Anastasiya Shapovalova (United States)
My time with Wildlife ACT was meaningful, educational, fun, and unique. I felt that our monitors made every effort to make our experience fulfilling and fun. They ensured that our group was safe while having the best time possible, and checked in with each of us individually to ensure that our needs were met and that we were having a meaningful experience. I was impressed with the care demonstrated towards me and my friends by each of our monitors.
It is also clear that the monitors are very knowledgeable and passionate about the conservation work they do here. It is a separate skill-set, altogether, to look after and educate a group of 5 volunteers, who have little knowledge about life in the bush, and they each did this with a clear sense of care and genuine interest. I loved getting to know them both over the course of my two weeks.
Wildlife ACT was flexible with our delayed arrival time, which was really helpful, and allowed us time to stop by the market before heading into camp, which exceeded our expectations and helped all of us feel more at ease about ensuring our individual food-needs were met. I have never visited a research camp before and upon reading the information provided, I expected very basic accommodations, somewhat like camping. Without having any comparison to base my ranking on, I would say that I was pleasantly surprised to find a well-stocked, functioning kitchen, a washing machine for our laundry, blankets to use during chilly morning rides, and strong-enough cellphone reception to allow for daily email checks, which was really helpful for the volunteers in my group.
