Wildlife Conservation Program in Ecuador

For context, I have traveled abroad to Mexico, Brazil, and the Caribbean. I am a generally agreeable person and am absolutely fine with hands-on, gritty experiences. But this experience was beyond disappointing. The actual value versus the cost is unforgivable. I received absolutely no guidance from my supervisor during my internship (which was an entire month). Never did they review the workplan with me or acknowledge that I was an “intern” rather than a volunteer– it seemed like there was no differentiation. The staff even asked me what my role was because they had no idea and clearly never reviewed my documents. The staff were also quite rude, and often gossiped about volunteers and made snide remarks in front of them. The “internship” was not at all about developing my skills. Instead, I learned from other volunteers whose only experience was starting a few days earlier than me. To say the facilities were “rustic” is generous; bedding was blood-stained and ripped. Despite working with animals, there was no soap in any of the bathrooms, and a volunteer contracted a parasite during my stay because of it. EcuaExplorer ignored my repeated messages for weeks, both before and during my trip. Many of the tasks are physical labor that have nothing to do with the animals, like moving sand. Though the experience itself is an amazing opportunity, and working with the animals is incredible, everything else about it is poorly organized. They are much more interested in making money off of their volunteers over investing in a worthwhile internship experience. I don't appreciate how Roots dismissed my concerns by telling me that EcuaExplorer was a “quality” placement when I reached out to them. Roots seems to have little communication with their internship placements. If you are really set on this place, I would advise you to book directly through their website rather than through a 3rd party. Not worth it.