Yomps, Adventure Travel Experiences

Horse Safari Work Experience, Karongwe
Full Itinerary

Experience a new aspect to equine work and management in a totally new and wild environment. Based deep in the heart of the South African lowveld, in a ‘Big Five’ game reserve, participants will be a back-up rider on horse safaris and help to manage a herd of 40 stunning safari horses, to gain a new perspective on horse work whilst creating the memories of a lifetime!

South Africa

Week 1 & 2 - Get to know your new colleagues, have your riding skills assessed, learn the equine expertise that are necessary to join horse safaris and join safaris with an already experienced backup rider to become accustomed to your duties, all whilst becoming familiar with your new South African wilderness surroundings

The first fortnight of this horse safari work experience trip is structured to give volunteers time to become used to their beautiful new environment and exciting new job: becoming familiar with the people, horse work, responsibilities of a back-up rider and general ‘Wait a Little’ routines. ‘Wait a Little’ horse safaris cater for small groups of experienced riders who come to the reserve for an experience of a lifetime. Therefore by joining this Yomps trip, you will gain fantastic equine work experience surrounded by people as enthusiastic as you about horses.

The adventure begins when your plane lands in either Hoedspruit or Phalaborwa Airport, from where a transfer will take you to Karongwe Game Reserve, based deep in the heart of the South African lowveld. After being greeted and shown to your quarters by a one of your colleagues, you will have time to settle in and acclimatise to your stunning new surroundings. Volunteers have their own individual rooms in the lodge, and share a communal bathroom with fellow volunteers. Mealtimes are communal: both the staff and guests dine together.

After being assessed, approved, trained and guided, volunteers will join trails with an existing backup guide, to get used to the ropes and learn the job without pressure. These trails take you through the Karongwe Game Reserve, which comprises of over 8,500 hectares of pristine African wilderness and is the home to a wide variety of flora, fauna and wildlife. Among the huge variety of species on the reserve you can hope to see bateleur eagles, hippo, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest and the ‘Magnificent Seven’ (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, rhino, cheetah and African wild dog).

A typical day involves volunteers’ rising early to a hot drink and rusks (a type of South African biscuit) before heading over to the stables to start the horses’ daily routine and prepare them for trails. As the back-up rider on the trails, you will assist Philip, the highly experience owner and guide, in ensuring the safety of the group throughout their riding and time at ‘Wait a Little’. You therefore need to be confident of your equine abilities under testing circumstances. The horses put a huge amount of trust in your team to overcome their natural flight reaction in large game encounters and it is this trusting partnership that allows ‘Wait a Little’ to offer the most phenomenal animal encounters in the South African bush, from close proximity.

As a member of the horse safari team, you will deal with clients on a day to day basis. It is therefore important that you are always well spoken and smartly presented as you will eat, sleep and socialise together.

Week 3 & Onwards - Become a fully-fledged member of the team, helping to ensure the smooth running of the ‘Wait a Little’ horse safari operation

Once you are a competent and confident backup rider you will ride once a day with a fellow volunteer, sharing the horse workload between you. When ‘Wait a Little’ is quiet, you can take the opportunity to join the research teams on the reserve to track predators, or explore the area slightly further afield by heading out of the reserve into the local towns and surrounding areas. There are a variety of interesting places to visit in the nearby area, such as Moholoholo (the reptile park) or the Blyde River Canyon.

Volunteers can also help care for the horses on a day to day basis, even during the periods that there are no guests. The horse’s health and wellbeing is of upmost importance to the horse safari lodge. Therefore, when you are not riding back-up out in the reserve, the time is used to ensure that the horses are maintained to the highest standards of veterinary care, stable duties and grooming. With 40 horses of different ages, temperaments and sizes, this is usually plenty of horse work to keep you occupied!

The Horse Safari Lodge - Wait A Little

Wait A Little Horse Safaris take their participants to some of the only locations on the planet that people can observe African wildlife in its natural environment, on horseback. The horse safari experiences that they offer their guests are for experienced riders who come to the reserve for the holiday of a lifetime, which ‘Wait a Little’ works very hard to make a reality. A few examples of the equine work roles and duties that volunteers can be expected to involved in at Wait A Little are listed below:

• Feed the horses according to assignment
• Prepare the horses for morning ride or training
• Brush down the horses when they are back from a trail / wash them down and check their hooves
• Put the horses away in the evenings
• Ensure that the riding group stays close together on rides
• Help the guests to maintain their riding styles
• Ride backup and help to ensure everyone has a safe ride

Volunteers are also welcome to have a riding lesson in the riding arena, under the supervision of Gerti, when there are no guests. If you would like to check out the Wait A Little website, then please select Wait A Little (opens in a new window).

Skills Required -

• Participants must be experienced and excellent riders
• You should have an open, friendly nature and a natural affinity for people to help to make your stay and theirs more memorable
• Only English style or classical riders will be accepted
• Our weight limit for students is 80kgs
• You are expected to be generally fit, as well as riding fit, as days can be long
• A minimum of eight years continued riding is required and we would expect you to be riding every day for six months prior to arrival in preparation for your stay with us; your riding ability is of the utmost importance and will be tested before you are allowed to accompany any safari
• We will prevent you from riding as backup if we do not feel that your abilities are sufficient, though obviously we are very reluctant to take this position
• ‘Wait a Little’ is multinational and the ability to speak other European languages is useful, although not essential for this horse safari work experience
• Volunteers must be prepared to work hard and as part of a team
• You must be able to put the clients needs before your own
• You must maintain a positive attitude
• You should be between 20 and 50 years of age (inclusive)

Extra Activities Available -

Please note that although the horse safari lodge will try their best to cater for some of these extra activities, they are limited by their time and availability.

• Volunteers are encouraged to take the time to visit nearby centres devoted to the breeding of rare species, the reptile park or the wildlife rehabilitation centres
• You may also have the chance to visit other local attractions, such as the Blyde River Canyon, or go hot air ballooning, white water rafting or walking with a lion cub! (These are during the quieter periods at ‘Wait a Little’)
• In addition to the practical equine experience, you will learn extensively about African ecology. The horse safari operation is staffed by a number of qualified Field Guides; study materials and a wide range of books are freely available
• Should you stay in March, June or October, then arrangements can be made for you to sit a basic level Field Guide exam
• There may be the opportunity to complete basic rifle handling with Philip and learn about conservation issues in Africa
• A team conducts daily research drives around the reserve to monitor the larger animals and facilitate with the reserve’s management. You are encouraged to join some of their drives and learn about using research to assist in the management of a private game reserve

Application Process -

At Yomps, we don’t just accept everyone that applies for a volunteering position. Every effort is made to ensure that the project is suitable for the volunteer and the volunteer is suitable for the project. On applying for the project you will be emailed an application questionnaire, which once completed will be sent to the volunteering project to be vetted prior to acceptance. Please note that it is a very popular programme and we therefore advise that you apply 12 to 18 months in advance.

- Malaria Awareness

Travelling to long-haul destinations can be a wonderful and exciting experience. Before you go, make sure you take the right travel advice about visiting Malaria risk countries. At Yomps, we are committed to stopping traveller deaths from malaria which is why we support the campaign being run by Malariahotspots.com. Click here to download our free guide about Malaria Awareness (opens in a new window).

Costs -

Applicants can join for periods of either two or three months. Please see below for the different costs. It is advisable to apply well in advance as there are only two positions available at any one time.

	Pound sterling (£)	US Dollar ($)	Euros (€)
2 months	1450	2,755	1,885
3 months	1650	3,135	2,145