Animal Experience International

I chose Animal Experience International (AEI) to join the wild horse conservation program in Mongolia, which was an experience I will never forget. From day 1, we were able to hike up and down the Mongolian steppe in Hustai National Park, observing the behaviour and locating takhi horses (Takhi is the Mongolian name for Przewalski’s horses). I visited a local nomad family, attended a local nadaam festival, helped clean up the park by collecting rubbish and got to know beautiful local friends practising their English. The community welcomes you as their own at the ger camp.

Many rare and endangered wildlife sightings were a daily experience: takhi foals only days old!!!-AMAZING!!-, golden eagles, Mongolian Larks, and Mongolian marmots and the luckiest of sightings were a grey wolf in the wild. For horse lovers, I learnt so much about true herd horse behaviour, surrounded by the diverse fauna and flora of their native land. The protection of these horses has meant they have become an umbrella species where other rare and endangered bird and animal species are returning to the park.

Nora and Heather at AEI are professional; their support is fantastic and their experiences are thoroughly researched and prepared, for truly worthwhile animal conservation programs. The Mongolian experience was better than I could have hoped for. I highly recommend it for a trip of a life time.

I participated in the Elephant Rescue in Thailand experience which was located at the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. You can set up this experience directly through Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, however, I think going through AEI made the whole thing easier. Once you sign up for a trip with AEI AEI will contact you to set up a phone interview with you so that they can explain the trip in order to let you know what you are signing up for, this also gives you an opportunity to ask any questions you have. After this AEI sets up the experience for you, including rides to and from the airport. They are always there to answer any questions you may have before, during, and after your trip. AEI checks out every experience that they offer to ensure it is safe and ethical so by going through them you know that what you are participating in is ultimately good for the animals you are working with.

The elephant sanctuary was a lovely experience and I am so glad I got the chance to work closely with elephants in a place where the elephants were happy, well cared for, and where their well being was the number one priority.

My experience working with Nora from AEI was absolutely wonderful! I went to Costa Rica with a group, and we had a truly life-altering time. Before the trip, Nora contacted with our group via email and video calls. She answered any and all of our questions. During the trip, she stayed in touch with us to make sure everything was going well for us. AEI took care of planning every detail of our trip. The organization AEI connected us with, LAST, was incredible! We worked with sea turtles, helped to plant mangroves, and assisted with a spay and neuter clinic. We learned so much about conservation, and the entire group left feeling inspired to continue making positive changes in our own lives to help the environment. This trip would not have been possible without AEI. I highly recommend working with this company.

My trip to Costa Rica was unlike any other trip aboard I've experienced! Thanks to AEI, I had the best time and also gained so much valuable knowledge from this trip. I had assumed I would just being doing a lot of manual labor while in Costa Rica, but the education aspect of this program really helped me understand why the work was so important and needed to be done in the first place. LAST (Latin American Sea Turtles) was the organization that I worked with and because of them I was able to learn so much about sea turtles, their habitats, the ecosystem in the Osa Peninsula, and about the importance of conservation. Without AEI I'm sure I would've never found LAST or been able to plan a trip like this on my own, so I am very grateful for everyone at AEI who handled the logistics because everything went smoothly and I felt very safe and comfortable at all times.

I recently went on a trip to Costa Rica through AEI. This was an awesome trip, and I am thankful that AEI made it possible! Through their research and planning, we were able to work with an amazing organization (LAST), as well as experience a few days in an incredible eco-lodge, and a beautiful kayak trip. Every day was planned out for us already, and that made it possible for us to just wake up and follow that schedule without stress. If you want to work with animal organizations abroad but are not sure where to start, and want to ensure their legitimacy, booking a trip through AEI is a great idea.

AEI helped make my first abroad experience AMAZING! Appalachian State University's Walker College of Business created an opportunity for students to study Volunteer Tourism in Costa Rica. None of us had ever visited Costa Rica, but because we were in AEI's hands, we were well taken care of. We helped tag Sea Turtles, reforest Mangrove trees, and further sustainability efforts. Our experiences were unforgettable, and I would absolutely recommend learning more about AEI and all of their opportunities. Thank you AEI for allowing us to have a safe and exciting trip!