Experience report from the animal welfare project in Costa Rica

Interview with Elena

Our volunteer Hero Elena was in these two animal welfare projects:
Rescue station for sloths, monkeys, birds and other animals in Puerto Viejo and in the nature reserve with turtles and crocodiles

How did you like the project?

The two projects were very different. For the first two months I was in Puerto Viejo. I worked there every day from 7:30 a.m. to around 15:00 p.m. and had a break for 15 minutes and a lunch break for 30 minutes. I could choose two days a week that I wanted to have free. My tasks were to clean the cages of the sloths and birds, bring the animals food, look after the rats and mice (on a volunteer basis), rake and sweep, do the laundry, watch the birds, Take care of the baby sloths and my biggest highlight: playing with the baby monkeys.

Be motivated!

If you are motivated and you have no problem getting dirty and just rake your way or wash the rags and animal blankets, then it is paradise.

The longer you are there, the more responsibility you get and your wishes will be met. One can realize oneself. You can turn cages with banana leaves and hibiscus into a jungle, feed baby monkeys with bananas and catch all kinds of animals when they try to escape (you need to be creative).

Of course, everyone will have some negative experiences too, but that's just part of it. Personally, I suffered when I saw that not all animals are happy there and that some cages are unreasonable for the animals. You also have to keep in mind that the animals were injured, trapped or just a baby when they got here. Not everyone will survive.

You should also under no circumstances enter into a too deep bond and humanize the animals, otherwise you will rob you of the chance of being released into the wild.

Nature reserve with turtles and krododiles

The project nature reserve with turtles and crocodiles, on the other hand, was a reserve. There were no cages and you didn't have that much direct contact with the animals. The animals were observed and everything was recorded in writing. People often went on hikes, counted the different bird species or walked the beach and looked for parrots. The reserve also had a butterfly garden and people kept looking for bats in the jungle.

There are boat tours where you look for crocodiles and night tours where you catch caimans and snakes to measure and weigh them. Mainly, however, you work with the turtles when it is turtle time. At night, the beach is patrolled to find the egg-laying sea turtles and the eggs are then buried in a large nest. This has to be checked several times a day and when baby turtles hatch, they are released into the sea.

All of these activities are offered and you can sign up for them. So you can decide for yourself whether you want to have a more strenuous or a relaxed day. You are responsible for your own daily planning and actually have the weekend off. Of course, there is also work on weekends from time to time. Be warned! The baby turtles also like to hatch at 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning and then you can't just bury them in the sand again. But they are so cute, you forgive them as soon as they crawl into the sea.

How did you find the project location?

In the animal station I rented a bike for my stay and was able to comfortably drive to the supermarket or in 20 minutes to Puerto Viejo, the closest place with delicious restaurants and a distinctive nightlife. It is a 3 minute walk from the hostel to the beach.

In the reserve, the beach is no less far away. It takes 5 minutes to Ojochal, there is a supermarket, a small bar and restaurants. Uvita can be easily reached by bus and in your free time you can go horse riding, surfing, ziplining and much more on the beach (all of this is also possible in Puerto Viejo, by the way).

How was it like living together with the other volunteers / the team / the host family?
The other volunteers were mostly British and American. There were also a few Germans and French in the animal station. But that always depends on the time. At first I was alone with another volunteer on both projects and by the end we were a group of 15 people of all ages and backgrounds.

Working together was great fun and it's easy to improve your Spanish, French and English. And even if there are language difficulties, you always understand each other and have fun together. I stayed in the hostel that went with it both times. That is the best thing you can do because you are there. You are constantly surrounded by animals and you can have a much closer connection with the team and the other workers and volunteers, even in your free time.

Did you feel that your use in the project was useful?

My efforts have been very useful. Since I was involved in both projects for about two months, I had a lot of responsibility and did work on my own, looked after the animals and trained new volunteers. I dedicated these 4 months to the animals and tried to help them as much as possible.

Are there any nice experiences or places that you particularly remember?

Tortuguero is worth seeing. You should definitely take a zipline tour through the jungle somewhere. 
However, you experience the special moments with the animals when you manage to make them happy and see how they react to your work. The bird that is suddenly awake again because you have turned its cage into a land of milk and honey, the sloth that is happy about the hibiscus flower, the baby turtles that swim towards the sunrise or the baby monkeys that jump on you immediately when you get into theirs Cage. Then they won't let go of you. Then you can't leave the cage until they fall asleep.