look back on.

I felt well supported by the on ground team and the chance to see all Borneos amazing wildlife and contribute something to maintaining the forest was great. The project allowed me to get closer to the villagers and a more authentic experience than simply being a tourist could offer

It is hard to pick a highlight of this trip as every single moment has been absolutely amazing. What I can say is this trip has been the highlight of my life !!!
From the sightings of the animals, to the work for conservation we do, the amount of fascinating facts about animals and their tracks we learn thanks to the rangers (the most knowledgeable people I ever met), the fantastic people we meet and the way we are treated by the staff like family…
Everything about Shamwari is magical! If I HAD to pick a moment, it could be the night drive when we had the chance to follow (respectfully, from a distance) 4 young lions for 2 hours while they were hunting… absolutely unreal!!!
Words can’t describe this experience, I couldn’t recommend it more and will be back myself as soon as I can !
Thank you so much The Great Projects for your help, everything went very smoothly thanks to you, every question has been answered and I had nothing to worry about !

Joining a Namibian wildlife project with The Great Project was a beautiful experience. An opportunity to live Namibia's culture and its wildlife in a different and precious way. We loved it! The Great Project supported us perfectly in organizing the trip; it was an excellent experience.

Lifetime memories made at Samboja Lestari Orangutan Sanctuary.

I had researched lots of volunteer projects before choosing the Great Projects and after experiencing my first volunteer project with them I have no hesitation in recommending them.

From my first point of contact, travel consultant Fran gave great reassurance and advice. Fran and the team were always on hand to answer any questions from questions about blood tests needed to giving advice about waterproofs!

Any worries that I may have had quickly disappeared when I arrived. The project is well coordinated including transport arrangements, covid testing and the daily activities. Co-ordinator Kate puts her heart and soul into the project to ensure that all the volunteers leave with memories that will last a lifetime.

Plenty of sweat but also lots of laughter over the two weeks with some great people, and knowing that you are helping to enrich the lives of orangutans, and sunbears, makes this an unforgettable experience.

I used the Great Projects to organise my trip to Shamwari on the Conservation Experience and found them professional and very helpful. As for Shamwari if your thinking of going please go. I’m a 58 year old male and was travelling solo and was a little nervous as I was out of my comfort zone but I really didn’t need to worry. Everyone was super friendly and so so knowledgeable. It was a trip of a lifetime. The work was hard but fun and the game drives were out of this world. I can’t wait to go back.

A 3 week trip to the Sanctuary, Neuras and Kanaan passed all too quickly but left indelible memories. I met a wide range of people of different ages, from different backgrounds and nationalities, all passionate about animals and helping protect wildlife. Experienced a diverse range of activities from getting hands on with a wide variety of animals big and small at the sanctuary, some 'time-out' at Sossusvlei and in the Namib-Naukluft National Park as part of an Adventure week at Neuras, followed by getting hands-on again against the backdrop of the awe-inspiring, breathtaking and beautiful landscapes at Kanaan. This trip should not be missed.

The Great Projects team is very friendly and supportive, and I had an amazing time at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. I was impressed by professionalism and commitment of the team at the centre and it was great to be a part of it. The experience has given me a good understanding of wildlife rehabilitation process.

The Great Projects were really helpful in organising my recent trip to Namibia. They guided and supported me through the whole process from start to finish. Always on hand to help with any query I had. Would use this organisation again.

We had an incredible few days at the Matang wildlife centre. It’s very difficult to articulate how positive we felt about our experience but safe to say we loved it.

The highlights were the group. We felt very lucky to be with people who were so friendly, like-minded and easy-going. The group chat is still going!

A huge shoutout for Dom and Sam who couldn’t have been more welcoming and supportive during our stay. They are very special individuals and their commitment to the animals was inspiring.

It was very humbling supporting the animals and, despite their stories being very sobering, it felt very fulfilling contributing a small amount to keep them happy, healthy and safe.

Our only other feedback was that the work was hard. This was fine for us, but there were several members of the group who struggled and I think the nature of the tasks and how physically demanding they are could be more openly communicated. Also to note, we didn’t get the 2 days off mentioned on the website. This wasn’t an issue at all and our excursion day was spectacular, however I think this should also be more clearly highlighted for the people who only stay one week at the project.

Finally a huge thanks! We had a brilliant time and booking, paying and planning our trip was made so easy by Fran at the great projects. We‘re looking forward to the next one!

Volunteering with orangutans at Nyaru Menteng

Genuinely one of the best experiences of my life! The climate is hot, humid and be prepared to get sweaty, however the knowledge that the work we were doing and enrichment being prepared makes a difference to the orangutans waiting for their move to pre release islands makes it all worth while. The opportunity to see the animals up close is a real privilege and watching them return from forest school and play together was a personal highlight.

Excellent way to get behind the scenes on a 5-star game reserve. Really knowledgeable and passionate guides made it an outstanding experience. Can be hard work at times so need to be fit & healthy and ready for some manual labour, but well worth it for the access you have to the animals. Accommodation is reasonable (c3 star), I shared a room with another girl, but having your washing done weekly and all meals cooked for you is a treat. We saw the big 5 (minus leopard) on multiple occasions and had some very close encounters with these and other amazing wildlife of all shapes & sizes (from giraffe to dung beetles). Would highly recommend as a way to give back and learn, as well as escape and enjoy nature in a beautiful setting.

I had the best time on The Great Turtle project in Sri Lanka. The Great Projects were so supportive with the whole process. I would thoroughly recommend this company.