The Great Projects Avaliações 116

The Great Projects team is very friendly and supportive, and I had an amazing time at Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. I was impressed by professionalism and commitment of the team at the centre and it was great to be a part of it. The experience has given me a good understanding of wildlife rehabilitation process.

The Great Projects were really helpful in organising my recent trip to Namibia. They guided and supported me through the whole process from start to finish. Always on hand to help with any query I had. Would use this organisation again.

We had an incredible few days at the Matang wildlife centre. It’s very difficult to articulate how positive we felt about our experience but safe to say we loved it.

The highlights were the group. We felt very lucky to be with people who were so friendly, like-minded and easy-going. The group chat is still going!

A huge shoutout for Dom and Sam who couldn’t have been more welcoming and supportive during our stay. They are very special individuals and their commitment to the animals was inspiring.

It was very humbling supporting the animals and, despite their stories being very sobering, it felt very fulfilling contributing a small amount to keep them happy, healthy and safe.

Our only other feedback was that the work was hard. This was fine for us, but there were several members of the group who struggled and I think the nature of the tasks and how physically demanding they are could be more openly communicated. Also to note, we didn’t get the 2 days off mentioned on the website. This wasn’t an issue at all and our excursion day was spectacular, however I think this should also be more clearly highlighted for the people who only stay one week at the project.

Finally a huge thanks! We had a brilliant time and booking, paying and planning our trip was made so easy by Fran at the great projects. We‘re looking forward to the next one!

Volunteering with orangutans at Nyaru Menteng

Genuinely one of the best experiences of my life! The climate is hot, humid and be prepared to get sweaty, however the knowledge that the work we were doing and enrichment being prepared makes a difference to the orangutans waiting for their move to pre release islands makes it all worth while. The opportunity to see the animals up close is a real privilege and watching them return from forest school and play together was a personal highlight.

Excellent way to get behind the scenes on a 5-star game reserve. Really knowledgeable and passionate guides made it an outstanding experience. Can be hard work at times so need to be fit & healthy and ready for some manual labour, but well worth it for the access you have to the animals. Accommodation is reasonable (c3 star), I shared a room with another girl, but having your washing done weekly and all meals cooked for you is a treat. We saw the big 5 (minus leopard) on multiple occasions and had some very close encounters with these and other amazing wildlife of all shapes & sizes (from giraffe to dung beetles). Would highly recommend as a way to give back and learn, as well as escape and enjoy nature in a beautiful setting.

I had the best time on The Great Turtle project in Sri Lanka. The Great Projects were so supportive with the whole process. I would thoroughly recommend this company.

I had a wonderful time in Matang at The Great Orangutan Project. Dom and Sam were amazing, and it was truly a pleasure to learn from them and hear their stories! They are both incredibly helpful, fun and they are very passionate about their work. Everyone at the center is dedicated to animal welfare and it is clear they go to great lengths to ensure the health and safety of the animals in their care. You will stay right beside the center in simple accommodation, waking up to a chorus of Gibbons singing their hearts out. The group atmosphere is really lovely, where you share meals together and spend free-time enjoying the jungle as a group. The work includes some housekeeping in the morning and enrichment activities or maintenance in the afternoon. It is sweaty work, but thoroughly enjoyable! Tip: bring welly/ football socks and a proper rain poncho! You’ll have the best time, and you'll fall in love with the bears.

I had the best time at Samboja Lestari! I've loved orang utans since I was a kid so this was an absolute dream come true. I have also been making donations to BOS for a very long time so it was extra exciting and interesting to see and experience their work - and even help myself! I had super nice, fun and knowledgeable coordinators, I enjoyed working and spending time with them! There was a great itinerary with a good mix of hard and more relaxed labour as well as great planned group activities during free time. Even the hard physical labour was fun and there were always tasks for different levels of strength/endurance. The Samboja Lodge was a very nice accommodation with hotel perks like air conditioning, house keeping, three tasty cooked meals a day (even vegan for me!) and an affordable laundry service. I was also lucky to have a super nice and fun group of volunteers which made work as well as leisure way more enjoyable. The best part was definitely seeing orang utans every day, especially from the boat at feeding time on the islands of the non releasebles (the biggest treat for everyone of us). Also, even though I came for the orang utans, I got to know the sunbears and ended up loving them as well! I'm already looking into the other projects because I was so happy with everything. I would definitely recommend The Great Projects and this project in particular to anyone who loves orang utans and also would like to experience a country in a different and in my opinion more meaningful way than just as a tourist. In addition, the Great Projects office was always super helpful whenever I had any questions beforehand and answered my emails very quickly!

The Great Projects are amazing! I’m a 56 year old female who recently spent a month inSouth Africa, first week was spent at Amakhala and then 3 weeks at Kariega, I was so very nervous, it was my first time ever doing anything like this, first time travelling on my own too. The Great Projects were always at the end of the phone whatever time I needed them, and they always answered emails within half an hour, even out of hours. I cannot thank them enough for all their hard work and for being there for me, even though I must have come across as a pain sometimes with my constant questions and concerns. I had nothing at all to worry about and the experience I had in South Africa was truly life changing, I cannot rate this company any higher, amazing from start to finish and I’m already looking at booking my next project with them, special thanks to Joel, and then to Michael x

I went on the Great Projects Gorilla trip, and it was truly amazing. So much so that I booked again on this wonderful trip to Uganda. It influenced me to also raise funds and build a school and orphanage in Nteko, near Kisoro (bwindiproject.org). Seeing gorillas in the wild, visiting schools, helping with a cycle cinema, chimpanzee trek, safari, boat trip, planting trees, all a part of a great trip. I recommend joining Great Projects, and feel the real country that you visit.

Thank you to Joel for all your help with my trip to Namibia! I know I had a lot of questions so thanks for getting back to me so quickly and for all your advice. Highly recommend and thanks again!!

I am writing this review to prompt the Great Projects to have a better refund policy under pandemic and emergency situations and to expand their policies to include the welfare of volunteers and the local regulations of the country of their residence.

I had registered for a volunteering trip in April. During the Covid-19 pandemic in early March, my country of residence issued a release of advising against travelling and quarantine for anyone who would return from travel. Additionally, as flights all around was constantly being changed and canceled, I was afraid to travel and being stranded in addition of the risk of getting the virus.

I contacted the Great Projects to cancel my trip, not by choice, rather by the government recommended health measures of my place of residence and requested a full refund. I spoke to both Nikita and the manager where they said that they do not follow any other countries laws or regulations except UK and WHO and unless they have a travel ban, then they will not refund. As I had a month notice, be it half-luck on my side, they only refunded half of the fees.

As they operate on such an International scale and having different projects all around the globe, it is amazing to me that they have complete disregard to the situation of the volunteers. The manager further confirmed that the same had happened during the Sri Lanka bombings to Australians, that even though the Australians authorities had warned their residents of not travelling there, it seems that they had been ignored and The Great Projects had only followed the UK recommendations and had not refunded.

The short sided vision seems to completely disrespect the health measures enforced by residence countries of the volunteers and what I feel is a complete disregard to the safety of volunteers.

The (not so) Great White Shark Conservation Project

Briefly, the “Great Projects” has terrible service. The company’s mission is laudable, however, lost it in the rush to add too many programs and make money. The great white sharks South African program may be alright for teenagers or untrained/moderately trained, budget conscious college or possibly even graduate students seeking a thrill and a travel opportunity, however, if you are well educated, have a profession that you are taking time from in order to obtain a real opportunity to volunteer in a way that allows you to truly give back and assist constructively with shark conservation and/or if you are looking for a more meaningful level of education about shark conservation, then this program is NOT for you. At its essence, this is a themed sleep-away camp for young people on a budget.

In more detail, the “Great Projects” promises you services consisting of training in shark biology and conservation, cage diving, data collection, training in basic seamanship, and much more. Delivery is pretty hit-or-miss and really depends on luck. If the weather is bad, as it often is (when I went, the group before me had just experienced 4 “no sea” days during which time several told me they were bored out of their skulls and I myself experienced only two “sea days” the entire time I was there and never got to get in the cage, despite the program’s guarantee) the volunteers are mostly left in their “cottages” with massive amounts of downtime and nothing to do. When I was there, the project intern would take people out to drink, smoke and dance at the local pub. While this can be fun, it’s not why I volunteered and contributed nothing toward the shark conservation mission. **Note to parents of high school kids: be sure you trust your teen and that she or he can handle him/herself because the intern and the volunteer program coordinator try to be “friends,” not guidance counsellors or mentors or babysitters or teachers. The intern took underage kids illegally to the pub and encouraged them to drink. The program coordinator, Jessica McMasters, regaled a group of two young volunteers with stories about how she used to party and do cocaine all the time. These 17-20 year olds look up to the 38-year-old volunteer coordinator. Just keep in mind that the level of professionalism and maturity from the two people charged with coordinating and overseeing the volunteers - the intern and the volunteer coordinator - is very low. Will your teens like them? Probably yes because they may seem very fun and let them do all the things parents might not. Will people older than 25 like them? Maybe but I think much less likely if they’re professionals. Depends where you are in your life.** The company comes across like just one more in the sea of semi-ethical companies capitalising on well meaning people, taking their labour and money.

Breaking it down some more:

1. The Training

The entire time I was there, I got one lecture from the marine biologist. It was quite decent and he was a smart, interesting man, but that was it. Another volunteer who is studying biology in the UK created an ad hoc lecture on ocean pollution for us at the request of the volunteer coordinator because there was literally nothing else to do. The boat crew did give an excellent basic training on seamanship for those unfamiliar with all things nautical. That training takes only an afternoon and is done. For the majority of the time, the volunteers are hanging out in their “cottage” or washing wetsuits or cleaning the boat. There is very minimal education. Again, fine for high school students or even low level college students or grad students without much biology training. If you want to learn how to wash a wetsuit, though, you will definitely learn that. If you’re lucky to have good weather and be at sea regularly, without having to rely on the volunteer coordinator, you may have a very good time. But that will be based on luck.

2. The Lodging and Food

Expect bare bones. The bathroom in the upper cottage had black mold colonies growing on the walls, a toilet permanently stained, paint peeling off the shower floors, and was unheated. If you go in the winter, expect it to be freezing and pack accordingly. The lower cottage has two bedrooms and the upper cottage three, which are fairly dirty and have twin-size bunk beds in them to dorm everyone up. They provide a pillow and one coverlet. They do not provide towels. Nobody goes on this project expecting The Ritz so it’s fine, but don’t expect anything too nice. The breakfast foods provided are milk, inexpensive bulk cereal and white bread. If you are vegan, you will have to go and buy your own food. If you’re lucky enough to go out on the boat, they will have water, crisps (with dairy - sorry vegans) and peanut butter sandwiches. Other than that, food-wise, you’re on your own. Good luck.

3. Location and Poaching

You’ll be at 16 Geelbek Street in Gansbaai, South Africa. 7220. It is a small touristy town with several shark cage diving companies, one of which you’ll be working for, washing wetsuits and cleaning the boat. There is very little nightlife. There is one restaurant within walking distance. It’s beautiful for all ocean and nature lovers. Sadly, the first thing the project intern, “Frankie,” informed us of was that it’s unsafe to go out alone after dark because of, according to her, an abundance of poachers who will threaten and even physically harm anyone they perceive to be watching them too closely. The intern stated there are many, many poachers who collect abalone illegally every night and that the local police are paid off to look the other way. I suggested reporting the poaching to a level above the local police if, as the intern said, they were all corrupt. She advised us not to report the poaching and that it’s the “Great Projects” policy not to interfere with poaching, which was surprising and disturbing. I reported the poaching to a third party watchdog group anyway and, a week later, was told by a Cape Town resident that arrests for poaching were made in Gansbaai. Coincidence? And why didn’t the staff of the “Great Projects” do that from the start? How can you say you support and promote marine conservation yet turn a blind eye to poaching and actively dissuade others from reporting it? Hmmmm.

4. Who Will the Other Volunteers Be?

Based on my experience and talking to others after the fact, the volunteers are majority female, white, teens to early 20’s. They tend to be majority from the UK, and most seem to be smokers. Most have lower educational and income levels (this is to be expected as the majority are very young). Based on what others told me, volunteers over 30 and volunteers who are professionals tend not to fare well with the project, partly due to the immaturity of the intern and volunteer coordinator and partly due to the lack of organisational structure/cohesion and partly due to the fact they’re bunking with excitable kids that may be their own kids’ ages. Jessica, the volunteer coordinator, told me of two recent examples - a 60 year old man named Graham (correct name?) who left the program early and a 45-year-old roman named Ruth who was ostracised and bullied by the intern and had a very tough time as well. While I was there, though, even the teens had had it. At least three people under the age of 25 also left the program early.

5. Race

As mentioned above, volunteers appear to be predominantly white. When I was there I was the only person of colour and did feel a bit of an outsider. The staffers dealing directly with the volunteers from authority positions such as the volunteer coordinator, Jessica McMasters, and her intern, were also white and British. The only black South Africans I met on the project (who, by the way, were all lovely and the bright shining positive part of the program) were working in labourer positions, not authority positions. I asked the volunteer coordinator about this and she complained that “90% of all the jobs have to go the blacks” and that it’s “very hard” to be a white person in South Africa. I was flabbergasted by her commentary. You can draw your own conclusions.

6. Most importantly, will you actually help sharks and aid in shark conservation?

Sadly, my personal experience was that I did not feel I had the opportunity to actually help sharks or aid in shark conservation. Because I was left alone to my own devices the majority of the time, I felt pretty useless. I offered to help with anything from data entry and collection to shark observation, but was mostly ignored. The two times the boat actually went out, we didn’t cage dive or take data. I do think there’s a potential for a great experience if you have luck and don’t need to rely on the volunteer coordinator. If you go when the weather is good and can get out on the boat frequently and really observe the sharks and collect data, you might have an eye-opening experience. Sadly, that didn’t happen for me. When I was there, instead of using all the downtime to educate the volunteers on other ways to educate the public about shark conservation or take other constructive measure to help sharks (which you can do without needing to be on a boat), the volunteers were either left alone with nothing to do or the intern took people to the pub or the volunteer coordinator would arrange some sort of typically touristy excursion. If you are 17 and have never traveled before or if you’re older and on a serious budget and have never had these touristy experiences, they will likely be fun for you. If you are already well traveled and came to the program as a means to really throw yourself into shark conservation for two weeks to give back to the community and not to holiday, you will feel like it’s been quite a waste of time.