General Impression
Overall Rating: / 10
I really enjoyed the marine conservation programme. The program is well run and all the staff are really lovely. I felt well supported from planning in the UK to being in Costa Rica. Nicole from Love Volunteers was very approachable and personable. She replied very quickly to my emails and questions and I felt that she was honest with her answers.Country
Costa Rica is amazing. There is so much wildlife and the people are friendly. There is a more relaxed way of life and you need to go with the flow. The Osa region has a raw and untouched feel to it and there are not many tourists, which is what I liked!
Project & Staff
On the Love Volunteers website, it mainly says the project will consist of monitoring the dolphins and whales and the start time will be 9am. However, this wasn’t the case. Instead, I worked with turtle conservationists everyday and the start time was 4:30am. I didn’t mind as I had wanted to volunteer with turtles for a long time and once I got over the initial shock of a 4:30am start, I didn’t mind that either. The beautiful sunrises definitely made it worth it plus for me, it was the best time of the day as it was cool weather. The turtle conservation guys were very knowledgeable and good to chat with. We collected 700 turtle eggs over the 2 weeks which was amazing and very fulfilling. I was also lucky enough to see a critically endangered Hawksbill turtle lay her eggs, many scarlet macaws, manta rays, other birds, fish, etc. We went out on the boat for one day with a dolphin monitor which was an incredible experience- we saw about 150 dolphins, a tiger shark and other marine life. The only small downside is that the beach is a 30 minute bike ride or a $40 a day taxi ride. Bicycles are provided but they are single speed with no brakes and no safety equipment is provided. For my first week, I was with other volunteers so felt relatively ok though doing it in the dark wasn’t ideal especially as the roads are bumpy gravel with lots of pot holes, but on my second week when I was alone, Lauren organised transport for me free of charge due to my concerns for the Monday and then the rest of the week one of the turtle conservationists picked me up. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the project and would definitely recommend it.
Lauren is the project co-ordinator and she is really friendly, welcoming, approachable and hands on. I travelled alone so had some reservations due to this being my first time travelling alone and being a woman. But, I felt that I could relax as Lauren really looked after me and I knew that she would always be there if I needed her and answered my texts straight away.
I had breakfast and lunch at Antonia’s house (a woman who works for Lauren). She is so lovely and a very good cook. I am vegan and she was very accommodating, she was also very welcoming and treated me as a friend. I felt at home in her house.
Lauren is the project co-ordinator and she is really friendly, welcoming, approachable and hands on. I travelled alone so had some reservations due to this being my first time travelling alone and being a woman. But, I felt that I could relax as Lauren really looked after me and I knew that she would always be there if I needed her and answered my texts straight away.
I had breakfast and lunch at Antonia’s house (a woman who works for Lauren). She is so lovely and a very good cook. I am vegan and she was very accommodating, she was also very welcoming and treated me as a friend. I felt at home in her house.
Tips
Be open- minded and go with the flow
Bring plenty of bug spray
Bring a home comfort
Bring plenty of bug spray
Bring a home comfort