Catherine Antrobus

Catherine Antrobus accounts her experience volunteering in South Africa with Cheetah Outreach

I have returned from my volunteer placement with Cheetah Outreach in South Africa, it was the best experience of my life I had a brilliant time. The staff are really nice to work for and they make you feel at home. I have learnt so much there and found it very rewarding

When you first arrive its all about getting to know the place the staff and the cheetahs because until you know and feel comfortable with the cheetahs and they feel comfortable with you, you can't have much contact with them, so you have to be very patient it all comes with time. How long it takes varies from person to person. Once I had settled in, the jobs I did were as follows:

Greeting and talking to the guests
Working in the shop
Fetching and chopping the meat
Cleaning enclosures like doing a poo round
Changing the water in the enclosures
Feeding the dogs, Merlin the Anatolian Sheperd and Sukie the Border Collie
Taking the dogs to their enclosure for the day
Briefing and Taking guests in to meet the Cheetahs
Assist staff in taking the Cheetahs to a function
Showing guests around the compound

Thanks again for your help, I am home for three months until August then I am going to Botswana to help with a cheetah project there. I am hoping to get into wildlife conservation long term, it is the career path I want to follow - can't wait!

Thanks again for everything,
Catherine Antrobus, Congleton, Cheshire, UK