If you're dreaming of taking a wildlife conservation holiday in the future, then Shamwari: A Wild Life can give you an insight as to what to expect on your stay. The TV show which appears on Animal Planet at 8pm on weeknights promises to give viewers an insight into 'The African Dream' by following the rangers in their attempts at wildlife conservation, and also the animals that make the reserve their home.
The first episode of the first series had a memorable start, as the series opened with footage of a white rhino pounding a pick-up truck. The white rhino had just been released into the wild, by wildlife conservationists, following medical attention, and decided that the pick-up truck was the perfect place in which to vent out his frustrations. Another episode saw Siobhan and Johan wrestling an eland antelope to the floor. As the animal was so fast it took a team of twenty people to wrestle it the ground, this involved a lot of running, to keep up with the antelope.
However, scenes like this are just a regular day at the office for Johan Joubert and the rest of the Shamwari crew. If you take a wildlife conservation holiday then you may even find yourself taking part in similar experiences. It is common for students to be called onto the reserve early or have their lessons interrupted when an animal at the reserve needs urgent attention. Johan has even been known to film several scenes of 'A Wild Life' in the Shamwari classroom, so if you answer that question on wildlife conservation particularly brilliantly you may even find yourself on television.
If you've seen episode seven, in which the Shamwari team tackled a mammoth white rhino into a large truck, then you could be forgiven for worrying about the prospect of taking a wildlife conservation holiday. However, there's no need to be cautious as the team at Shamwari won't let you take part in anything that you haven't been trained to do or which puts you at risk. No students took part in moving the charging rhino, and the staff that did had been trained and knew the necessary protocol to do the job correctly. That isn't to say that your wildlife conservation experience won't be hands-on, actually far from it. If you've studied as a vet in the UK and decide to make your wildlife conservation holiday, 'Vets Go Wild' you could find yourself administering medication to both small animals and treating large animals, whilst anesthetized of course.
In Episode sixteen, Lyndal, Peta-Lynn and Karla became 'mummys' to a cute baby elephant, named Themba. If you take your wildlife conservation holiday at the Shamwari Reserve then you could find yourself babysitting this very elephant overnight. Students at the reserve can take their sleeping bags and camp in his enclosure, waking up at regular intervals to bottle feed him. Mummying is also a big part of life at Moholoholo and students at the reserve could find themselves responsible for the day to day care of anything from a baby dussie to a boisterous baby rhino.
So tune into the series on a weeknight and begin to imagine what it is like to be on a wildlife conservation holiday. A year from now you could even see yourself on the other side of the screen.