Sri Lanka - Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation

I first arrived in Ambalangoda not knowing what to expect. A 17 yr. old who had never flown out of North America by herself had just arrived in Sri Lanka a week ago was never happier. I had made an amazing group of friends during orientation week and was beyond excited to start volunteering. The housing I stayed at was directly across the street from the beach and a 2 mins. walk away from the Disabled Turtle Home. I would wake up and have an amazing breakfast with everyone else who was staying in the house. We would then walk over to the turtles and begin our work; which i will admit was sometimes hard but extremely fulfilling. Some days we would either clean the beach, clean the turtles, feed the turtles, move sand, or more. After working with the turtles, we would play on the beach, go to town and explore as many places we could go to. The volunteer organizers were extremely helpful and had a lot of trust in us. I will admit, I was one of the youngest volunteers there and was a bit scared. However, within 6 hours of landing in Sri Lanka, my fear was gone and I was already meeting amazing people from all over the world that I still keep in contact with today. Some were Paris, London. Austria and we're even all planning another trip next summer all together. I highly recommend this program. This has been a life-changing experience and for anyone who's just a bit lost in life or the need for a change of pace; this program provides an amazing new perspective that I am so happy I was able to be exposed to at such a young age.

I went to Sri Lanka during the Christmas holidays. The first week is orientation program in Kandy, and the second week is in Amblangoda, a small town in south Sri Lanka. This experience is very interesting, and I met many volunteers from all over the world. Most sea turtle in the conservation center are disabled. We help them clean the tanks, and learn how to feed them. All the coordinators are friendly and patient. I recommend this program a lot!

I spent 2 weeks in Sri Lanka doing the orientation week and a week of the turtle project. Both were absolutely great! The week in Kandy was a really cool way to be introduced to the culture and see all the touristic sights. The coordinators were kind, helpful and made it known that they were there to help you out. I will admit the beds and pillows were not the best thing but it was manageable. However the food, people, location and program were absolutely great. I was the youngster of both the group from orientation week and the project week being only 17 but I liked it very much that I was not treated any different, I had equal responsibility and was left to do my own thing as well. The average age of the groups was somewhere mid twenties so mainly young people going off to travel a bit. The second week was great and very well organised. We would feed the turtles every other day and the days in between we would spend cleaning the tanks, beach or turtles themselves. The general day had the following structure; breakfast at 8 - 9 am, work at the turtle sanctuaries from 9:30 - 12 am, lunch then went from 12:30 - 1:30, work would begin again at 2 and go till 4 then free time till dinner which was at 6:30. This structure made for a very nice and relaxed day. Both project coordinators offered to get you a taxi or tuktuk which was really helpful to not get ripped off. It is mentioned in the project info that you have to organise your own transportation to the airport but, in fact, the coordinators are very willing to order you a taxi or tell you which train/bus to take. Overall, it is an experience I would highly recommend no matter how long you are able to go and no matter how much travel experience you have.