Well that didn't go as expected

Well our volunteer experience at Imire in Zimbabwe didn't go nearly as we had hoped. We disagree with the organization's standard of animal care - I cried or nearly cried every day we left our activities on the "reserve." Imire does a lot of good for the local community and I realize that my utopian ideals for wildlife may be somewhat unrealistic, especially given the high risk of poaching and the political and economic turmoil in Zim. There are some logical reasons for most of the treatment and some positive goals for the future, but I certainly wish the elephants, rhinos and other animals there were able to be wild and undisturbed, not locked in pens or tied up by chains.

We did meet some great people though and certainly had some fun once we were at the volunteer house, doing team building games and eating so much good food. Learning about Shona culture was wonderful and the local staff like Trymore were really wonderful.

I always hate quitting things I've committed to and certainly feel guilty given the money we spent to do this part of our trip, but staying another week was with the animal treatment, plague of bugs at night and bats with questionable diseases flying in our bedroom was just too much for us. Leaving was a hard, expensive decision that I struggled to make but in retrospect sooo thankful and happy we did.Read more