Program Reviews

The Volunteer Travel Summer Camp was enlightening in every aspect. It showed me how much misfortune there is in underdeveloped countries and taught me how badly people in India need our help. It all starts with education, how we raise and fill up with knowledge the children of tomorrow.

Our western way of living differs drastically from the way people live in India. As volunteers we saw incredible things we would have never imagined during our stay, such as how people really live in the slums. This was thanks to coming as a volunteer rather than as a tourist, which allowed us to immerse ourselves into the culture in a special way. We were able to see this unbelievably chaotic borough from the inside (even the inside of the houses!) thanks to the students from the school who guided us through.

The sightseeing in so many different cities of India gave us a very complete idea of the country, its history and its traditions, in conjunction with the trekking trip through the Himalayas with left us speechless due to the beauty and the peace that we perceived during our night up there. This was for me one of the trip’s highlights.

The accommodation was quite satisfactory, which isn’t usual there, and everything was well communicated in such way that we could take an autorickshaw to wherever we wanted to go, always bargaining (this was the fun part), once we had finished the voluntary work for the day.

The great thing about this trip is that you get to see almost every sector of India, which means that you can also judge the differences between life in rural, crowded or more touristic areas. It has been really exciting to embark on this adventure, and to live it with amazing people I met along the way.
Good luck with your adventure!

I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian since I was five years old and I’ve always wanted to work at a zoo because I’m in love with wildlife, so I thought this internship was a perfect opportunity to see if my dream is what I wanted and to also be a part of a volunteer project. During the project, I was able to do so many things I would have never thought I’d been able to do for years to come. I was able to give a Nyala an IV, which is probably one of my highlights of the trip. We were always asked our diagnosis on an animal to figure out what was wrong with it, which helped you start thinking like a vet, and then we were able to treat the animal if the medicine was at hand and if we were able too. After being at the project for 3 weeks and being able to visit the same townships, during dog dipping, you could see the impact you were making on the animals which is honestly the best feeling in the world. You would notice the decrease in mange, ticks, fleas, and worms that dogs had. You would see the growth of puppies and see how much healthier looking they would be after you treated them. Additionally, we were able to practice tasks of a large animal veterinarian as well. These tasks include, pregnancy testing, pig AI, cow dehorning, etc. The program offered a great selection of tasks where you could work with wildlife, livestock, and domestic animals. I realized from this trip that I do not want to be a zoo veterinarian anymore because I believe animals shouldn’t be in enclosures and instead roaming free like they were supposed to be. You could see the happiness of animals when they were in their own environment with freedom to do as they pleased. It was an amazing feeling being apart of such an awesome program that made a difference in the local towns and its surrounding reserves. And thanks to this internship, I now know that I want to travel to different countries that need veterinary help due to animals that have poor health and living conditions and be a part of the impact veterinarians are making around the world.

Growing up I have always loved animals especially cats since my mom always made sure we had at least one! So when I found this experience to go help in a wildlife reserve and Moda specifically the white lion I was giddy excited! It was more than what I had ever dreamt of! The staff at the park were so nice and I loved staying right there at the park! goeco.com has a ton of wonderful wildlife and conservation programs it was hard to choose which one but this was an experience I'll never forget!

I volunteered at an orphanage with GoEco for 4 weeks and I absolutely loved it. Still miss it, actually. You get to work with a variety of animals including antelope, monkeys, lions, birds and more! The staff and team really care about the wellbeing of the animals at the orphanage. Bring a positive mentality because their will be snakes, bugs and creepy crawlers! But hey, you're in Africa. Truly an adventure that I will never forget, if you're looking to make a difference in animals lives while being hands on - this is the place for you!

From the minute I arrived at the Abraham Hostel any fear I had disappeared. I arrived at 01.30 in the morning and the lady was so helpful and all my bookings were correct as I had changed details a few times. Next morning our GoEco team leader was great and took care of us, Because of the recent troubles, instead of having to make our own way to the projects he took us all personally. The orientation day was great and we had time to get to know others in the group and was very informative and interesting. The team leader was available all the time and sorted out any problems, always with a smile.
During my time on the social food programme I learnt a lot about myself and was challenged about a lot of my thinking on certain issues.
The team straight away made me feel accepted and valued. I thought I was going to give of my time and help but received so much back.
It was humbling when we delivered the food parcels to the older people and wonderful to see how the gentleman from the programme interacted with the them. Each person was so lovely and I received lots of hugs.
Something happened that was very personal, may not seem much to others but it was a special moment for me.
A party was held by the institute for the older people and we were invited to go. There was a poet and a man who sang and played the keyboard. I noticed in the audience 2 ladies, when they saw each other from across the room they waved and made there way to each other. They hugged each other and held each others hands and chatted and laughed. It was nice to watch especially for me as my own mother died earlier in the year and these 2 ladies just looked like my mum and her best friend, the way they greeted each other and looked in their appearance. It made me smile and tearful at the same time. I phoned my mums friend's daughter and told her straight away.
I made friends with 2 other girls, one I shared a room with and one who was on the same project. We became very close and are meeting up in Germany in January.
From start to finish it was a great experience.

It’s already been a month since I finished my internship with Hello BCN Hostel and I miss it and the people I've made had the opportunity to get to know.

Barcelona is an incredible city. I had previously been to Barcelona for a few short days while on a holiday tour in 2012 and I knew that one day I would need to come back and explore this fascinating city more. Being able to volunteer for 7 weeks with Hello BCN Hostel made that dream a reality.

What made this volunteer program special for me were the activities that myself and the other volunteers organised for the guests. We were not only able to explore new parts of the city and surrounding towns, but we were able to share our love of travel, our secret spots in Barcelona and make the guests holidays memorable.

I made wonderful, lifelong friends with the other volunteers who were with me. Coming from all parts of the world, we were able to bond over our wanderlust and experience that magnificence of Barcelona together. With alternating between working on breakfast shift, bar or organising activities for the guests left a lot of free time to explore the city.

From nights out at tiny bars in the Gothic Quarter, to the pub crawl which leaves every night from the hostel to the clubs along Barceloneta – the city certainly has a lot to offer for nights out on the town. Every night can be an amazing experience in a city that never sleeps at night (those siestas really help)!

But it wasn’t all about drinking and partying. We managed to find some wonderful treasures during out free time: the open air museum (aka bunkers de Carmel) took some finding but the views over Barcelona were well worth it! Tibidabo amusement park overlooking the city, Montjuic Castle, the Olympic pools, the hedgemaze gardens north of the city, seeing the ruins of the old city in El Born Marketplace, the Picasso Museum, the Magic Fountain and the Citadella Park. Even if you don’t know what to see or do in Barcelona – there is a lot on offer to keep everyone happy.

Day trips outside of the city were also a fantastic opportunity to experience more Spanish culture and see what else Spain has to offer. Girona with the beautifully colourful houses and Roman ruins; Figueres with the overwhelming Dali Museum (and crypt of the man himself); Sitges with its beautiful beaches and Montserrat with its hiking trails and Monastery. These were incredible days and ones that I wouldn’t have had without my time volunteering.

And who could forget the amazing architecture of Barcelona? From the Sagrada Familia to Park Guell to the Block of Discord – the famous architecture of this city is something everyone should experience first-hand.
Being able to visit all of these places whilst volunteering really helped with the guests as well. People don’t always know what a city has to offer and it was wonderful recommending to guests what they could do and see whilst in Barcelona.

My time at Hello BCN Hostel was only made better by the wonderful staff that work there and the volunteers who were with me. It is an experience I would never forget and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

One of the best parts of my internship in South Africa was treating a sick rhino. When we arrived she was very skinny. Because she was quite weak, we were able to hold her against the ground while the veterinarian and the volunteers gave here some fluids and glucose. After this we tried to get her on her feet, so she could recover faster. Unfortunately, she never stood up, because she died three days later. After she died we had the opportunity to do a post-mortem on her, to see why she died. I was incredibly lucky to be that close to a rhino and to see what was wrong with her by doing a post-mortem on her. It was very sad that she died though, but unfortunately this is part of the job. Not only did I get some hands-on experience with a variety of beautiful animal species, I also learned a lot from the veterinarian who worked there at that moment. He taught me a lot of useful stuff, which I can use for my further studies. For example: pregnancy testing, the drugs he used, darting animals, working with horses, doing intravenous injections and so one. I absolutely recommend this project, because it is diverse, educational, fun and a thrilling experience you will never forget.

When I was working at the old peoples home in Zimbabwe I met a really interesting 100 year old woman! I would often see her up before breakfast sweeping her porch! When she was introduced to anyone she would turn to someone who knew her and say "You know who I am, why are you asking again." I though that was funny!

While my time in Bali was a whirlwind of unforgettable experiences, I'll never forget my last day teaching. As the bell rang on our final class, I delivered a speech written in Indonesian, to explain to my students that I had to go back to America now but that I hoped to see them again some day. Nervous titters flooded the room. Before leaving, every child wanted a handshake, a reassurance, and for the little girls, a kiss on the cheek. Several of them cried. As a young person who just wants to feel like I've spent my time benefiting the world around me, there was no comparable feeling. Bali inspired, weathered, confounded, and irrevocably altered me. Just to know that somewhere out there, a child has a better chance at being successful because of me, is something I consider to be my greatest achievement.

I will share with everyone the email I sent directly to GoEco on my return from my Turtle Conservation trip to Costa Rica:

It was in 2010 that I participated in a week volunteer trip at an animal sanctuary in Namibia, it was THE best experience of my life! I vowed to make volunteer trips around the world a part of my life forever, and went back to school to change my career path in order to make this possible. In 2013 I decided that my next volunteer trip would be to Central or South America working on a turtle conservation project, and so began to study Spanish in preparation. Now in 2015 I am happy to say that I am in the position to make yearly volunteer trips of weeks/months, and so was thrilled when I discovered GoEco, the world’s leading Ecotourism Company, whom I could continue to use for my future yearly trips. My first participation in a GoEco project was to be the turtle conservation trip that I had been in preparation for over the past 2 years.
On June 14th I landed in San Jose, Costa Rica, to commence a 3 week volunteer trip organised through your company. The trip, as defined in the 'full details' section of your website (http://www.goeco.org/area/volunteer-in-central-america/cost…) was to consist of a mandatory one week orientation and Spanish course followed by 2 weeks at a Turtle Conservation Project on either the Pacific or Caribbean coasts. The exact location of my project would not be chosen until my arrival - this is one thing which I really find disadvantageous, after making payment the options should be given, so that if there is not a project that matches what the payee is hoping for, they are able to change dates to match one that does.
One thing that I read and was told over and over again before arriving at my project; ‘go without expectations and you will have a great time’ I did this (it is actually my life motto) but had an extremely disappointing experience, and wanted to give you an account of my experience and some suggestions as to how it could have been improved.

CRLA - ‘go without expectations and you will have a great time’ my one expectation was to improve my Spanish, even if this was just a slight improvement.
As mentioned above the first 'week' was a mandatory week in a Spanish language school. This was the main reason that I chose this trip over the vast majority of options out there, having been studying Spanish for 2 years I thought that this would be a perfect chance for my abilities to be improved. The first thing that I want to say about this mandatory week is that it is only actually only 4 days. Now I wasn’t expecting it to be a full 7 days, but as it states that this would be a week I was hoping for 6, and expecting at least 5. I would suggest changing the wording for this so as not to mislead participants, also, as it is only 4 days, knowledge of this would enable people to plan an activity for the remainder of the week.

I found the mandatory language week a complete waste of time, and speaking to other volunteers during my trip I was not alone, everyone agreed that they got nothing from this ‘week’. The problem that I had personally was that I was placed in a class way below my level, not only did this not enable me to learn anything new or revisit important subjects, it was also such a low level that I wasn’t even exposed to much speech. Having been studying the language for 2 years, I have full knowledge of the grammatical rules, but my ability in conversation is very low. I understand that this is likely why I was placed in such a low grade, but as a volunteer student with only 4 days of classes, I feel like this could have been handled much better. Students who attend the school as a 4 day course prior to commencement of a volunteer project should either be placed into a separate ‘volunteer’class were they can be taught things that will actually help them during their time volunteering; conversational skills for transport/getting around as well as in areas to do with the work the volunteers will be doing during their stay (conversations about the processes of turtle conservation). Or, be asked what it is they are hoping to gain from their time there, in my case I wanted to be exposed to the language itself, especially in areas associated with tenses, and then placed in a class accordingly. Basically, the school need to look at and therefore treat volunteer students differently to the those who are with them for 1 month+ Another general observation I have for CRLA is making the classes Spanish only, being in an absolute beginner class my fellow classmates spent the entire class speaking in English, apart from the odd sentence coaxed out of them by the teacher. Having attended some Spanish classes in Australia, from the very first lesson there is zero English spoken even if you’ve had no previous Spanish experience, and this is extremely beneficial.

The information given to us from the volunteer coordinator at CRLA regarding the project at Gandoca was incorrect, whether this was a deliberate act or just lack of continual research and up to date information on their part I have no idea. We were told that Gandoca was a turtle conservation project; false, there was a hatchery; false, we would require a mosquito net, which incidentally they sold at CRLA; false, we would eat what the family ate; false, there would be 6-10 hours of work split into shifts throughout the day; false.
Another factor I find peculiar with the aspect of the language school/volunteer program, is the fact that they do not arrange transportation to the project, and that your last night at the project is actually spent back in San Jose with the host family. I was under the impression that signing up for 14 days at the project would mean that I had 14 days at the project, this is actually only 12 days as you do not arrive until the Monday and then leave on the morning of the Saturday so as to return to San Jose. Personally, and again the other volunteers that spoke with agreed, I would rather have the school use the money they spend to place me with a host family for the last night on organising transportation to the project instead. This would also allow for another day at the project which is what volunteers pay for. If I am unable to make a return flight home on the Sunday because I leave the project that morning, than it is on me to arrange accommodation for the Sunday night, which again would mean that I would need to know the location of my project prior to commencement of the trip. Also, I have no idea why arrival at the project is a Monday, if I’ve booked and paid to do 14 days at a turtle conservation project, than my arrival day and departure day should be the same.

Gandoca - ‘go without expectations and you will have a great time’ my only expectation was to be placed in a Turtle Conservation Project.

I chose Gandoca over the only other option because it was closer to what I was wanting from my experience, which was to be in an isolated location surrounded by Spanish, where I could participate in all the experiences of turtle conservation including hatchery work. The other option was located in a town with cafes, bars, restaurants etc, the accommodation was not near the beach that would be monitored, a beach which also had tourists trying to spot turtles, and there was no hatchery. Had these two options been given to me on payment I would have opted for a different date so that I could be in a more rustic setting. However, so long as I was involved in turtle conservation, I would be happy, as that is what I went to Costa Rica to do, and had spent two years preparing for.

This leads me to my biggest disappointment with this trip, and the thing that you must rectify if you only act on one aspect of this letter, Gandoca IS NOT A TURTLE CONSERVATION PROJECT. Whilst this may have been a conservation project in the past, and I’m going to assume it was and that things have changed since then rather than this just being sheer incompetence, it is no longer.
The Gandoca Turtle Conservation Project does not exist, what is there is a fruit farm, ran by a reformed family who once ate turtles and their eggs but are now interest in their conservation, who happen to have a family member whom does not live on site, but whom is a turtle conservationist. There was once a hatchery but this had been washed away during storms several times, and so had not been rebuilt, and so there is no longer any nest monitoring. As this is a fruit farm all members of the family are involved in the running of the farm which is a full time job, there is nobody there during the day to run a turtle conservation project, and therefore how can one exist?
Kendal, the turtle conservationist living off site, also works on his family farm during the day, but comes to the ‘project’ at 8pm to take the volunteers on night patrol. As there is nobody to lead and work with the volunteers during the day there is nothing to do, days consist of waking at 8 for breakfast, sitting around for 12 hours, and then going on a 4 hour night patrol; not what I had signed up for. We were told during our induction that we may be able to join the ranger on patrols during the day, but that this could not be guaranteed as it would be the rangers’ choice, and they had new rangers every 8 days. We did join the ranger one day, and spent 4 hours with him, relocating one nest, had this happened every day then Gandoca could be labeled a Turtle Conservation Project, but this only happened once and from the mouths of the family members, ‘could not be guaranteed’. With no supervisor we were not able to do any work during the day as stated in the document we signed at CRLA, however we still collected rubbish on our own a couple of times just so that we were doing something in the terms of turtle conservation.

Nothing comes close to my disappointment in paying to join a Turtle Conservation Project and being placed on a fruit farm, but my next complaint from Gandoca is the food. I had read and had been told that the food in Costa Rica consisted of a lot of rice and beans, but that the family would try to give us variety where ever possible and would be eating the same as the volunteers they were hosting, this did not happen. During my entire stay in Gandoca a tomato, a couple of broccoli florets, a couple of slices of carrot and probably half a pineapple was the grand total of the fresh food that I ate, with other fresh fruit offered on maybe 3 occasions. Breakfast almost always consisted of about half a scrambled egg each, with a lot of onion and 4 slices of buttered bread (there was so much butter on these slices that it was actually possible to squeeze it out into I’d say at least 2tbs of butter), lunch and dinner was boiled rice, heated black beans, fried plantain and more buttered bread, we also only saw actual meat on a handful of occasions. I was well prepared and had not been expecting much from the food, but what I did expect was to be eating what the locals ate, which was not the case, the family often ate differently to what we were offered. What was particularly irritating was the fact that if we were going to be placed on a fruit farm instead of a Turtle Conservation Project, we would at least be offered a variety of fresh fruit daily!

Last thoughts:

The strange thing about my time at Gandoca was that every night following a night patrol, I would go to bed happy, but then 8am would come and I had 12 hours of nothing until the next night patrol, if there even was a night patrol. It was these 12 hours of nothing that led to my decision to leave the project 4 days early, if I wasn’t going to be making a difference then I could at least be having fun and seeing more of Costa Rica. Considering I am an experienced volunteer (I’m a weekly volunteer at Taronga zoo and have volunteered at other organisations in the past) and my attitude towards conservation, hard work and doing what needs to be done to make a difference, I’m sure that you can agree that my decision to leave the project several days early speaks volumes of the project. Yes, during my time there I helped relocate 2 nests, a total of 301 eggs, and helped remove several bags of rubbish from the beach, yet I still left early as I could not stand the thought of being stranded in Gandoca longer than my intended time (a possibility due to the weather), I’ve never once considered leaving a volunteer commitment early in the past!

I write this email to give you a full account of my time at the project organised through your company in the hope that improvements can be made and that Gandoca can be removed as a Turtle Conservation Project, so that nobody else has the disappointing experience that I had. There is nothing that can be done to change the experience that I had, one thing that I always said to the other volunteers was that it might not be the experience we were wanting, but it was still an experience, nobody got hurt and I will never forget it, but I have yearly volunteer trips to look forward to, this is not the case for many. That been said, I can only imagine how unforgettable it could have been had I actually been placed in a Turtle Conservation Project, and this is something that you are able to rectify for future volunteers. Unfortunately, there is little you can do to change my feelings of disappointment, and it is highly unlikely that I will be using your company for my future trips when it is so easy to organise them through projects firsthand, once burned twice shy…