One day in the Thuma Forest Reserve

From the rock at the top of the camp you have a beautiful view over the reserve.

You will stay together with other volunteers in a camp. There are separate rooms in mud huts. Every room has a bed with mosquito net and opportunities to store your things away.

“MORE SWEAT: LESS POACHING!” This is the slogan of the Wildlife Action Group.

The capital city of the Republic of Malawi is Lilongwe.

The Wildlife Action Group has its base camp in the Central region of Malawi, the nearest town is Salima.

Malawi - a country which you first have to look up on the map

The toilets are surrounded by grass as well as the showers.

Normally you have the possibility to go once a week to town, where you can get all the staff you need.

The country has a beautiful lake, called Lake Malawi

There are also two huts for tourists with a separate toilet and shower.

In the middle of the camp for volunteers is the kitchen and some places to relax. You have to cook on an open fire.

As a volunteer you have many possibilities to contribute something. Here are some examples: construction of accommodation, general camp maintenance, shopping, daily patrols, administration work, community interaction or teaching some lessons in the local school. People with specific skills or knowledge may get special tasks.

The Wildlife Action Group is a non-governmental organization. Actually two major projects are installed to reserve wildlife and to prevent poaching of Elephants.

One of those projects is the Thuma Forest Reserve.

The camp is in the middle of the forest

on top of a hill.

They’ve started to build a fence around the Reserve to protect the animals inside and the residents outside.

One day in the Thuma Forest Reserve

And you get used to such spiders.

Malawi is beautiful especially the Thuma Forest Reserve. The locals are very friendly and peaceful. Malawi is one of the safest countries in Africa.

You are able to plant for example tomatoes and other vegetables but everything has to grow in a cage instead the monkeys eat it.

Education is very important. The Wildlife Action Group tries to teach children how important the forest is.

Otherwise a car belongs to the camp, as well as an office.

In the camp lives a cat named Kongo and a dog named Ug.

Here you can see another kitchen and a store room. Because of the monkeys the food always has to be locked. There are beautiful places where you can eat, work or just relax.

The scouts live in a separate camp with their own accommodations.

The whole camp is ecofriendly with water used from a nearby spring, solar power for electricity and wood used from the fallen trees in the forest.

Sometimes the monkeys like to visit the camp and of course you have the possibility to see elephants.

Can you see the chameleon?

Poachers still come into the reserve and try to trap animals. But the Scouts patrol every day to prevent that the poachers are able to kill an animal.

The Scouts and Lynn do everything to protect the nature and to rescue the animals.

At full moon you almost need no torch.

Lynn organizes and manages the reserve.

The sunrise is an amazing experience. At least once you should wake up early to watch this natural event.

The Hyraxes live close to the camp and are always looking for some leftovers.

Volunteer with the Wildlife Action Group!