Volunteer Zimbabwe Working Holidays

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Zimbabwe Working Holidays

A Roots And Boots Experience

Cawston offers you the chance to roll up your sleeves, dive into ranch life, and truly connect with Zimbabwe working holidays — with wildlife, wild spaces, and local communities.

Looking for a meaningful African adventure that goes beyond the usual safari? Our wildlife conservation volunteer program in Zimbabwe offers you the chance to live and work on a real African wildlife reserve.

Whether you’re here for the horses, the bush, or the chance to make a meaningful impact, this is your invitation to live the rhythm of a working wildlife reserve. No special skills needed — just a love of the outdoors, a “can do” attitude, and a willingness to get involved.

Get your boots on and come join us!

What You’ll Do

Our wildlife volunteers take part in the real, everyday work that keeps the reserve thriving. Each day brings something different, and no two days are the same, whether it’s:

  • Assisting with wildlife research such as tracking and trail camera setups
  • Helping care for and exercise our horses
  • Feeding farm animals, fixing fences, or learning to drive a tractor
  • Cattle herding on horseback across the African landscape
  • Removing invasive plants and learning about ecological management
  • Joining elephant care and enrichment routines
  • Supporting the local school — reading with kids or coaching sports
  • Getting involved in helping us provide field-to-table food
  • Assisting in anti-poaching activities such as snare sweeps
  • Experiencing our anti-poaching operations

This is a hands-on, fully immersive wildlife volunteer experience. You don’t need prior skills to take part in our volunteer Zimbabwe working holidays. We’ll show you the ropes!  Learn new skills, make lasting connections, and create stories worth telling.

Why Volunteer at Cawston?

By joining our wildlife and community volunteer project in Zimbabwe, you’ll be:

  • Supporting ethical land management
  • Contributing to wildlife research
  • Promoting education and local empowerment
  • Helping preserve Zimbabwe’s incredible biodiversity

Our Zimbabwe Volunteer Opportunities Are Open To:

  • Gap year students and career-breakers looking for purposeful travel
  • Horse lovers and riders seeking a unique horseback volunteer program in Africa
  • Families who want to connect with each other and volunteer in nature and conservation work
  • Nature enthusiasts who want to get their boots dirty in real-world scenarios

If you are an experienced equestrian, teacher or forester, we’re especially interested in you! Just chat to us when you book your Zimbabwe working holidays!

How You’ll Live

We keep the experience intimate, with an average of only 4, we don’t go bigger than 10 volunteers at a time. You’ll stay in a shared room, with its own bathroom. Meals are hearty and homemade, and evenings are often spent around the fire, sharing stories under the stars.

Make It Count

Come for a week or stay longer. However long you join, you’ll leave with new skills, real friendships, and a deeper connection to Africa’s wild heart.

Interested In Zimbabwe Working Holidays?

Please check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) below for further information on our Wildlife Conservation Volunteer program.

All our stays are USD $900 per week with a minimum of 1-week stay.

Keen to join us on Zimbabwe working holidays? Please fill out our application form below indicating your preferred start and end dates, and we will get back to you with availability.

Volunteer Working Holidays
Zimbabwe Working Holidays

Zimbabwe Working Holidays FAQ

Logistics and Booking

Please find and fill in the form found on our website for working holiday guests, and we’ll get back to confirm and answer any further questions you may have. If the form is not working, our phone number and email address is at the top of every webpage.
 
Included in the cost is your accommodation, your meals, tea and coffee, and all your activities. Transfer to/ from Bulawayo / Airport on the pick-up / drop-off day is also included. 

We do not take anyone under the age of 18 unless it is a family travelling together.

We do require that you are able to walk 2 – 3km over uneven terrain without issue and climb in and out of safari vehicles.

Not for persons who suffer from severe or unmanaged depression or anxiety.

A deposit of 25% of your stay is required when you make your booking. 

If you cancel after having paid the 25% deposit we will

  1. Refund you the full amount if your booking is more than 3 months away, less any bank fees
  2. Refund you 50% of the deposit, less any bank fees, if your booking is 30 to 60 days away 

The balance of the full amount of your stay is due within 30 days of your arrival.

If you cancel after having paid the final balance i.e. less than 30 days prior to arrival, there is no refund available. However, you may choose either to:

  1. Shift your dates to another time but not longer than 12 months from the date of your original booking. Any difference in price arising is payable. 
  2. Notify us in writing that you wish to shift your booking to a friend, who you need to arrange to refund you. They will also need to complete a booking form and submit to us. 

If you wish to leave early, no refunds are due.  

If you wish to stay longer while you are with us, please discuss with us and where there is availability, we will gladly have you!

  • Pre-departure assistance with planning your trip
  • Airport collection to the program and return at the end
  • Accommodation in the heart of a safari camp 3 hearty meals a day, tea, coffee and local cordials.
  • 24-hour support by onsite staff
  • All your on-site activities 

Activities and Schedule

Wake at 6am. Coffee and light breakfast. 

Off to your first activity of the day.  This might be a morning with the horses, or a morning helping with general ranch maintenance such as building, fencing, cleaning waterholes.  

Lunch is from 12 till 2pm

Off to your afternoon activities. This might be going on a game drive and along the way checking waterholes, trail cameras and other ranch management requirements. 

Usually, you are home by 5 or 6pm to shower, have dinner and relax. 

We have a rough schedule that is tweaked to accommodate the tastes of most of the guests we have staying with.

Sunday is mostly a rest day, usually there is a fun activity in the morning and the rest of the day is at your leisure. 

No experience is required at all.  We do offer teaching, please let us know in advance if you are interested in this.

Please bring your own equipment if you have, particularly riding hats and other equipment. We do not supply cameras or binoculars, so bring those. 

Transport

Most guests arrive at our local Bulawayo Airport, where we organize pick-ups and drop-offs every Monday.  If you are coming by bus or road transfer from somewhere else, please let us know in advance and we will advise you where to go.  

Accommodation and Meals

You’ll stay in one of five shared rooms, each with its own bathroom. If you are travelling with a friend that you wish to share with, please let us know! 

Our meals tend to be a protein, carb and two veg type combination.  Protein is locally sourced products such as game, lamb, goat, chicken, duck. No fish.  As a working farm with our own vegetable garden, and a family with a variety of allergies, we can cater to a variety of diets. 

Yes, there are! Our laundry has washing machines, tumble dryer (not that you ever need this with the sun!), and irons.  Laundry is done daily on a rotating basis so you will get at least 2 chances in a week to use the laundry. 

Yes, we have starlink available and good phone reception on site. We can assist you in getting a sim card for your phone if you plan to go travelling after staying with us.

Safety and Preparation

We are a malaria free area, however we do have mosquitos, so insect repellent is useful.  If you wish to visit other parts of Zimbabwe before or after your visit with us, it is a good idea to find out the malaria status there as you may be required to take prophylactics. 

We recommend that you are up to date with your tetanus vaccinations.

Zimbabwe has an excellent childhood program of vaccinations and children are administered with the following vaccines – mumps, rubella, polio, small pox, chicken pox and measles. 


PLEASE talk with your GP who will know your individual health requirements and will recommend what’s best for you based on travel advisories for Zimbabwe and any other country you may be visiting.  

Yes, please have your travel insurance sorted including emergency medical expenses. 

Our packing list is just a guideline, and what you pack eventually is dependent on how long you are here and at what time of year.  The below is for approx. 1 weeks stay:

  • 2 pairs working trousers or jeans
  • 4 working shirts
  • 1 pair casual trousers / jeans
  • 2 casual shirts
  • 4 days’ worth underwear / socks
  • 2 pairs of shorts 
  • Swimsuit
  • Light sweater
  • June – Aug also bring a warmer jacket 
  • Sunglasses, hat, sunscreen Toiletries
  • Double walled water bottle 

If you own these and want to ride, please bring your Riding boots, hard hat, gloves, chaps and jodhpurs.

From December through to March it is useful to also bring a raincoat and if possible, a pair gumboots / wellingtons. 

Clothing should be in the closest to safari colours that you own (beige/ brown / jungle or dark greens / no bright or white colours). Know that they could get torn and stained! 

Good country walking boots are essential for bush work. 

We suggest that you pack a full set of clothes to change into your hand luggage, just in case your main suitcase is delayed.

Our reserve is quite safe, but we do require you to listen carefully to safety instructions and to take responsibility for your actions and how they may impact others. 

We have First Aid responders on site and we are one hour’s drive from the nearest hospital where medical emergencies can be further dealt with. If you have any medical needs or allergies, please let us know in advance so that we can be aware of potential issues.

Research

At Cawston, we’re deeply committed to conserving wildlife and maintaining a thriving ecosystem. Understanding our animal populations – especially elusive species like leopards and brown hyenas – is key to ensuring ecological balance and sustaining the land.

More Information