South Africa Wild Coast Horse Rehabilitation

  South Africa

East London

Durations of Program: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks and 5-8 weeks
Dates: First and third Monday of each month

Description: On this programme you will see your passion and hard work materialise and contribute towards a vital and long-term development scheme to rehabilitate horses in the Wild Coast area of South Africa.

Upon arrival at the Wild Coast you will spend your first few days at a fantastic backpackers lodge with your fellow volunteers, getting to know each other and settling in to the local area and programme. Here you will be given a thorough orientation to enable you to develop your understanding of the new (and at times challenging) environment that you will be working in. The orientation is great fun and allows you, the co-ordinating team and the other volunteers working alongside you, the chance to bond and develop a good working relationship.

During the orientation you will be provided with an active and informative programme. This will be presented by the co-ordinators and specialists in a variety of fields through information documents and videos etc. The week will cover the topics below and includes a number of inter-active excursions:

    * History of South Africa and understanding Apartheid and the dawn of a new democracy
    * Socio-political developments in SA
    * Introduction to your volunteer programme: Expectations and understanding
    * Introduction to basic Xhosa language and understanding local customs and norms
    * The fragile eco-systems of estuaries, rocky shores marine life and coastal systems
    * Floral diversity of the Eastern Cape
    * Various excursions, which include a 4x4 adventure, which ends in a rural Xhosa village where you will spend one night, coastal hike, estuarine exploration, bush walks and ocean excursion on a motorised boat

Highlights: As a volunteer you will work as an integral part of the team on a range of activities; you will be involved in the rehabilitation of abused horses and their everyday care. You will be rewarded for your support with enjoyable trail rides along the spectacular Wild Coast.

A typical day on the project will vary considerably and involve some hard work, but also fantastic opportunities.

The work will include:

    * Feeding farm and trail horses
    * Mixing feed for farm and trail horses
    * Grooming, lunging, exercising and schooling work with the horses
    * Checking the horses, ensuring that there are no problems
    * Checking water troughs, ensuring that they are clean and full Go to see the beautiful scenery of the Kei Cuttings and meet some of the emerging farmers
    * Beach riding trails

Cost in US$: from $1489

Experience Required: no

This Program is open to Worldwide Participants.

Application Process Involves:

• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Other
• Written Application

Real Gap Experience's Mission Statement: We are ambitious for our company, our partners and the communities in which we work. We take our responsibilities seriously - understanding that the development of our business impacts directly on our partners, the communities that we visit and work with and that ultimately, our success is their success too.