Beach Breaks With a Difference

What are the ingredients of a perfect beachholiday? Sun, sea, sunbathing, maybe even surfing, but what aboutsalvation? If you're looking for a beach holiday with a difference, whynot combine it with animal conservation work? All over the world thereare plenty of seaside breaks when you can make an active difference.Here's our pick of the best:

Bush and Beach

How abouttrying sun, sea and safari at this picturesque South African gamereserve? The Kariega Conservation Project is located just fifteenminutes drive from Kenton-on-sea, a small coastal town with pristinebeaches. You can spend your days off sipping cocktails at a smallbeachside bar, or simply sunbathing and swimming in the cool shallows.You could even opt to take a romantic horse-ride along the waves,whilst watching the local children search the numerous rock pools forsmall fish.

During the week you'll be responsible for carryingout animal conservation work at the Kariega reserve. Volunteers willwork in four separate areas, conservation, research, community andtheory. Conservation involves tasks as diverse as game counts and soilerosion control, and guests should be warned that the work is veryhands-on. The research part, amongst other things, involves recordingthe number of lion kills in the reserve and using modern telemetry tomonitor the movement of lions in the reserve. Once a week, volunteersvisit a small-underfunded farm school where they can teach the localchildren English and maths. This is an extremely rewarding experienceand for some people it proves to be the highlight of their holidays.

Goa Way and Help

Thepopular tourist resort of Goa, in India, is a place where many peoplechoose to take their beach side holidays. However, the large number oftourists visiting this resort can have a troublesome effect on thelocal turtle population. Artificial light, increased litter and theillegal sale of turtle eggs have all had implications on marinetourists and if you're looking for a holiday with a difference, thenyou'll be pleased to know that you can do something to help.

Volunteersare required to help plan campaigns and local events, and to raiseawareness on the plight of the sea turtle. Raising awareness involvesspeaking to tourists and bar owners about the use of artificial lightsand sale of turtle eggs. As volunteers work a six hour shift at a time,this leaves plenty of time to enjoy the attractions around the area.The stay can also be combined with meditation and yoga sessions in alocal ashram and an overnight stay in an Indian village.

Monkeying Around in Kenya

Volunteerswho want to spend some time monkeying around on the beaches of Kenyacan do no wrong than booking a volunteer placement working with theendangered monkeys at the Colobus Trust. Located near to ColobusCottage, volunteers will help assist the team in carrying out animalconservation work. This could be anything from collating research onmonkeys, to removing vegetation from power lines in order to stopmonkeys being electrocuted. Part of the placement involves teaching thelocal population, and volunteers may find themselves running a schoolworkshop on monkey conservation.

The working week at the ColobusTrust is from Monday to Friday, so guests will find themselves free atthe weekend to enjoy the local facilities. Diani Beach is locatednearby and guests can relax by taking a dip in the Indian Ocean. Thebeach offers a number of watersports and guests can opt to spend timescuba diving, snorkelling or even windsurfing on their beach holidaywith a difference.

Mark Bottell is the General Manager for Worldwide Experience, an online tour operator offering extended breaks carrying out animal conservation work and various adventurous gap years for adults.

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