Zimbabwe. What an amazing study abroad experience. From lions to elephants to hyenas and all the other animal interactions in between; it was the trip of a lifetime. First, we started with disembarking the tiny plane in the Harare airport to then travel to our first destination: Mt. Pleasant BnB. Here, we met our wonderful and informative EDU Africa facilitators: Yami, Taps, and Ted, who would conduct our orientation and guide us for the duration of the trip. While in Harare, we visited the University of Zimbabwe veterinary department and completed a tour of their facilities. We learned so much about how the veterinary program works and how they conduct veterinary medicine which really opened our eyes up to how our culture and access to supplies and equipment differs from theirs. From there, we met our EDU program coordinator: Barry, who worked with Taps to create a traditional African dinner for us at his home. We then moved on from Harare towards Gweru but on the way, we stopped at the Makera Cattle Company and learned about the importance of cattle farming to the Zimbabwean people’s way of life and their economy.

With a warm welcome to Antelope Park, we began our main adventure. After multiple presentations by Iri and staff, we learned how to do game counts and snare sweeps in the field and why they are so important to conservation and anti-poaching tactics. While there, we gave parasite dewormers and applied tick prevention to lions, learned about and worked with the elephants and snakes they have on site, did some horseback riding with the plains game, and were able to see the pride dynamics of lions during feeding time. We even had a presentation by Dr. Gemma Campling with Worldwide Vets on how she does medical procedures in the bush and her recent experience moving lions from enclosures in the danger zones in Ukraine.

On our way out of Gweru, we stopped at the Free to be Wild conservation where they rehabilitate injured wildlife for release back into the wild and were able to get very close to multiple primates, zebras, bushbucks, and giraffes. We then made our way to Hwange and found ourselves at the Iganyana Tented Camp which was completely open to the African Bush. Here, Terry was a great guide on teaching us more about animal tracks and animal behavior and we also had a great presentation by Paul De Montille of D.A.R.T. (Dete Animal Rescue Trust) who explained how it is to sedate wild animals for medical and relocation purposes as a licensed D.A.R.T. conservationist. The rest of our time there was spent going on game drives into Hwange National Park or watching wild elephants and other plains game like sables, impala, and baboons visit the on-site pool and watering hole.

After leaving Iganyana, we stopped by the Painted Dog Conservation and learned about how they are trying to keep this critically endangered species protected from the dangers of human-wildlife conflict. Then, we arrived in Fuller Forest Volunteer Village near Victoria Falls and we conducted some nighttime game drives and game counts, listened to a presentation by Dr. Norman Monks of ALERT (African Lion & Environment Research Trust), and some of us went white water rafting on the Zambezi River. While there, we even had the opportunity to really use our veterinary technician skills as we helped with three hyenas in the conservation that needed to be darted, monitored under sedation, sexed, have blood drawn, given rabies vaccines, and relocated to another enclosure.

After a few days there, we moved into Lokuthula Lodges in Victoria Falls and were able to visit the city to do some shopping, see the wonder of Victoria Falls itself, and enjoy a cultural BOMA dinner and drum show. With some extra time added on, I even went over the border to Chobe National Forest in Botswana and had even more memorable wildlife encounters before taking the long flights back home to Florida.

None of the wildlife encounters I had during this trip would’ve been possible without the hard work of all those doing veterinary care, conservation and anti-poaching efforts in Zimbabwe.

Would I go back to Zimbabwe for another study abroad trip? Absolutely.

– Kimberly , SPC Zimbabwe Vet Tech Program, June 2022