Hawaii Exotic Animal Sanctuary

Hawaii, USA

$4095.00

 

The Experience

Aloha! Pack your bags, bring your swim gear and join an exotic animal sanctuary in Hawaii! This project gives you the best of both worlds - the perfect solution in case you are having a hard time deciding between a nice long holiday at the beach or would like to get a meaningful experience and volunteer with wildlife!

Can't decide if you want to volunteer with wildlife? Ever wanted to work with exotic animals in an island paradise? How about helping care for these amazing animals at the Exotic Animal Sanctuary! This volunteer project is home to a wide variety of exotic and native Hawaiian species. Working with wildlife & exotics at the wildlife center is rewarding but physically demanding, and it is by no means an 'easy holiday option'! You do have several hours of time off each day plus two days a week to enjoy all the Big Island has to offer!

 

ThisIsWhy

  • Help care for our exotic animals on the Big Island of Hawaii
  • Located close to a paradise vacation village
  • The center is situated between the mountains and the oceans, so there is something to do for everyone

 
 
Project Details
  • Key Start Dates
    Year Round (however try to book early in advance to be assured of a volunteer placement)
  • Volunteer duration & price
    4 Weeks for 4095 US$
    5 Weeks for 4995 US$
    6 Weeks for 5795 US$
  • Average working hours
    On average 5 - 6 days per week up to 8 hours per day
  • Number of volunteers
    1 - 3
  • Volunteer accommodation
    Available
  • Housing Type
    One private room with bath or semi-private flat depending on number of volunteers
  • Internet Access
    Available
  • Who Are They Looking For?
    Love of the outdoors and a passion for wildlife is a priority. You should not be fussy, picky or hypersensitive about cleaning as this is one of the main chores. We will not tolerate smoking, alcohol or the use of drugs. Please remember that you are a guest, therefore, respecting the rules is essential.

Fast Facts: USA

Where? North America, USA

Country Size: 9,826,675 km2
3,794,101 sq mi 

Population density? 33.7/km2
87.4/sq mi

Country Famous for? Statue of Liberty, Yellowstone National Park, Old West, Rocky Mountains, Hamburgers & Hotdogs, Everglades, Alligators, Hawaii, Vulcano's, New York, Statue of Liberty, Las Vegas, Hollywood

When to visit: All year round, lots of activities all year round with a great mixture of culture and nature!

  • What's Included
    • Placement
      Hawaii Exotic Animal Sanctuary
    • Accommodation
      You will stay in one private room with bath or semi-private flat depending on the number of volunteers.
    • Meals
      3 meals a day included
    • Airport pick up & drop off
      The project will be waiting for you at the airport and transfer you to your accommodation at the volunteer project. On the day of your departure you will be driven to the airport
    • Use of car (driver's license required)
      You will be able to use a car specially reserved for volunteers, you will be able to use this car to go to the town of Kano or to visit the amazing Hawaiian beaches (to visit the volcano's you will need to rent a car, go by public transport or go with a tour)!
    • Ongoing service
      If there are any problems with your volunteer project we are always there to help you and mediate between yourself and the organization.
    • Tours
      Through FRONTEERING you have the possibility to book tours in the USA after you have finished your volunteer project.
    • 24/7 Emergency contact
      If there are any problems during your stay in Vancouver you can reach us 24/7 to assist you.

    What's not included: Flights, Insurance

    Package Price: 04 weeks: $4,095 US 05 weeks: $4,995 US 08 weeks: $5,795 US 


  • RESPONSIBILITIES
    This is a fast-paced, intense, and physically demanding environment. 8 hour shifts with enough break time to pass quickly due to regular feedings that must be kept on schedule and endless cleaning duties. Volunteers help with bottle feeding young mammals and hand feeding young birds, preparing diets for self feeding animals, cleaning and enriching animal cages, and general cleaning around the facility such as dishes, laundry, and wash pad. Volunteers who are handy with tools may also help fix or build cages and other structures. Volunteers work both individually and as a team to complete the required tasks.
    • Educate visitors and locals about Hawaii's fragile island ecology and animal behavior
    • Care for injured wildlife and returning them to the wild in optimal condition
    • Care for resident exotic and non-releasable wildlife in optimal settings
    • build and maintain animal enclosures
  • TASKS AND DUTIES

    This project's mission is to positively impact the environment while educating Hawaii's children about their place in the natural world. The aim is to assist in the development of an environmentally responsible generation of youth. The project teaches about the fragile ecosystem we impact on a daily basis, while giving visitors a rare chance to see the animals up close. Exotic animals live out their natural life at the facility as permanent residents. Patient records are available to assist in the learning process and questions are encouraged, especially during morning rounds.

  • Requirements, Guidelines & Policies
    • Required to commit to a period of 4 weeks
    • NO SMOKING is allowed on or near the property
    • Strong work ethics are required: reliable, responsible, honest, good sense of humor, dependable, physically and mentally fit.  
    • Age: 18+
    • No animal allergies
    • Must love animals
    • Must have tetanus vaccination
  • Volunteer Benefits
    • The opportunity to work with wild reptiles, birds and mammals and learn the many aspects involved.
    • The opportunity to work with a great team of staff and other volunteers
    • The opportunity to explore the beautiful beaches and exotic nature of Hawaii!
  • Quick Facts
    • Project location
      The Big Island of Hawaii, USA
    • Area Famous For
      Volcano's, surfing, Beaches, Snorkeling, Diving, great weather, dolphins, whales
    • When to visit
      All year round!
    • Wildlife viewing
      Great opportunties to see marine animals like dolphins, whales, turtles and many species of fish
  • Itinerary & Details
    Day 1 - Arrive on the big Island of Hawaii;
    You will arrive in the beautiful island of Hawaii from where you will be picked up from the airport and transferred to the project
    For 4 weeks - Help, with the day to day activities in the care of Exotic Wildlife!
    For the coming weeks you will have a great time working directly with many different kind of animals.
    Your last day -     you will transfer back to the airport to take a flight back home. Of course it is possible to extend your stay in and travel around; we can help you with trips and/or accommodation you would like to arrange.

  • Accommodation

    One private room with bath or semi-private flat depending on number of volunteers! You will live on site of the project and what's also included are; laundry facility in the house, internet and TV. 

    Things to bring from home

    • Clothes for cold temperatures as well as for summer for warm temperatures. Make these clothes are allowed to get dirty. Make sure to bring gloves, a toque and warm socks with you.
    • Comfortable walking shoes are essential, and you should also pack a raincoat and some sun block
    • Linen and towels will be provided.
    • Snorkel gear!

    Meals

    3 meal a day included

    Location

    The volunteer project is located on the beautiful island of Hawaii! With endless beaches, tropical rainforests, many surf, dive and snorkel opportunities and beautiful active volcano’s and it’s amazing landscapes to gaze on!

I couldn't say enough good things about the sanctuary, and this trip in general, if I tried for the rest of my life. A typical day for me was to start preparing food for the monkeys at 7:00 am, and be out "in the field" by 8. I would slowly make my way around the sanctuary, making sure that the 30 plus residents were all fed . Parrots, monkeys, zebras, flamingos, bison, hawks; There were dozens of different animals to be responsible for, all rescued from appalling conditions. Between the morning and evening feedings, I was free to explore the town of Kona. What this meant on most days was snorkeling in the beautiful Kahaluu Beach Park, finding the island's best poke, shave ice, or farmer's markets. While I was there I was lucky enough to go on a manta snorkeling expedition, go scuba diving, and see the sunset atop Mauna Kea. Ann and Norm are two of the most incredible people I have ever met, they are so selflessly invested in the ranch and in the well being of the animals (and people) in their community. By the end of my stay, I truly felt like a part of their family. Working at the Sanctuary was the most influential experience of my life, it's been nearly two years since my stay, and I wake up and think of my time spent at the Ranch every day. I was so moved by the experience I had that when I got home, I got two of the sanctuary's residents tattooed on myself. Thank you, Ann, Norm, and the animals for having me, and for teaching me, and thank you, Fronteering, for setting me up with such an incredible opportunity. 

(sending a bunch of pictures as well, don't feel like you need to use all of them!) 

Esther from Germany (2015)

 

6 weeks in Hawaii

All of my expectations of living and working in Hawaii were fulfilled, or even better than I thought! 

After the really long journey from Germany to Hawaii, my host family picked me up from the airport. I was lucky that my home was also my workplace.

I had my own little apartment with a bathroom, kitchen and a luxurious view of the sea. The host family lives right next to the apartment. The apartment and the house share a terrace with their own pool for cooling off, because it's never cold there 

I never lacked anything! My host mum and I went shopping every week so that I always had enough food/drink for breakfast and lunch.

Am ersten Arbeitstag wurden mir erstmal alle Tiere auf der Ranch gezeigt und erklärt wie wir sie wann füttern. In den ersten Tagen war es ziemlich schwierig für mich mir zu merken wann ich welche Tiere mit welchem Futter zu füttern habe, aber ich hatte viel Hilfe durch meine Hostfamily und den anderen Volunteers. Nach ein paar Wochen konnte ich sehr gut selbstständig arbeiten. Jeden Tag kamen andere Volunteers die auf Hawaii leben und haben beim Tiere fütter/sauber machen mitgeholfen. So habe ich viele liebe Menschen kennen gelernt! Jeder Mensch und jedes Tier auf der Ranch ist mir sehr ans Herz gewachsen und es hat mir jeden Tag riesigen Spaß gemacht auf der Ranch zu Arbeiten.

Wir haben die Tiere einmal morgens und einmal nachmittags gefüttert. Mittags hatte ich Freizeit. Ich machte Lunch und war in der Zeit am Strand, in der Stadt oder habe einfach auf der Ranch relaxed. Außerdem hatte ich das Glück das die Hostfamily ein eigenes Auto für die Volunteers zur Verfügung haben. So konnte ich fahren wohin ich wollte! 

Nach einem ‚normalen’ Futtertag habe ich meistens erstmal geduscht und anschließend meiner Hostmum beim kochen geholfen. 

In Deutschland hatte ich ein bisschen Angst, dass meine Hostfamily nur typisch amerikanisch kocht, aber das war rein gar nicht der Fall! Wir aßen jeden Abend gesunde und sehr leckere Sachen. An ein paar Abenden waren wir essen oder haben uns was nach Hause bestellt!

Ich bin so froh, dass meine Hostfamily mich so nett aufgenommen hat! Ich fühlte mich wirklich wie ein richtiges Familienmitglied. Sie standen mir mit Rat und Tat immer zur Seite und halfen mir bei Allem - unter Anderem beim Erkunden der Insel Big Island. 

Da meine Hostmum beim ‚Roaderyclub’ Mitglied ist, haben wir auch außerhalb der Ranch freiwillige Arbeit geleistet. Zum Beispiel haben wir ein Frauenhaus renoviert! Wir hatten eine Menge Spaß beim Streichen  

Es war eine tolle Zeit mit vielen Erfahrungen die ich gesammelt habe, mit viel Spaß, super netten Leuten und einer besonderen Unterkunft der besten Hostfamily! 

Ich kann es nur Jedem weiter empfehlen diese Erfahrung auf Hawaii zu machen. Es war einfach großartig.

Janina from Germany
 
--------------- Translation using Google Translate:
Six weeks in Hawaii
 
My expectations of life and work in Hawaii have all met, or were even better than I thought!
After the really long journey from Germany to Hawaii my host family I was picked up from the airport. My happiness is what the my home at the same time was also my job.
 
I had my own little apartment with bathroom, kitchen and luxurious view of the sea. The host family lives right next to the apartment. The apartment and house share a terrace with private pool to cool off, because it's cold there never 
I enjoyed it never lacked anything! My Hostmum and I were weekly shopping, so I always had enough food / drinks for breakfast and lunch.
 
On the first working me, all animals were first shown at the ranch and explains how we feed when. In the early days it was quite difficult for me to remember me when I have food with which to feed which animals, but I had a lot of help from my host family and the other volunteers. After a few weeks I was able to work well independently. Every day came other volunteers who live in Hawaii and have helped make Fütter / clean the animals. So I have learned many dear people know! Every person and every animal on the ranch is very close to my heart and gave me every day was great fun to work on the ranch.
We have the animals once in the morning and once in the afternoon fed. At noon I had free time. I made lunch and was at the time on the beach, in the city or have just relaxed on the ranch. I was also lucky enough to have Hostfamily a car for the volunteers available. So I could go wherever I wanted!
 
After a 'normal' Futtertag I usually showered first and then helped my Hostmum during cooking.
In Germany, I was a bit scared that my host family serves typical American, but that was absolutely not the case! We ate every evening healthy and very tasty stuff. On a couple of evenings we were eating or what have ordered us to go home!
 
I am so glad that my host family took me so cute! I really felt like a real family member. You stood by me with help and advice is always to the side and helped me with everything - among other while exploring the Big Island Iceland.
 
Since my Hostmum when, Roaderyclub 'is a member, we've done outside the ranch voluntary work. For example, we have renovated a shelter! We had a lot of fun while painting 
 
It was a great time with many experiences I have collected a lot of fun, super nice people and a special guest of the best Host Family!
I can only recommend to each to make this experience in Hawaii. It was just great.
 
Janina from Germany
 
 
I couldn't say enough good things about the Sanctuary, and this trip in general, if I tried for the rest of my life. A typical day for me was to start preparing food for the monkeys at 7:00 am, and be out "in the field" by 8. I would slowly make my way around the sanctuary, making sure that the 30 plus residents were all fed. Parrots, monkeys, zebras, flamingos, bison, hawks; there were dozens of different animals to be responsible for, all rescued from appalling conditions. Between the morning and evening feedings, I was free to explore the town of Kona. What this meant on most days was snorkeling in the beautiful Kahaluu Beach Park, finding the island’s best poke, shave ice, or farmer’s markets. While I was there I was lucky enough to go on a manta snorkel expedition, go scuba diving, and see the sunset atop Mauna Kea. Ann and Norm are two of the most incredible people I have ever met, they are so selflessly invested in the ranch and in the well being of the animals (and people) in their community. By the end of my stay, I truly felt like a part of their family. Working at the Sanctuary was the most influential experience of my life, it's been nearly two years since my stay, and I wake up and think of my time spent at the Ranch every day. I was so moved by the experience I had, that when I got home, I got two of the sanctuary's residents tattooed on myself. Thank you, Ann, Norm, and the animals for having me, and for teaching me, and thank you, Fronteering, for setting me up with such an incredible opportunity.
 
Esther Wolf from Germany
 
Dear Ann, I want to thank you immensely for the internship opportunity you have given me. The amount of information I learned during my time at the Exotic Animal Sanctuary is going to last me a lifetime. The program allowed me to meet and work with some fascinating people while visiting a marvelous state.Not only did I learn how to better critically think, but to also perform efficiently under pressure. I am excited to take this knowledge into my future to further my career as a veterinarian. Throughout my time at the ranch, I soon realized that one of the most important concepts I grasped was knowing the everyday routine and recognizing what “normal” looked like in each animal. Even though the routine seemed monotonous at times, it was crucial to the job. Learning each animals’ behavior and quirks helped me take care of each individual properly. For example, we noticed that Big Bird started spending most of her time up on the hill in the back of her enclosure, which was unusual. After observing Big Bird, and talking with the other interns, Jaye noticed she had a bad limp and was possibly injured. If we were not attentive to detail, then Big Bird’s injury may have gone unnoticed. One of the most memorable experiences was the feral cat spay and neuter clinic. I was ecstatic to be able to learn how to perform a neuter as a pre-veterinary student. Dr. Lori was such an incredibly patient and knowledgeable teacher to the three of us interns during the clinic. She let us jump right in and do the job without much hesitation; and if we needed help, she would gladly assist.
We also got to spend an afternoon with Dolphin Quest, a tourist attraction at the Kona Hilton resort. We had the amazing opportunity to go behind the scenes and learn about the daily care and maintenance of the dolphins that thrive at the resort. The time spent at Dolphin Quest was valuable because the experience aided in my judgment where to draw the line between animal welfare and animal rights. Learning about the dolphins and their daily training and feeding routine was important because it contributed to the development of my opinion of the ethical of breeding dolphins in captivity. I am still trying to further my knowledge on the subject, but this experience definitely opened my mind. During our afternoon there, we were also able to look at an ultrasound of a very pregnant dolphin!
We learned something every day at the ranch, which included learning how to hand cut grass in Johnny and Mona’s enclosure, learning how to kill mice in a humane and efficient manner, thinking ahead with each chore, and working as a team with the other interns. I am entirely grateful that I was chosen to participate in the program. 
Thank you again for the incredible opportunity; it will not be forgotten!
 
Victoria Fliehr (Pre-Vet Student) from Germany
 
For Fronteering:

My Volutneering stay at the Sanctuary was amazing. I stayed there for six weeks. It was a relaxing time for me after a stressful time at work. Sometimes working with animals was like meditation. But don´t misunderstand! There is a lot of hard work with these animials (flamingos, wetlands, zebras, ostriges, monkeys, and so on). After a hard day I had delicious dinners with the owners of the ranch, ann and norm. Those are very loving people and they treated me very well.
Thank you very much. Maybe, I´ ll come back some day. In love, Franzi/ Germany 
 
 
Hi Fronteering,
I had a great time ! I learned a lot of new interesting things about animals and how to behave around them and I got to know  how it is to live on a ranch! But I also liked to explore  the beautiful Island. Of course the work was hard sometimes, nevertheless I still enjoyed taking care of the animals and I had a great time working together with the local volunteers. 
Thankfully I didn’t have any problems with any of the coordinators, in fact they made me feel very welcome and took good care of me! 
It was a great experience and I had an awesome time . I am just very happy that I was able to learn so many new things, to take care of animals I never thought I would and to collect so many unique memories!
 
Kind regards,
 
Kimberley from Germany
 
Aloha future volunteers,
You are looking for a trip to the Hawaii Animal Sanctuary, but the lack of information is holding you back? Let me help you, I‘m Levi from Germany, I’m 18 years old and have just spent 4 amazing weeks at this project.
So basically, if you are a fan of beautiful nature, helping animals and experiencing the Hawaiian culture, this is your place to go! 
Yes, being a volunteer means you have to work and the work may sometimes be exhausting, due to the humid climate, but you don’t only work hard you also eat good. Salad, Pizza, BBQ, Fish... and also some traditional food can be enjoyed every night.
You also might ask yourself what working at an animal sanctuary be like? To be honest, there is a lot of work everyday... feeding the animals in the morning and in the afternoon, cleaning the cages, the waters... but since you‘re working in a team and working with animals like parrots, monkeys, chickens, horses... the work is a lot of fun. Working with them, you will realize there will be some animals you‘ll like more than others and also some you think you will never like but get friends with after some time... this is just like relationships between humans.  
So what does your week look like?
You will have two afternoons and an entire day off a week. On the other days you will work from about 8-12 and 4-6. This means you got enough free times on these days as well. You can use this time to explore the beautiful island with a car for the volunteers that is provided by the project. You also got your own, clean room with a bathroom and good Wi-Fi as well.
So all in all this will be an exciting adventure you definitely won‘t regret!
Hello. I'm Tamara also from Switzerland and have been spending 4 weeks here. It is a great experience and I can only recommend it to you. You want to work with such great animals and so many different ones. There are also volunteers living here in Hawaii every day and everyone is really friendly and nice. Also with Norm and Ann you will surely have a great time, they will take you from the first day like a family member. They are super friendly. They also give you enough time to inquire about the island. You also have a small apartment for yourself (if you are alone here). I can only recommend this experience. But it is important that your English is good otherwise it is just hard for you. I hope if you can come you will have a great time!
Hi Yusuf
It was a great experience. I'm very happy that I did it. I learned so many things about the animals and life in Hawaii. I would recommend it to anyone!
kind regards
Tamara From Germany

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