Costa Rica - Sea Turtle Conservation

An Amazing Time in Costa Rica By Cassie Roberts My Go Eco really was the trip of a lifetime. Beginning with a week in Spanish school gave me a real feel for how the locals live by staying with a host family. The Fernandez family made my trip truly unique and made me feel very at home. The exceptionally patient teachers at CRLA managed to teach me some of my first ever second language despite my ineptitude. San Jose gave me a taste of how local costa Ricans live but the star of the trip was the turtles. Seeing the turtles in their natural habitat was a truly amazing experience. Watching them crawl up to the same beach they were born on to lay their own nests was awe-inspiring and I really loved collecting data to ensure their continued survival and protection. No experience would be complete without an amazing group of people for which I am very grateful. A group of knowledgeable staff helped me practice my rudimentary Spanish and only laughed at my mistakes when they were especially funny. Best of all was the fantastic group of fellow volunteers that I will never forget.

So the review below is mine but I meant to submit it in a different program..awkward. BUT, volunteering with sea turtles was like a dream come true. At first I was a little thrown off because it was way out of my comfort zone, it's really rustic and don't expect a five star hotel kind of stay because it is not like that. However, in only three days I got used to being there and it was probably one of the best things that has ever happened to me. You meet people from all over the world, you literally get to see turtles every night, collect over 200 turtle eggs every night as well, and I was lucky enough to see three nests hatch! I was in Camaronal Wildlife Refuge and I loved it so much, it made it hard to leave. The only thing was that you can't do much because it's so far away from everything! So if you want to do a volunteering program AND travel around Costa Rica, I recommend staying one week more after you're done with the turtle program, because there are so many things to see in Costa Rica! If you are reading this review and have even the slightest want to go, don't think twice and GO, I promise you won't regret it. It's an amazing experience and so worth it.

This project was one of the most rewarding projects to date however the very long hours, physically demanding work and the non-understanding nature of the coordinators make this project fall short of being one of the best out there. In one day we released over 650 baby sea turtles back into the wild, it is so hard to explain what an incredible experience this was. Your sea turtle work includes looking out for hatched eggs, collecting and counting the number of babies and then releasing them onto the beach to watch them head into the waters. Other sea turtle work includes night watches to look out for poachers and also searching the beach for mothers laying eggs. Beyond sea turtle work you also are required to construct new hatcheries, plant trees and search the beach for rubbish to clean up. Your work day starts at around 8am and finishes at 4pm with a break in the middle of the day. However, once you have completed your day work you then go on a 3 hour night watch which are broken up between 10-12am, 12-3am or 3-6am. This is on top of your days work and you start back up again at 7am the next day. This can be quite demanding and after 1 week we were physically drained. Like I said, very rewarding but you will be very tired by the end of your stay. Date volunteered: September 2016 Recommended time spent here: 1 week Living conditions: Dormitory style bunk beds, hot showers WiFi: Okay - can go off for days on end with no internet access. Vegetarian friendly: Yes Additional Notes: The co-ordinators refused to allow myself and my partner to do night shifts together (even though 2 should be on at all times, we had to do ours alone). However, after 1 quick email to GoEco this was sorted out with no issue. If you have issues with your co-ordinators please contact your volunteer partner to sort them out. Thank you to Go Eco for allowing us to experience this incredible volunteer project in Costa Rica. Our opinion is, as always, our own.