Margaret Holding Conservation in South Africa

How does one write about the "Legodimo experience?"

As the first volunteer here, I was in for a few surprises.

I was met at the airport by a young man (Gerrit) who runs the project, whose enthusiasm for the reserve and his knowledge of the animals, birds and plants is very catching.

Arriving at our quarters just had the "wow" factor; built in the Botswana style, the cool bunk rooms, open kitchens, showers open to the sky and a Braai (BBQ), were all overlooking the Limpopo River. When I had arrived the view was obscured by bush and it was my first job to help cut these down, so that now everyone can sit by the Braai area and look down to the river.

My first day we took a packed lunch and sat in the truck by the water dam, there we watched elephants and warthogs coming to drink, the interaction between these two species was like a comic cartoon!

One evening as we sat by the fire a herd of about 100 elephant came within 50 metres of us, we sat transfixed for three hours watching these magnificent animals.

Visitors to the lodge include a genet and a porcupine - we encourage them to come by leaving food for them each evening.

There is a variety of work here - old fences to be dismantled, alien plants to be removed, roads to trim and the GPS mapping and naming of roads and hills in the reserve. I participated in all of this, interspersed with climbs up the hills to see bushman paintings and sunsets.

A visit to Mapungubwe Reserve in South Africa was another highlight to my stay, where we camped out and visited archaeological sites, saw wild dogs and their pups, as well as lions with their cubs.

Legodimo with its variety of animals and birds is truly paradise, as its name suggests when translated into English. I will never forget my first encounters with the elephants, the porcupine in the kitchen, the baby bush buck curled up asleep in the ladies toilet or the genet so close on a log eating the meat we had put out for it.

No, there is no electricity - just paraffin lamps, no instant showers but a fire under a drum (a donkey), no TV, just the quiet of paradise.

Margaret Holding

Back to Volunteer stories

Enjoying a birthday

Helping out at Mapungubwe

Home at Legidimo

Elephants at the water trough

Digging a mudhole for the elephants