Out of Atlanta . . . and Into Africa By Samantha Behrend

People often talk about reaching a crossroads in life, events that alter what they think about the world or their own future. For me, that crossroads was the three months that I just spent participating in the Shamwari Conservation Experience in South Africa. It’s no exaggeration to say that they were the best three months of my life. Every day was filled with activities that help protect and conserve African wildlife. We would eat breakfast at 7 a.m. and be out in the field by eight. Some days we worked with animals residing at a rehabilitation center. For example, I bottle fed orphaned bushbuck, springbok and blesbok (all are species of antelope), as well as black eagles and a black harrier.

Sam and the group assisted Dr. Johann Joubert relocating elephants

Other days, we would assist at the nearby Born Free Foundation Big Cat Sanctuary, which adopts confiscated exotic cats from around the world and puts them into the most natural sort of living environment so they can live out the rest of their lives as happily as possible. Most of the animals were raised from birth by humans. Because of this, they have no natural hunting skills or instincts and can never live in the wild. I got hands-on experience moving several lions into new, updated enclosure, and we built a jungle gym for three of the resident leopards.

Strangely enough, the most enjoyable days were those during which we did physical labor under the guidance of highly qualified rangers on the Shamwari Reserve. Some days, my team filled in mud-holes in the roads caused by rainstorms (and made worse by the elephants playing in them!). Other days we did road clearing, which entailed taking a machete and clearing away bushes and trees that were growing into the roadway. We also did erosion control by planting native, fast growing plants in vulnerable areas.

On the occasional rainy day, we had the options of attending lectures given by our rangers or create PowerPoints and speeches to deliver to the local community. We visited Patterson, the nearest town, every Friday. Sometimes, we would go to schools and give talks on topics such as sex education, drug awareness and rhino poaching. We more commonly built playgrounds and painted the schools.

The weekends were free for us to do whatever we liked. One weekend, I went shark cage diving and whale watching off the South Africa coast. On another, I did the second highest bungee jump in the world and sandboarding. There were also options for surfing, skydiving, seal diving and all sorts of other activities. After three months at Shamwari, it was difficult to say goodbye to both the reserve and my teammates. But it’s one of those places, and one of those experiences, that will be with me the rest of my life.