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Welcome

 

Welcome to my adventures in South Africa, i arrived here in May 2008 and first visited the Kwazulu/natal area just outside of Durban, the project I went to had semi-wild monkeys around the property and it was a pleasure to see monkeys living a near natural life, however unfortunately in my opinion a volunteer programme there is not feasible due to the discustingly unclean living conditions and  unstable personality of the people running it. This is a shame considering that if it was run on a more professional line  It could be a great project, for this reason  I  have not disclosedt the name of the place but thought I would leave the information on the better side of my experience for you to read please feel free to contact me regarding the project.

I have been  based in Plettenberg Bay with Karin Saks who runs the Darwin Primate Group. This is a completley different experience where I am fortunate to be in the company of a very knowledgable person who is going to teach me a lot not only about Vervet monkeys but also Baboons.

The last leg of my journey has taken me to work with captive Baboons that hopefully when they reach about 4ys old will be able to be released, it has been interesting for me to see both sides of the Baboon, and this experience I am hoping will help me with the Asian Macaque. One thing I have observed is that Asia has its Baboon equivalent-the Macaques, sometimes called the Baboons of the East

South Africa has for me been a real challenge after my unfortunate start it left me with no paid accomodation and reliance on the kindness of Karin from Darwin Primate Group and Primates Africa and the Baboon Sanctuary to enable me to be able to stay in the country. I have ended up with great friends and an understanding of the difficulties that Africa’s animals face. I genuinely hope to return.