Volun­teering Costa Rica Turtle - Amelie

Profile

Name: Amelie

Age: 18

Project: Turtle protection project

Location: Rio Oro, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Duration: 3 weeks

Rating

Support through the Natucate-Team:

Arrival:

Partner on-site:

Accommodation:

Volunteering in Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica - Feedback: Seven questions for Amelie

1) Could you give us a short overview of your activities/tasks in the project?

There were three different tasks: one was morning patrol, one was called PHI, and then you had night patrols. Every day, you had to do one of these things, and one day in the week was your day off. Morning patrol starts at around 5 am, and you have to walk up and down the beach once to see if there is any (baby) turtle activity and to retriangulate nests from the night before. It depends on how much work you have, but you’re usually done between 7 and 8 am.

PHI is during the afternoon, and it’s when you have to dig up nests that have hatched already to see what the success rate is and count everything.

Night patrol is between 8 pm and midnight (or sometimes even between midnight and 4 am) this is when the turtles are active and laying nests, so you have to look for them and do some work with them, but everything will be explained once you’re there.

You also have a lot of free time in which you can go on walks or even do some ‘workshops’.

2) What were your biggest challenges during the project?

It was very comfortable all around. The only thing is that the food can get a bit repetitive and boring but it’s still very good. You also have to walk a lot on the beach and my foot was hurting for a few days because it wasn’t used to all the activity (I think) so that was a bit difficult, but it passed quickly.

3) Was there anything that you liked most? Or anything that left you with a negative impression?

There were no negative impressions. I honestly loved it there so much. I loved just being in nature all the time and going to sleep with all the sounds from the jungle and at the same time hearing the waves of the sea. Everybody there was so kind and just amazing. I was in a very positive atmosphere.

Moreover, I loved the initiative, whenever there was some free time, everybody would just plan hikes or go to a pool nearby or organise some sort of workshop, so it was never boring.

4) Did you have certain expectations before you started the project?

I didn’t really have a lot of expectations, I think it’s important to be open-minded. Although the level of comfort was higher than expected, the showers were nice as were the toilets, there is very good Wifi, and the beds are good as well.

5) Did you do anything during your free time that you can recommend to following participants?

I recommend just going on hikes with everybody and watching the sunset. When you have a free day it’s also very nice to go to a lodge nearby, if you pay some sort of entry fee or just drink something at the bar they will let you stay in their pool and the one where you have to pay an entry fee you also get lunch and transport to and from the lodge because it’s quite far away (there are also some nice waterfalls on the property of this lodge).

If you want to see some cool animals, you could go to the Corcovado National Park. You could walk there for like two hours or get a ride. One thing I didn’t do because I didn't have the time is go surfing nearby (somebody said you could also go snorkelling there).

6) Which tips/recommendations would you give to other participants who would like to do this project?

I don’t really know; just bring the things that are on the packing list (a red light is really handy) and good shoes for patrolling the beach. Apart from that, just be open-minded and have fun :))

7) Can you guess how many additional expenses you had?

I couldn’t say the exact number, but it was not a lot. There aren’t a lot of facilities where you can spend money nearby as you’re in the middle of nature. On your travel days you’ll spend some money of course and if you go to the lodges and go surfing you’ll also spend some money. I recommend having cash on you as it is the most used paying method and if you pay with card, you sometimes have additional costs, but the US Dollar is accepted everywhere even for the local collectivo.