My experience with Save China'sTigers
By Volunteer Marc Andre Siebenborn
On the 10th of December 2009 my brother and I finally took our long awaited flight to South Africa. After having flown to Johannesburg, we took a connecting flight to Bloemfontein to be greeted and welcomed by the Save China’s Tigers’ operation team.
we stopped at the supermarket to buy groceries for us for the whole week. As the reserve is so remote, and a drive to Bloemfontein taking up to 2 hours, Vivienne, part of the team, used the opportunity to buy stock up for herself and the reserve too.
Two hours later, we finally arrived at the Laohu Valley Reserve!!
And what a place it is, absolutely incredible. A huge sign and gate greet you before entering. Once inside and you keep driving through the reserve, you realize just how gigantic the reserve really is. It even has its own river flowing through it. We imagined it to be big, but it really overwhelmed us. In addition to that it is also so remote and solitary! The only ones who live in the reserve are the reserve manager including his family, and Vivienne, who takes care of the Tigers. All of whom are extremely friendly and forthcoming and helped us really enjoy our week there.
The first thing we did when we arrived was to go straight to the tigers. Words can not express how impressed my brother and I were when we saw them. You can just imagine what a perfect natural predator they are. They are so powerful, yet all their movements seem so elegant and controlled. And they are so beautiful and sweet; sometimes it is hard to imagine that these animals can be suchefficient killers.. It seems they are the beauty and beast in one person.
After having settled in the first night, our usual day looked like this: We woke up at around 5 am, got ourselves ready and had breakfast before Vivienne picked us up at 5.30 a.m. The fact that the sun rises the same time and temperatures were already about 15 C plus really helps you wake up and get used to the time change. Then, the first thing we always did was to check on the Tigers. There were 9 in total, fenced in different areas, all connected via gates. The areas range from one to a 100 hectare. The 40ha and 100 hectares being the biggest, used for Tigers to learn how to hunt.
Following the observations of the Tigers, we usually went back to our lodge at around 9 am, for second breakfast. Then we waited for Hein, the reserve manager, to pick us up and help him with his daily tasks. These included maintaining the roads, shooting prey for the tigers, maintaining fence work, preparing the meat for the tigers etc. Our favorite was definitely to see the Reserve Manager hunting food for those tigers who are not in the hunting camp; sometimes we followed the prey up to an hour until we were in the perfect position.. Sometimes we also spent the day with Vivienne and did things like cleaning out the Tiger's camps, or we took a drive around the reserve. Which, given its sheer size, can take up to a whole day. Lunch we spent back at our lodge, after which we continued to help Hein and Vivienne with whatever they needed until the end of the day.
Usually at around 6 pm we were back in our lodge to prepare dinner. At around 7 pm the sun usually set.
In regards to accommodation we were both really impressed. Even though we only had electricity for a few hours a day, no internet, and no mobile phone reception, I have to say that we really didn’t miss it. Apart from that, the kitchen, bathrooms and bedrooms were all spotless and superb for a so called "volunteer program" in Africa. I am extremely certain that such good accommodation won’t be found in many other charitable foundations in South Africa. And it really makes the stay a lot nicer when you can prepare food on clean surfaces and have a "hot" shower in the morning.
Overall I have to say that I would and probably will go again. And everyone who is still contemplating about whether to go I can only recommend to do so. The Tigers alone are worth the journey, besides the amazing personal experience you will have yourself. Furthermore, it also erased any concerns I had left in regards to where my money goes and how efficient the charity is. Nothing is being wasted at Save China’s Tigers and I am glad to be a part of it. I am really happy I went, and I wish that more people take this opportunity and experience it for themselves.