My 17yo DD wants to go to Africa to do wildlife conservation - how safe is it?

[Pickleperkins]

My DD is 17 and really wants to pursue a career in conservation. She has secured a travel award from school (a small amount - we need to cough up the remainder!) and wants to travel to Africa to spend 2 weeks on a wildlife conservation programme. I have read many mixed reviews about different companies and I am frankly scared for her safety. She isn't enormously streetwise (despite what she thinks) and the thought of what might go wrong is filling me with dread. Has anyone any positive experience of these type of programmes (particularly for under 18s) that they could recommend we look into? Thanks!

Friends DD went to Botswana after A levels (18) with an organised volunteering group - don't know who. It did cost about £3000 though. She went for a month to do things like school wall building, well walls, school vegetable garden etc... sounded like a mixed bag of tasks. She was very, very homesick, couldn't sleep because of all the strange noises, was very ill and lost a lot of weight. She's 22 now and although she looks back on as 'an experience' she really didn't enjoy it and says she wasn't mature enough or prepared for the culture shock.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and advice. I think I'm going to encourage her to use this award to find a volunteer opp closer to home and ficus on a trip to Africa as a longer term family goal

My DD did this with Gap 360. She went via Jo'burg to Mozambique to do Whale Shark conservation then onto more conservation work in Indonesia travelling alone. It was incredibly well managed and I didn't have any concerns about the conservation work. She was 17 when she left. She also travelled solo around Oz/NZ and Singapore. I think it was the making of her. She wasn't street savvy when she left but definitely was when she returned!

Local school my daughters went to (same year & friends with the girls)

Girls and female school teacher raped in front of the boys, boys and make school teacher beaten and held at gun point whilst attacks happened

They were in Ghana to help build a school!

I would get her to think through scenarios and how she would deal with them alone -what would you do if your room was full of giant spiders(mine was in Zim);what will you do if you can't manage the food and it's the same every night; what will you go when people ask you for money; what will you do if the toilets are covered in mess and flies and the floor covered in dead insects.the practical stuff rather than the imagined fun.
Also,could you go with her?
Or if looking in the UK maybe looe monkey sanctuary it's wonderful there!

if you stop her this year.. surely she’ll just go when she’s 18 whether you like it or not? Lots of research and discussions and hopefully you’ll be able to work something out? Good luck 🤞🏼

Just wanted to update!
So my 17 yo DD DID go to Africa for a conservation trip and loved it! She says she’s made friends for life and wants to save up and go again. She ended up travelling with Projects Abroad who host trips for 15-18s. She spent 2 weeks helping build a school, install eco stoves, monitoring wildlife, going in game drives and having the time of her life.
so glad she did it - albeit in a safely controlled way.

Yes, this - these kind of programmes are a “ jolly” - the teens attending them are really just having a holiday under the guise of “doing charitable work”.

She could just as easily volunteer in the U.K. for free - e.g. with the wild life trust - to give her a much more realistic idea of the kind of jobs that are available and what she needs to study to get there.

Go with your gut.

Ah well done to your daughter OP! Very brave and it sounds like it was an amazing experience for her. I was going to suggest South America as an alternative, although I cannot provide specific recommendations, I know there are similar organised wildlife support schemes over there. Such as turtles in Costs Rica.
Similarly, closer to home, in Europe there would definitely be some sort wolves or bears related projects and other wildlife.

No way would I let my DD travel there independently sorry. Who is collecting her? What are the board arrangements ?

It depends on where

Fantastic!
My dd did similar in Sri Lanka two years ago, then ended up travelling around Asia by herself for 7 months at 18…it really is life changing to travel so young x

Glad she had a nice trip. Better than a week partying in a grimy resort! But it's a million miles from real conservation work.

Yes. That’s true. But she’s only young and she had an amazing experience in a safe way and it’s the fire it lights in them that’s important…

Zimbabwe is one of the most beautiful countries on earth, and Zimbabweans are wonderful, gentle people.

My friend did similar and was very very ill with stomach upset and also was attempted raped by a colleague and had a huge snake in her home. I Wouldn’t let my daughter do it. This was on a famous branded gap year programme.

Mine did it for her gap year. Loved it. It's very safe.

I would be more concerned about the level of actual “conservation” that goes on, to be honest. Exactly how much use can a completely inexperienced 17 year old foreigner do in two weeks?

I do wonder about these extortionate trips abroad. I realise this is an old post but my questions for any teen wanting to do this kind of trip would be

what volunteering are the currently doing close to home?
Are they doing DofE or similar to gain appropriate skills that would help?
Do they have a part-time/holiday job to finance the trip or they expecting parents to pay?

Great for those who can afford it but there's plenty conservation volunteering opportunities here in the UK for those hoping to pursue a career in that field.

I traveled throughout Kenya on my own when I was only 22. I felt completely safe at all times.

Has she considered volunteering for a conservation project in this country? There is loads to do and she will be able to make a real difference.

I personally wouldn’t support my dd doing this at 17yo, my DDs also very interested in wildlife conservation and this year has done two volunteer programmes in Europe. Would your dd consider doing something a bit closer to home?

My dd went with IVHQ to Greece and Portugal.