The Lilongwe Wildlife Trust have introduced a new placement in Malawi’s top safari park, the beautiful Liwonde National Park.
Research volunteers take part in tracking and recording data on iconic species like lions, cheetahs and wild dogs. This is perfect for aspiring conservationists and wildlife lovers and for a limited time LWT are offering a 15% discount on any direct placemats booked and confirmed with them before 31 December. To find out more about the experience, take a look at the following blog from a recent volunteer there:
For someone whose only African experience to date had been a beachside package holiday to The Gambia, I had no idea what to expect from a biodiversity monitoring placement in the heart of a national park in Malawi. Like many people, I had dreamed of working with wildlife or in conservation as a child and, some twenty-five years later, decided to take a career break to travel.
I became aware of Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (LWT) through its partnership with The Born Free Foundation, an international wildlife charity I had long supported in the UK. Most of the people I spoke to back home had no idea where in the world Malawi is, but the more I read about it, the more I fell in love with the country before even stepping off the plane.
That’s not to say there wasn’t a culture shock – there certainly was. The heat, the dust, the bustle of town, the colourful clothes, the rhythmic babble of a foreign language. But the team at LWT were incredibly helpful at greeting me and settling me in. After a few days’ orientation in Lilongwe (which is surprisingly easy to navigate for a capital city), and a fascinating tour of Lilongwe Wildlife Centre, I set out on the four-hour drive to Liwonde National Park.
Coming straight from the commercial hub of London, my guest lodge in Lilongwe had seemed somewhat basic. In hindsight it felt all the more luxurious on arrival at the volunteer camp. But as I quickly came to learn, this is all part of the acclimatisation process in Malawi. As soon as I remembered I wasn’t in the UK anymore, I realised I had everything I needed – electricity, lights, a shower, gas stove, fridge – and felt completely at home with the team there. I was well looked after by the volunteer coordinator. If you’re lucky you’ll also get to meet the passionate Olivia (resident cheetah expert and head of research), and perhaps witness the skills of LWT’s Head Veterinarian, Dr. Amanda Salb, at work.
The research focus at Liwonde is the reintroduced carnivore population. A typical day of monitoring would consist of getting up around 5.30am, having a quick snack and coffee, and heading out for the first drive by 6am (when it is mercifully still cool). The success of the carnivore programme means that, for safety, Liwonde is a drive-only park (walking out is not permitted). So we would drive the park routes for four or five hours with the telemetry set, trying to pick up the radio signals of any collared individuals and follow them until we (hopefully) got a visual.
