Maxim van Doorn

Cheetahs chasing down an impala, wild dogs feasting on a fresh kill, hundreds of elephants crossing a river… I really got to see it all! After four unforgettable, action-packed weeks and three amazing projects with African Conservation Experience (ACE), I’ve come home with incredible memories and a much deeper understanding of conservation in Southern Africa. 

My journey began at the Phinda Wildlife Research Project, where I had so many special experiences.  The highlight for me was witnessing three cheetahs, two brothers and a male, take down an impala. We watched the whole thing unfold, from the moment they began to chase it to the kill and eating it afterwards. 

Phinda reserve is also home to a number of pangolins that have been rescued from the black market. During their first few weeks of release, the research team tracks their movement to make sure that they are doing well. During my time at the project, I was lucky enough to help locate one of these pangolins to replace a tracking device that had fallen off. Knowing that pangolins are one of the most trafficked animals in the world, it felt amazing to play a small part in their protection.

Another unforgettable experience was taking part in a rhino horn trimming, a procedure that is done every few years to reduce the risk of poaching. In the morning, I got to speak with the wildlife veterinarian, and they explained how the horn trimming would go ahead. A group of us helped locate the rhino from the ground, whilst overhead, the vet sat in a helicopter ready to dart and immobilise the rhino.

I loved the team that I was with and we had a great ecological monitor working with us, but whilst I was sad to leave, I also felt very excited to go to my next project, the Vikela Kruger Conservation Experience. 

At Vikela, one of the highlights was tracking rhinos on foot through the bush. We also saw wild dogs, and got to see a cheetah hunt an impala again, but this time the impala was too fast and it got away! 

What struck me most was the difference between Phinda and Vikela. Phinda is a fenced reserve of around 30,000 hectares, which is already a massive area. But then you have Vikela which is situated in the Greater Kruger, adjacent to the Kruger National Park: together the Greater Kruger and the Kruger make up 20 million hectares of interconnected, unfenced, protected wildlife area. I felt that because of this, the wildlife at Vikela was less habituated to seeing humans, and this gave me a good sense of being off the beaten track. My third and final project was the Okavango Wilderness Project in Botswana. We did a lot of tracking and our guides were extremely knowledgeable, showing us how to read animal tracks and teaching us about the different wildlife and trees in the area.

My favourite part of this project was definitely the weekends of remote camping near the Kwai River, which was such a cool and unique experience.

A few hours later, we reached the Kwai River and saw hundreds of elephants crossing. It was a crazy day that I will never forget!

The whole experience was extremely educational, and I gained a much better understanding of the roles that tourism, funding, and even hunting play in conservation. Conservation is difficult and complicated, but this trip showed me that there is a lot of hope. I’m already missing the adventure, the sounds of the wildlife, and the amazing teams I met along the way. I’ll definitely be returning as a volunteer with ACE, that’s for sure.