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Visit ORCA Foundation's website to learn more about their programs abroad
Overview
Overview
The Orca Foundation is part of a volunteer community dedicated to marine conservation in South Africa, and like many conservation projects depends on the willingness of others to contribute their time and dedication to furthering the volunteer and conservation ethics that go hand in hand for a better future.
Our Game Plan
To raise awareness for and interest in marine conservation issues. We do this by regularly keeping up to date with research projects that support protection and rehabilitation of bio-diversity and responsible socio-economic development in Plettenberg Bay, as well as by educating locals and foreigners alike on the principles of conservation.
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Freo
30 Dec 2016
In almost two years volunteering in south africa nothing disappointed me more than ORCA foundation. For the extremelly high cost, you might think you're going out on a boat very...Read more
In almost two years volunteering in south africa nothing disappointed me more than ORCA foundation.
For the extremelly high cost, you might think you're going out on a boat very often, but that's not the case. ORCA doesn't own a boat. Volunteers can join a tourist company whale watching boat, depending on availability, as they priorize their customers. Activities on board would be mainly caring for the well being of customers, including assistance for the sea sick ones. There's pratically zero marine research activities on boat. And I must say, the companyOcean Blue Adventures can be quite unethical during their boat trips, and their actions can upset more sensitive volunteers.
As a volunteer you will be performing, most of your time, land based activities. The most common ones are:
Cleaning a fish tank at Ocean Blue,
long beach walks looking for shark eggs,
river quality research: by identifying macroinvertebrates in the water,
assisting at bird ringing,
trash collection and classification: literally measuring fragments of plastic found at the beach.
Assisting on township school: giving a class about any subject that will be translated by the teacher, reading a story, playing with them, serving lunch and washing the dishes. That's the routine at the school.
Other activities: orca will try to fit some other varied activities on their schedule once in a while. That could be helping on rehab centres or a private reserve. The activity though doesn't involve animals, only cleaning or building of enclosures or cutting alien trees.
ORCA can be a good program if you're looking for one week or two around the bay with different activities to keep you busy. The house managers are really nice and caring people and you can learn a lot from them. But the activities offered are definitely not worth the fee.
I strongly recommend for those interested in joining the program to take a look at the ORCA Activities manual available at the volunteer section in their website.