The WWISA Experience

I was looking for an opportunity to work with dolphins when I came across WWISA's webpage. I always wanted to see South Africa, so the chance for a affordable way to combine these two passions without taking work away from locals almost seemed too good to be true. Family and friends were very worried about my safety in "the land of crime and HIV", but after mailing with Fred I made up my mind and got on the plane. I must say I was very relieved when Fred and Rocky meet me in the airport. They were real!-After all you have to trust complete strangers to do this.

I was supposed to spend a couple of days at Rocky Road before I went to Bayworld in Port Elizabeth to work with dolphins. Two days before I was going there, the frontpage on the newspaper was about ticket sale fraud at Bayworld. Several staff members was involved and an in-depth investigation was launched by the police. They still wanted me to come, but after a talk with Fred and Rocky I decided not to go. The atmosphere there would just be too gloomy.

Two days later I was breaking horses in,- or starting them as I prefer to call it. The horses had never been handled (-and probably never would have been), so there was plenty to do. They didn´t have a bed for me at the horse place, so I stayed at Rocky Road and was driven to work every day. Because of my interest for dolphins and other marine life, WWISA arranged for me to spend some time at the Center for Dolphin Studies and Ocean Safaris, where I had some great days.

Every weekend the volunteers that works in the area gathers and goes swimming at the beach, waterskiing at Keurbooms river or just hang out with a beer in the cozy garden at Rocky Road.

Fred and Rocky makes you feel at home right away and are there for both support and fun all the time. Whether you want to see elephants or do bungy jump WWISA are there to make it happen.

The country is beautiful, the wildlife fascinating, the culture interesting and the people friendly. Mix it all together and you get fantastic experiences. My stay didn't turned out the way I planned it at all, but my only regret is that I didn't stay longer. - I guess I'll just have to come back some day.....

Mie J. Hansen

Denmark

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