MY TWO WEEKS IN SOUTH AFRICA
by Jennifer London
October 2019 Conservation Photography Volunteer
I stumbled upon Wild Tomorrow Fund quite randomly. I was getting out of work one June evening in New York City, when a friend had an extra ticket to a comedy show event to raise funds for Wild Tomorrow Fund (WTF). It was a fun evening and while there, the host mentioned an upcoming volunteer trip that they were running. I had never been on a safari before. It was a bucket list item and all my friends who would go on safari already had. As an animal lover, and sometimes volunteer, I went to WTF’s website the next day to see what their trips were about. I was very intrigued by the photography conservation trip that was leaving in a couple of month’s time in October. I already had two international trips booked before and after, but I sell real estate and it had been a good year. My gut was telling me to go! I rationalized it by saying I’d be learning photography skills that would be useful for my real estate business, in addition to the donation portion of the trip costs that are also a tax deduction. Later that day I called them to ask if a novice, who didn’t own anything other than a point and shoot camera, would fit in. John Steward, one of the co-founders, didn’t hesitate to ease my concerns and promptly offered me the use of his camera for the duration of the trip. He and his wife, Wendy Hapgood, another co-founder, answered every question I had and made me feel so welcome. So I decided to sign up!
Photographing a wildebeest jumping out to its new home at Wild Tomorrow Fund’s Ukuwela Reserve
I missed the pre-trip meet and greet lunch but once settled in South Africa, I could see we had a diverse group of folks, all with varied levels of photography skills and joke-making abilities! Charles Chessler, the photography teacher, passed on lots of tips and tools that I grasped and put into use as the days went on. The others in the group also collaborated and shared information in a nurturing capacity. I felt that we all wanted each other to succeed in getting great photos and sharing a great experience to then share with our friends and family on social media. I think I speak for the group in saying that we were, and are, all in awe of what John, Wendy and the two other on-site, hands-on co-founders, Clinton Wright and Axel Hunnicutt, are accomplishing at their two reserves, Ukuwela and Mfuleni. They care deeply about conservation and the well-being of the animals as well as the community surrounding their reserves.
Our group together with Les Carlisle, who Wild Tomorrow Fund honored at their Gala in November for his contributions to conservation. This is at the outdoor deck where we had breakfast at the stunning Bayala Private Game Reserve.
Printing the kids’ photos was a team effort! The kids loved to see their pictures printed color by color on the mini photo printer. For many of the kids, it was the first and only printed photo of themselves.
I personally had more than a few highlights, but one major one was my visit to a rhino orphanage. The rhinos are orphans because their mothers were most likely poached for their horn, which while valuable to some, is really worthless to humans. The 24-hour care that goes into raising these rhinos is astounding. These babies do not get the chance to nurse and therefore are smaller than they would be in the wild, and have compromised immune systems. I fed them protein formula from a bottle and the connection was real. (I drink protein shakes too but I don’t think that’s why!) Eventually, they will be released back to the wild when they are old enough to take care of themselves.
Two of the rhino orphans we visited. Resting close to each other with full bellies after breakfast!
Moomin, one of the two orphaned hippos we met at the rhino orphanage.
We also got to participate in a rhino dehorning, which at the reserve we visited, had reduced the chance of them being poached by 96%. I will never forget the information session the night before where we were shown how a poacher chainsawed the face of a live rhino just to get this horn - shocking, disturbing and worst of all, senseless! To me, these animals are in critical need of protection. The rhino orphanage also had two baby hippos, one of which, Charlie, needs twice daily medical treatments for skin lesions caused by a weakened immune system. I wished I could take him home but what I can do is donate to them through Wild Tomorrow Fund, which I encourage all who are reading to do and then talk about it and share on social media, posting the www.wildtomorrowfund.org/contribute link. The work these dedicated and selfless caregivers do is incredible!
The other highlight came as a surprise. I thought it would be the game drives to see wildlife on safari. While totally awesome, were not as important as seeing the community center and daycare facility that WTF sponsors, along with the kids they help by providing food, clothes, toys and supporting the teachers. During our visit we took photos of the kids and printed a copy for each child to take home. They got such enjoyment out of seeing themselves and each other. The younger kids had lots of fun with my cell phone, taking photos and looking through the video viewfinder - we definitely have some budding photographers and videographers in the mix!
To be honest, I’m not a “kid person” and although it took me about 20 minutes to warm up (AKA loosen up), by the end, the kids were hugging me, holding my hand and wanting pictures together. And it wasn’t just me. Our group played soccer and catch, showed them tricks, they laughed and bonded and really made a difference.
I could go on and on but if this sounds remotely interesting, I would encourage you to sign up for one of WTF’s volunteer trips yourself. See firsthand how they spend their money and see how much a little can do for a lot of animals and people. $35 can support a teacher by paying their monthly stipend, or just $150 will feed 30 kids for a month! If you want an experience of a lifetime, this is an ideal way to give back while doing it, and again, about half the trip’s cost goes directly to WTF’s efforts and is tax deductible - need I say more?
Wendy Hapgood from Wild Tomorrow Fund, printing photos for the kids.
We were able to experience bird banding, and this kingfisher played dead while in fellow volunteer Lesa’s gentle hand, before flying away.
As for me, I always knew I liked photography. My great grandfather was a professional photographer in New York City at the turn of the 19th century. It was always a passing thought until this trip, and it has changed my life. I used to pursue a music career and for the last few years I had felt like something was missing. Music became bittersweet and there was a creative void left in my heart. After being exposed to the idea of photography as a hobby, I feel I’ve found a new creative outlet that I’m truly excited about, one that I will continue for years to come, and one I might even use at Ukuwela again in the future!
Through this trip, I not only found a new piece of myself, I found new friends and new causes to care about. We are all changed, and all better because of it. #WTFTripOfALifetime
An incredible cheetah sighting, eating a fresh impala kill, right at the driveway to the rhino orphanage.
At Bayala, our towels in our rooms created a special welcome!