Program Reviews

If you are planning on going and you can allow yourself to go, then go. Both programs the island conservation and the turtle watch programme are worth trying and are amazing. You are supported and surrounded by and amazing friendly staff, who are more than willing to help you experience the best of Cape Verde, while also doing good work for their ecosystem. As someone who does island conservation you would get to experience: bird ringing, shark tagging, marine monitoring, turtle patrols, turtle hatching season, replanting of endemic plant species, and you also get to join in on creating a protected area, by making signs, making road blocks and educating tourists as well as the locals.
The turtle programme hugely depends on the months you are planning of going (nesting, hatching happen during different months), but no matter what you will have an amazing team of like minded, international and local people who will be joining you on patrols and keeping you company through out the day.
The accomodation is provided for both volunteering groups, with turtle volunteers also getting their food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) provided.
Besides all that people who work with Project Biodiversity get various discounts around the town of Santa Maria for example for diving and island tours.
And if you encounter any problems than the volunteer coordinator is literally god sent and will help you through them all (shoutout to Débora♡).
Definitely will consider coming back if time allows it. Love you guys, keep up the great work!

The nesting season is a unique opportunity to work with adult turtles and help protect their nesting period to ensure their survival and development.

During this volunteering I had the opportunity to carry out many tasks such as:
- The recovery of GPS coordinates of the turtles
- Searching for identification tags
- Measuring the turtles
- Relocation of endangered nests

During this volunteering, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about turtles and the different threats they face in the future.

What I remember at the end of the experience is all the information I got about the turtles and the good time I had with the volunteers.

I would recommend this programme to anyone looking for a unique experience that they will not soon forget!

As a veterinary medicine student I'm really interested in wildlife. I found the project via Google and came here for 2 weeks. I did 1 week of the nesting program and 1 week of the hatching program. I'm very glad that I did this because you are able to witness all the aspects of both worlds!

With the nesting program you stay in a tent at a camp at the beach. It's basic (no shower, sand everywhere) but I think that was really part of the experience as well! every night you will go on patrol on the beaches to look for nesting turtles. The feeling when you see one crawling up to the beach in the moonlight is really magical! You witness the entire nesting cycle of how they make the nest and lay the eggs. I learned a lot and everyone is very helpful and friendly! I liked the variety at the nesting camp, in the morning you are able to do nest relocations of the nest that were layed in the night before (that had to be moved because of the light pollutions for example). It was great to learn how to do a nest relocation and everything was a really special experience!

At the nesting program it's really magical as well to see the baby turtles hatch every night. One night we had more then 260 babys which is amazing! Watching all the little ones crawl to the water is something you will never forget!

Beforehand I was a bit worried how I would cope with the lack of sleep but it was fine! Durnig the day you can rest a lot so at night you are able to go on patrol again! :)

In conclusion I had an amazing experience and learned a lot about turtle conservation and the culture on the island of Sal!

Got to learn a lot about the plants and animals on the island that the project was trying to protect such as sea birds, turtles, palm trees. Activities included a bird census checking nests in protected areas and putting rings on chicks and checking on turtle nests in the hatchery and releasing any babies that had been born in the night.
Provided with a modern apartment in the town centre for duration of stay and easy process for applying and making arrangments to come. Definitely made me consider doing something similar in the future!

This is definitely a once in a lifetime experience! The living conditions at camp are very basic and you work only during the night which means you never get enough “good” sleep, BUT if you prepare yourself mentally for these conditions this will be one of the most fullfilling things you’ll ever do! I had no experience with turtles prior to this, so it was even more stunning to see these gentle giants so closely. The people at camp were all very friendly and welcoming, but after months of doing nightshifts they had already been very exhausted and slept most of the day. The other volunteers and I tried to busy ourselves with playing volleyball, cleaning the beach, going for a swim or playing cards but all in all the possibilities at camp are very limited so you may get bored after a few weeks.
All in all I would encourage everyone who likes to work with sea turtles and can endure basic living conditions to join the programm. (duration of my stay: 3 weeks).

I recommend this magical experience. I made new friends from all over the world. I felt very satisfied with the work done, I experienced a different month that made me reflect on many things about the life. The friendships were fantastic You have to be able to adapt to a different lifestyle, but there are many people ready to support you. There will be moments of fatigue and stress, but this experience will change your life. If you are ready, I highly recommend this experience.I felt very satisfied with the work done, I experienced a different month that made me reflect on many things. The friendships were fantastic.

Overall a great experience, as I wanted to volunteer in wildlife conservation. The work itself is fulfilling, and you get to see turtles like almost no one else does. You also get to see a popular holiday destination from a different perspective: You live and eat around locals instead of a resort environment, which is something I highly recommend for anyone who is used to resort vacations.

However, some communication and organisation issues within the project need to be addressed, and the cost of participation could be a little lower.

The atmosphere is really great, work is hard but satisfying and I can really feel my positive impact on nature and sea turtles. Most of the people here are friendly and approchable. Organization could be better sometimes but overall I can't complain.

The biggest problem is mosquitoes and sometimes rain during the night shift - but if you are prepared for it it's not a problem.

If you are prepared for hard but satisfying work, sometimes in not perfect conditions, with you will definitely enjoy your stay here.

This experience has been amazing. Choosing this program allows you to do a lot of different activities and so be able to learn a lot from a big variety of fields - from wildlife (tropical birds, endemic species, not dangerous but cute baby sharks and sea turtles of course!) to endemic plants. The support you get is from people very knowladgeable and competent people that will take time to explaing things and answer all your questions. They always ready to help you and go an extra mile to do so.
The town is full of super friendly people and you-ll also have time to spend out chilling or having a party and living the life of Sal from a local perspective!
Overall it-s a great experience that I would strongly reccomend.

By saying that the initially planned 8 weeks working for the Project turned into 10 weeks, it is already clear that I loved it :)

My aim was to be able to work hands-on in the field of nature and environment conservation and this is exactly what I had the opportunity to do by volunteering for Project Biodiversity. During my time there, we were working on monitoring different species of seabirds and the amazing field technicians taught me all the manipulations for the ringing and the sampling of the birds. We were also working on the conservation of endangered endemic palm trees and the realisation of new paths, which should avoid people from destroying the dunes by driving everywhere. These works took place in many different areas of the island. I therefore had the opportunity to see so much more of Sal than any touristic island tour is offering, from hidden beaches to the top of Serra Negra and Monte Leão.
The work could sometimes be hard and tiring, but the final aim is giving great motivation.

After these 10 weeks, I came back home happy, with a lot of new knowledge and experience and also way more muscles :)
I am really grateful for all the wonderful moments and new friends that this adventure gave me. Thanks to all of you for everything !!