I had a wonderfully warm welcome in St Lucia. The volunteer house where I stayed was spacious and all the staff friendly and helpful. The food was also very good and the cook catered for all our needs. Being a more mature person, I was concerned whether there would be a range of ages amongst the volunteers and I was pleasantly surprised that there were people of all ages from different parts of the world.
I was one of three people on the photographic and conservation project and this started with a fantastic but intensive 3 days with a professional wildlife photographer who was inspiring and great fun. The programme was well organised and there was always plenty to do from game drives, bush walks, volunteering at the Crocodile centre, visiting the other projects in the local village such as the Creche and orphanage and of course editing all those photos. The area is fantastic with many different eco-systems from beautiful beaches, sand dunes, lake and wetland etc. I also enjoyed the conservation project in the local village and with the local High school where we helped the children create a garden and build a compost. The local people were very welcoming and very happy to have our support.
There were great opportunities for weekends away too and I went to Kosi Bay and saw turtles hatching and also to Mozambique swimming with dolphins, but you could also relax at the house and pool and explore St Lucia.
I had wished that I had not been a complete beginner in photography as I feel I would have gained much more from the 3 days with the photographer and on reflection I would have chosen to do a course or two before embarking on the trip. Also for me as a beginner it was a slight
frustration that there was only a limited amount of photographic support for the rest of the month.
Overall though I had a fantastic time, met some wonderful people, saw some amazing wildlife and took a some great photos. I would rate my experience at 4.5 out of 5.
