Gaining meaningful hands-on experience in the animal care industry can be difficult in Australia, particularly for young people hoping to enter highly competitive fields. With aspirations of one day becoming a carnivore or primate keeper, Lily wanted an opportunity to continue developing practical skills and learn from people already working in the field.

So, when mother and daughter began planning their African adventure, volunteering quickly became part of the conversation.

After plenty of research, Cango Wildlife continued to stand out.

“The conservation goals, the cheetah programme and all the different work involved here really spoke to us,” says Lily. “It just really fitted in with our views on things.”

For Tam, volunteering was already familiar territory. Back home in Australia, she has volunteered with the RSPCA for approximately eight years and has also worked casually within its education programmes. Both she and Lily have spent time caring for farm animals used in educational initiatives.

While visiting South Africa had long been on Tam’s bucket list, she wanted this trip to have a deeper purpose.

“We really wanted to be able to contribute in a meaningful way and give back, not just be tourists,” she says.

While Tam joined the Cango Wildlife Volunteers programme, Lily’s stay incorporated an internship component, allowing her to focus more specifically on building the experience and skills that could support her future career.

More Than Work Experience

What they found at Cango Wildlife was an environment where learning was encouraged and volunteers were welcomed into the everyday rhythm of animal care and conservation.

For Tam, one of the standout aspects of their experience was the willingness of Cango Wildlife’s animal care team to make time for volunteers.

She recalls how staff and curators were consistently willing to involve them in activities, answer questions and create opportunities to learn, even during busy working days.

“The default answer is yes, which is amazing,” she laughs.

More importantly, she says, the willingness to share knowledge always felt genuine.

“You don’t feel like they’re annoyed or that you’re stopping what they’re doing. You always feel like it’s fun for them too, which is lovely to see.”

For Lily, those opportunities have been particularly valuable. With carnivores and primates at the top of her career wish list, being able to gain experience around species she hopes to work with in the future made travelling halfway around the world worthwhile.

But professional development wasn't the only milestone awaiting her in Oudtshoorn.

During her stay, Lily celebrated her 21st birthday.

And then came another first.

A Little Piece of Cango

Before leaving Australia, Tam and Lily had spoken for months about getting a tattoo together.

Lily had never had one before, and Tam hoped that her daughter’s first tattoo could be something meaningful that they shared. They knew they wanted it to represent their South African adventure, but they hadn't settled on exactly what it would be.

Their original plan was to wait until they returned to Australia.

Then, during their stay, an opportunity arose to have a tattoo artist visit the volunteers.

Mother and daughter looked at each other and immediately knew.

“This is even more special because we’re getting it in South Africa while we’re here,” Tam recalls.

Choosing the subject wasn't difficult.

Lily’s favourite animal is the cheetah, and after spending time at Cango Wildlife and learning more about the conservation work surrounding the species, a cheetah paw print felt like the perfect symbol.

For them, it represented not only an animal they love, but the experience they had shared, the work they had witnessed and a chapter in Lily’s journey towards a career working with wildlife.

The biggest challenge, it turns out, was deciding where to put it.

After plenty of discussion and, naturally, some Googling for inspiration, they settled on matching cheetah paw prints on the backs of their necks.

For Lily, getting her first tattoo alongside her mom, during the same trip on which she celebrated her 21st birthday, made the moment even more memorable.

“I was very nervous because it was my first tattoo and I didn’t know what to expect,” she admits. “But the whole experience was amazing.”

For Tam, it became another special moment shared between mother and daughter.

“It’s a lovely bonding moment,” she says. “It doesn’t matter where we end up, or where Lily ends up in the world working with animals, we’ve got that little memento from our time here.”

Until Next Time

Eventually, every volunteer has to pack their bags.

Tam and Lily will return to Melbourne with photographs, memories, new skills and stories from their South African adventure. Lily will continue working towards her goal of building a career with animals, while Tam returns to the volunteering work she already loves.

But wherever that journey takes them, there will now always be a tiny cheetah paw connecting them to each other and to the time they spent at Cango Wildlife.

And if they have their way, this won't be their only visit.

“I’d come back every year,” Lily laughs, before acknowledging that her finances may have something to say about that.

For now, though, Cango Wildlife will be waiting.

Because some volunteer experiences end when you board the flight home.

Others leave a mark. Quite literally.