Program Reviews

I worked on the natural reserve of Hai Bar on the Negev desert on the south of Israel.
We worked on the morning with the animals ( feeding, cleaning cages...) and on the afternoon we did differents things like cleaning the camping area, odd jobs and feeding the predators on the evening.
It was really an amazing experience to work with wild animals and with lovely and passionates people.

Volunteering with GoEco has been an unforgettable experience, helped me to understand the biodiversity of the ocean, including seabirds & penguins, seals and the Great White Shark. In addition, I had the great opportunity to help on seabird recovery, as part of the The African Penguin & Seabird Sanctuary volunteer program.

The month I spent in the Equity Point Hostel in Prague was incredible.

Usual working day was divided into 2 shifts, a morning and an evening shift. If you worked in the morning, you had to help in the kitchen during the breakfast time and make beds after that, and the evening shift was bar tending in the hostel bar. Every day was different, and during busy days you might have to work both mornings and evenings, but on the other hand, some days are quiet and work is done in a few hours. The average working day is about 6 hours, but however, you have to be flexible with your plans and schedule.

Working in a hostel is a great way to meet other travelers all around the world. What I enjoyed the most was the atmosphere made by all interesting and awesome international people. Other workers were super nice from the very beginning and often invited to drink and eat together. Prague is a city with lots of cheap restaurants, bars and clubs, so there is lots to do after work. There is also many parks and museums to enjoy there! I wish I spent more time in the hostel, since 4 weeks go by too fast.

Dealing for the first time with wild animals was a real joy, hard work but so gratifying. Dealing daily with animals, preparing their food and feeding the baby animals, then cleaning cages, collecting grasshoppers for the chameleons, working with the staff and the other volunteers was very enriching, and I recommend this volunteering program to anyone who loves animals !

I arrived in Cairns not knowing what to expect but ended up spending 2 weeks with amazing people that will be my friends for life. I spent the first couple days learning how to dive in a classroom and pool with prodive. It was a really good learning environment and everyone easily understood all of the theory required for diving. After my 2 days in the classroom we went on our first dive boat trip (3 days out on the Great Barrier Reef) during this time I got certified as an open water PADI diver (other divers on the trip got more advanced certifications during this time if they already had their open water). I was able to get more comfortable diving by doing multiple free dives a day and even a night dive. The next day we went to Fitzroy Island to help out at a turtle rehabilitation centre and have free time on the island. The island was beautiful but expensive to do anything other than the hikes around the island (had to paid to hire stinger suits, snorkels etc. by the hour). Then we went back out on a dive boat for another 3 days of diving. This time we did our marine conversation part with eye on the reef. A dive master taught as how to take surveys of the coral and 10 minutes surveys of the marine life. We learned a lot about the coral and the marine life, we even were able to remove invasive snails off the coral. I had a great time and learned so much! Diving at the Great Barrier Reef project allows you to see many amazing marine life and learn a lot about the reef.

My Aunt and I spend 2 weeks in China at the Bifengxia Panda Base last April. We were picked up from the Chengdu airport then stayed in the city for 2 nights before heading to the panda base. The drive there was scary as it was our first time travelling to the country. I didn't expect such terrifying drivers! We got there in one piece and made our way to the hostel for lunch. The hostel was very basic and not very clean. We cleaned our room before unpacking. The hostel owners idea of clean is very different than ours.

After lunch we headed to the panda base which was less than 5 minutes away. One of my favorite memories is seeing the pandas for the first time. I was so happy and excited to spend one on one time with the bears. We had a quick tour of the base and went to get our volunteer uniforms and pass to get into the base every day.

At 830am we met with our assigned panda keepers to learn what we were going to do everyday. We'd come to the reserve at 9 to prepare the panda's breakfast then feed them and clean out their enclosures. We'd have about an hour break before they got lunch and then we'd come back mid afternoon to feed them again. There was a lot of spare time to explore the reserve and observe the bears. I took hundreds of photos and learned a lot. I wish our keepers knew more English because we had tons of questions that they couldn't really answer unless our program coordinator was there.

Most week nights we stayed at the hostel and watched movies or played games. A couple nights we ventured into Ya'an city with the help of our coordinators to get snacks from the supermarket or go out for supper at a local restaurant.
The food at the hostel was mostly good but we bought lots of snacks to eat between meals and at night.
On the weekend we were free to do what ever we wanted. We hired a taxi for the day and went to Leshan to see the giant Buddha. In the afternoon we went to the zoo that is also part of the Bifengxia reserve which I do recommend to anyone that cares for the well being of animals. I've never seen anything like that place and I do not ever want to go back. It was horrifying and had us all in tears by the end of it. The worst part was the way it was set up. We had to see it all and couldn't turn around and go back. Pandas are very very lucky to be looked after so well. There were animals in chains, in enclosures with no grass or clean water and they were very unhealthy and sad looking. Apparently that was a nice zoo compared to others in Asia but still, it was extremely different to the ones I've been to in North America.

We paid the extra money to get the photos taken with the baby panda but it wasn't what I expected. The photos on the internet are a little misleading and I'm thinking they must be at a different reserve. We only had 10 seconds each to sit beside the panda and we weren't prepared at all. It was a nice experience but I enjoyed the time I spent with the pandas I fed everyday and cleaned up after much more as we actually got to know their personalities. Every panda is different!

Overall I really enjoyed my experience with this program. I think 2 weeks was enough time. The routine gets boring after a while. I wish I'd spent more time exploring the park as it is huge and beautiful. I learned a lot about China and it is a beautiful country. I'll definitely be going back someday.
Here are some tips
1. Wear layers. It is very cold and damp in the morning and very hot and humid in the afternoon
2. Bring snacks and breakfast food unless you like white bread with bland jam
3. Be open minded and have fun.
4. Try all of the food at the hostel. I was pleasantly surprised 90% of the time.
5. Take lots of pictures!
6. Thank your program coordinators as they are doing their best to keep you happy
7. Check out the Panda bar up the hill from the hostel. We had so much fun with bartender Tom even though there was no ice or a fridge to keep anything cold.
8. Learn to drink hot water with every meal because that is all you get unless you buy something else
9. Don't look into the kitchen unless it's the last day you're there. Again, the idea of cleanliness is a little different then what you're probably used to.
10. Bring warm pjs. The heated blanket helps but it gets chilly during the night!

I hope this helps!

I must say this was an once in a lifetime experience that I would highly recommend anyone who has the chance to go to DO IT! It was amazing interacting with people from the communities and getting to know them on a day to day basis. I really enjoyed working with the children and loved how I could see the difference that I was making while I was there. At the end of the week you could see the progress the kids were making with their colours and shapes and letters. I came to South Africa wanting to make a change and when I left I definitely achieved what I wanted to. The house was a bit crowded at times in the mourning with everyone getting ready for their day which was frustrating but I am glad we all lived together for the month because then I got to make friends from all over the world that I will possibly be able to meet up with in my later travels. Overall this experience showed and taught me a lot and the memories that I made along the way will stay with me forever. Some day I will be returning to South Africa :)

I spent 6 weeks in Cape Town to work in an over 30s Teaching and Community Development project. That was one of my best times and most valuable experiences I had so far.

In the mornings we went to pre-schools in two different townships and helped the children with all the typical pre-school stuff: getting to know numbers, colours and shapes, writing their names, learning to listen. With the younger children it was mostly about chasing, playing and cuddling.

The afternoons were spent in two other townships where we provided after school programs in a library or a foster home. It was really great to see that the kids have a safe to go after school. We helped them with their homework, talked about their future plans or just played or danced with them.

It was so rewarding! And so many of the kids are so much fun! And I learned so much! It was just great.

Furthermore, Cape Town is an incredible beautiful place and me and my fellow volunteers spend a lot of time exploring the city, gazing at the scenery, strolling through pubs and restaurants. I loved it!

Thanks to GoEco for making this wonderful experience possible.

Volunteering abroad was recommended to me, and I surely recommend it to others thinking of travelling overseas and looking for a good way to start in a new country. Having the program set up for when I arrived in Australia gave me direction and purpose in getting familiar with the new landscape and environment I was in. The organization gave me a good introduction, our accommodation and food were good, and the friends I have made on this project I still keep in contact with during my travels in Australia. Best of all, volunteering has given me the opportunity to travel in areas that I would most likely not be able to see from a tourist standpoint. Our group drove for a few hours outside of Melbourne into the lush rainforest for weeding, path clearing and tree planting. The work was strenuous but it felt good to be doing something productive. Our tour leader was very informative and educated us a lot on the vegetation and animals of the area. From then, I have gone on my way to continue travelling the rest of Australia on my own but it has given me a good starting point.

I was on the "Teach Children and Surf in Cape Town".

Goeco helped me with everything I needed and assisted me in every step on my way to Cape Town.

There, volunteer share a big house and they're splitted into double or triple rooms. It's definitely not a five-star hotel and the food is quite bad, but you don't go there looking for jacuzzis and saunas (even though you can look around for them in the neightborhood).

The overall experience has absolutely positive, demanding but extremely rewarding. I meet lots of beautiful people there, and I surely will keep in contact with them in the next years!

Andrea