ISV (International Student Volunteers) Reviews

Traveling with ISV was the best decision I've made in my 23 years of life. I have done study abroad and backpacked through Europe but nothing has impacted my life quite like the ISV experience. The staff is there for you 24/7 and they are super friendly. I worked in an incredible community building a road for coffee farms out of sustainable materials and eco-bricks, learned about eco-tourism, and played with the local children. It was a very humbling experience to say the least but after your volunteer work is over the next 2 weeks is an AWESOME adventure tour that practices sustainable tourism initiatives! We did everything in those 2 weeks; horseback riding, cliff jumping, whitewater rafting, kayaking, surfing, zip lining, free-hand rappelling, and the list goes on. ISV enhanced my love for adventure, travel and culture.

I travelled to Costa Rica in 2011 to do a project in Golfo Dulce. Our project was all about researching dolphin and poison dart frog populations in the area so as to determine their critical areas and protect their habitats. So we spent half our days out on a boat recording the behaviour of dolphins which was absolutely unreal. The other half was spent trekking through these stunning rainforests, looking for poison dart frog- a ridiculously cool experience.
We were completely immersed in the culture, staying with a host family and working alongside the locals. It was great because we saw Costa Rica from an angle that tourists don't get to see.
I learnt so much while I was there about sustainability and responsible tourism, and I took that back home with my when I left. It was absolutely the most fun and the most rewarding 5 weeks of my life, from the Spanish lessons to the project to the adventure tour! This program was the best experience of my life, and it will change yours! I recommend ISV's programs to anyone who wants to travel and to make a difference in our world!

I traveled to Australia with ISV in 2009 with a group of 13 like minded individuals, whom at the time I had no idea would end up being my friends for the rest of my life! Together we planted over 7,000 eucalyptus and tea trees to rehabilitate a cattle grazed field and eroded river bank that was preventing certain species of kangaroos to cross resulting in inbreeding - putting them in danger of extinction. The location was incredibly beautiful- a valley of the Blue Mountains. Our project leader was amazing, she kept us motivated - providing us with information we needed to fully understand the goals of the project! It felt great to see what we had accomplished in such a short period of time- a true testament to what teamwork and inspiration can do! At the end of the two week project we continued on to the adventure tour- an adrenaline junkies paradise on steroids! We got to see such an incredible amount of the country- stopping at only the best selected activities along the way. You name it- we did it, bungee jumping, sky diving, scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing, white water rafting, shopping, rappelling, aboriginal dancing and instrument playing! One must obviously go to get the true experience and perhaps you will understand why it is so difficult to explain in words!

I traveled to Costa Rica in 2008 with ISV and worked with a sea turtle research organization. We would do nightly patrols of the beach with WIDECAST researchers looking for turtles and nests so that we could collect important data in regards to their nesting habits. We also worked during the day cleaning the beach and helped rebuild an old school house into a dormitory for the researchers. The amount I learned in regards to conservation, sustainability and responsible tourism was amazing. They did such a great job and turning hard work into an incredibly rewarding experience. The 2nd two weeks on the adventure tour was just unreal. We went rafting to a lodge in the middle of the rainforest, ziplining, rapelling down waterfalls and snorkeling just to name a few activities. I came home so stoked on this program that 4 of my closest friends have traveled with ISV now as well. I highly recommend any of their projects!!

While I was in Costa Rica I volunteered for Proyecto Carey, located in the Osa Peninsula. It was a breathtakingly beautiful area surrounded by picturesque beaches and the locals were gracious and kind. During our two weeks we hiked through the rain forest and documented frugivores' interactions with nutmeg trees, all in the hopes of creating legislation to protect nutmeg trees for future generations. My roommate was amazing, as were the rest of the volunteers on our project and our host families. We truly became a little family during our time at Proyecto Carey.

The second two weeks were a wonderful finish to a meaningful trip! The activities were terrifying, crazy, and wonderful. We all had the time of our lives! I made great friends and enjoyed so many new experiences. Sometimes I look back at the pictures from my trip because it's the only real proof that something this wonderful actually happened, and it wasn't all a figment of my imagination!

If you're considering going on this trip- DO IT! There is no possibly way you will regret it!!

I traveled with ISV to South Africa during July/August 2012. The volunteer portion of my trip was absolutely outstanding. I think back on my volunteer work everyday, realizing how much it had an impact on me. Everyday was different and brought on a variety of obstacles.

My volunteer project was based in a township called Langa. There, we worked with children in preschools as well as in an after school program called Happy Feet. It was very challenging but incredibly rewarding; there was a massive language barrier with the kids but they were so grateful to have us there. Happy Feet really inspired me to change courses. I immediately applied to the education faculty at school and cannot wait to become a teacher. My ISV volunteer project gave me some essential experience for my education.

Happy Feet was a community development project, but ISV offers other types of volunteer projects as well. Other groups did building/planting projects, some were placed in game reserves working hands-on with animals, doing tracking work or maintaining the game reserve itself. It all depends on what you want to do.

ISV also offers adventure travel - all in all I visited five countries in five weeks. We did game drives, cliff jumping and abseiling in South Africa. We swam with dolphins and whale sharks in the Indian Ocean. We did a horse back ride along the beaches of Mozambique. We did mountain biking through the hills of Swaziland. We sat on the edge of Victoria Falls in Zambia. We saw hundreds of elephants and camped under the stars in Botswana. Sound incredible? I can tell you with 100% honesty that this trip was above and beyond expectations.

ISV will not let you down. The entire trip was an experience of a life time, I would do it over and over and over again if I could. I cannot wait to visit South Africa again!

This summer I travelled with ISV on their New Zealand project. I volunteered for two weeks on an amazing island named Motuihe. We planted trees and removed invasive plants and I really felt like what I was doing mattered. Even though these two weeks were the volunteer part of my trip it really felt like a fun environmentally-based camping trip. The people I was with were awesome and fun and the staff was incredibly helpful. After, I went on a two week adventure tour and had more fun than I've ever had in my entire life. I went bungy jumping, white water rafting, cave exploring, and glacier hiking! And as cool as those activities were, there is much more you experience as well. I met amazing people that became my best friends, learned about other cultures and unique ecosystems, and experienced an immersive trip that completely changed my life. I even got to go on a fifth week to Fiji after New Zealand! I am travelling with this organization again and again and again!

I had an amazing time in South Africa, volunteering at the Ann Van Dyk Cheetah Centre at De Wildt as well as he adventure tour around southern Africa. I simply can't put into words the experience, definitely eye-opening. South Africa is a beautiful place, ISV does a great job combining both volunteer work and discovering Africa. As an animal science major, the volunteering was very helpful in cementing my career path, giving great hands on experience with the animals and also educating me on animal behavior, the breeding, and research program there. The adventure tour was simply getting your reward for working hard during the first two weeks. I did more in those two weeks than I ever have in my life. We went to amazing places, learnt a lot about the cultures and did crazy, adrenaline-pumping activities. I'd definitely go again if given the opportunity !

In January 2012 I travelled with International Student Volunteer to South Africa to be involved in a 2 week conservation volunteer project followed by a 2 week adventure tour around South Africa. I’ve always been very passionate about animals and working with them (as I am a vet student) and ISV the perfect opportunity for this. For our project we were working and living in Lapalala Game Reserve, an environment fill with wild exotic animals such as zebra, wilder beast, giraffes, rhino, leopards and impala just to name a few. Our mission was to carry out field work in the reserve, which the reserve’s scientists could then use to assess whether elephants and lions could be re-introduced into the area. Working amongst these animals and seeing them wild in their natural environment was truly amazing and an experience I will never forget. Knowing that wild rhinos walked around the camp at night and coming out of your cabin in the morning to see a family of warthogs at your door was surreal. We also had the experience to meet the critically endangered black rhinos that were to be released in the park, it was spectacular. This volunteer work left me with such a feeling of pride and accomplishment and further sparked my passion for wildlife. ISV projects were amazing as I could have confidence that the volunteer projects were sustainable and of great importance to South Africa. Not only did the experience benefit South Africa’s conservation programs but also changed my life and perspective of the world. I loved this project so much that I didn’t want to leave!! Then however we were off on our 2 week adventure tour of South Africa!!!! This was another truly unforgettable experience and we were lucky enough to do activities such as kloofing in the middle of the largest green canyon in the world, a night drive in Kruger National Park where we came face to face with wild lions, tree-top canopy tours in famous yellow-wood forests and dolphin and fur-seal watching. My favourite day however was when we got to abseil of Table Mountain in Cape Town!!! Crazy experience. I met the most amazing people on my trip who I will keep as lifetime friends. This was the most amazing experience of my life and it has truly changed me forever.

The ISV trip to South Africa in Feb of 2012 was one of the most fantastic trips I have ever been on. Each day brought a host of new exciting experiences and the work on the first two weeks of the tour was both extremely rewarding and interesting.

My group and I (about 15 all up, comprised of people 18-22 years of age) conducted habitat assessments at Lapalala nature reserve in the Limpopo province in South Africa. We were doing these assessments to ascertain whether the reserve could once again sustain populations of lions and elephants, after they had been hunted from the park earlier in the 20th century. The work was very rewarding, and the days in the field gave me the opportunity to see some of Africa's most amazing wildlife, such as leopards, giraffe's and hippo's.

The adventure tour after our volunteer work took us from Kruger national park in the northeast of the country (where record rainfall kept us in the park for almost 24 hours!) all down the eastern coast, finally ending up in Capetown. Along the way we were able to participate in amazing activities such as bungy jumping, zip-lining, shark cage diving and surfing, as well as a number of activities that could not be achieved in any other country. We were also exposed to a more grass roots level of the African culture, gaining more appreciation of South African society than you would get in similar tours by other companies
My volunteer work in South Africa was an irreplaceable trip, one where I made friends that I am still in regular contact with today, accomplished a real difference in the conservation work we undertook and had my entire outlook on life changed for the better. I would recommend anyone looking to do some volunteer work and have a great deal of fun to ISV, as their knowledgeable and extremely friendly staff made the trip infinitely better and the organisation allowed us to focus more on having a great time. 10/10.