Program Reviews

I have waited a few weeks before posting this review to allow the dust to settle and also to give GVI time to respond to my direct emails with them. The response I have had from GVI has been wholly unsatisfactory and I hope that parents read this and think carefully before booking with GVI and sending their children abroad with this company.

Pre Trip

Beware… When signing up you will receive mountains of paperwork to complete. Immigration forms, numerous T&C’s, doctors forms, solicitors forms, police checks, references, covid passes etc etc.
I am sure most of this is necessary but GVI could streamline this somewhat, instead they just throw it at you and to make it worse communication with them once the booking and PAYMENT has been made is non-existent, this leaves parents panicking that something may be missing or filled out incorrectly as the trip approaches.

We were also blatantly lied to by GVI.
We specifically asked would there be any add-ons/extras once the trip is paid for, the verbal response was that apart from the flight was NO. This is incorrect….
You will need to pay for a private medical note from a GP, you will need a solicitor to fill in a Notary form (at least £100). We were booked on a diving trip and to all the parents amazement it only comes to light when booked that we need to supply the majority of the diving equipment. All of the wetsuits & masks etc as well dive watches & maker buoys have to be purchased in advance and taken on the trip. It would be much more environmentally friendly if this could be hired/borrowed whilst on the trip as is usually the case when diving abroad. What made it worse that some items weren't even required or used, such as the marker buoys or the expensive diving watch. These didn't even make it out of the box!!

During the trip.
After the hassle and never ending expense we never the less sent our sons in the hope that they got out of the trip what was promised… Not the case.
The trip quickly turned into a farce, it transpires that the majority of the staff in Mexico were themselves just volunteers, I believe they offer some of the adult GVI participants free board etc to assist in looking after the teenage group. These volunteers had absolutely no experience or qualifications in looking after younger people, they couldn't be bothered and some of them became quite threatening. At one stage we were getting reports home and were worried for the safety of our children. Thankfully some of the staff decided to walk out and this was a relief, they were obviously not suitable and we were worried that something terrible could happen.

When getting to Mexico the group were amazed that they were then confined to the compound for large parts of the day, after an hour or two of the so-called activities they were just expected to sit on their beds all day in something similar to “House Arrest”. The whole trip was in then danger of disintegrating, the group were contacting home complaining of the situation and GVI contacted the parents admitting that there were issues and gave a load of spurious excuses.

In the end they didn't do half of what was promised and it certainly wasn't the marine conservation/ diving trip we all paid a lot of money for. It turned into a beach holiday with a bit of diving thrown in!! The group enjoyed each others company and got the most out of it that they could but many things like coral monitoring/conservation & beach cleaning were non existent, they were meant be there to volunteer but not one volunteering duty was undertaken.

When they got home we were waiting for an in-depth email & post mortem from GVI perhaps explaining what happened and some admission of fault..Perhaps even an expected partial refund, instead they just went silent.

I then emailed GVI and their response was appalling. They choose to respond in a very legalistic manor and not apologetic at all, of course they quote various T&C’s, its probably why they bamboozle you with paperwork when booking.

On the trip itself they basically blamed the participants for the lack of coral research they said the group couldn't be trusted....Incredible!! Lots of parents & group met at the airport and you couldn't wish to meet a nicer bunch of pleasant and well educated young people, some of the group were even studying marine biology so to insult us and treat the group who had paid an awful lot of money for the trip with such disdain tells you a lot about GVI.

The response from GVI has led me to the opinion that they are bordering on being a “Rogue Company”. I wouldn't be surprised if they are in financial troubles, they obviously severely cut back on what was promised and what we paid for. It has now only come to my attention that there are groups of people not just from this trip but many others that are considering legal action against GVI for various reasons..
As the company is based in South Africa remember that they are not covered by ATOL or ABTA, if they fold you will loose your money.

Think twice.

Volunteering with GVI this summer as a Marine and Coral Reef Conservation Research Intern was one of the best experiences of my life and made me realise how much I love fieldwork and marine conservation…so much so that I’m actually changing my major and am working towards setting up a conservation dive club in university which will aim to collect data and conduct PADI DAD dives!

I loved that not only was I in paradise, but I was also able to contribute to real-world research and aid conservation efforts in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. Not to mention, the dives were spectacular! The highlight for me would be seeing some whitetip reef sharks, a school of humphead wrasse, and swimming with dolphins.

Early wake up was around 6:30, followed by the morning chores, either cleaning the bathroom, preparing breakfast, or starting the compressor shift. Cooking for so many people and the loudness of the compressor was definitely something that took time to get used to. After breakfast, depending on the dive wave I was in, I would either kit up and go for the morning dives or do some more chores before the afternoon dives. Although I didn’t stay for a very long period (I wish I could have stayed longer), I still managed to do some surveys, which I really enjoyed. I especially enjoyed the Sharking surveys we did in the morning and evening. Even though there were no sharks in sight, we were able to spot some beautiful rays, and I loved the tranquillity of the water whilst wading through it in search of anything exciting.

In the evening, volunteers would hang out together or cook dinner together. I love cooking, so I would try to be involved whenever possible. I was surprised at how quickly I settled into a routine on base. I loved it - the complete immersion in nature and the sense of community and belonging I had whilst being there. I have made so many wonderful memories there.

I thank GVI for such a wonderful experience and look forward to staying involved as a GVI Ambassador!

My time as a climate crisis and clean energy intern was such an excellent opportunity. I really wanted to gain experience in my field, firstly to know what working in conservation/ clean energy would really be like, and also to add to my CV for university applications. Since it was virtual, I wasn't sure what kind of work I would be doing, or how useful it would be. Fortunately, my project was something I am genuinely interested in that made a concrete difference; I made a cost benefit analysis for switching a conservation hub in Thailand to solar energy, which included designing the system best suited for the area. I learned a lot and my mentor, Bex, was so supportive and helpful. I would absolutely recommend this for someone wanting to explore their chosen field and make a difference.

I stayed on the base located at Cap Ternay, northern west of Mahe, for five weeks. I was actually supposed to stay four weeks, however I acknowledged, as I spent my time there, that I was not ready to leave this beautiful island, the precious work for conservation and friends I have made, hence I went for one week extention of my stay. The base is located in the middle of the forest with two beautiful beaches near, Bay Ternay and back beach in which we do beach cleanups around twice a week. I really loved the remoteness of the place as I came from a big, crowded and caotic city. We often go to the beach to watch sunsets on the rocks located on the rightside of the plage where once I cut my foot trying to climb one of the rocks covered with oysters. I am thankful for Rose who has trained all of us for first aid response, we managed to treat the wound properly. Similar injuries are inevitible there. After every weekend, when we returned back from Beau Vallon or other cities, something happened whether a scratch from a trekking or a foot sprain. Once, one of the volunteers ''accidentally'' got bitten by another volunteer while playing American football on the beach. So, you can imagine how the staff must be sick of our injuries, although they were really helpful with the incidents happenning currently. Let me talk about some not depressing things happening on the base other than the wounds. So, our daily routine basically is an early wake up at around 6.30 a.m., then we do the duties such as cleaning bathrooms, changing binbags, preparing dive equipments, compressor shifts...We are all responsible for the preparation of three meals. Aaand diveeess. We do two dives a day. We generally spend three or four hours on the boat. According to the tide, we may walk around two hundred meters on a very bumby, sandy road in the sea towards the boat, hence I love high tide when we do not suppose to walk with 20 kilos on your back. But either way, once you enter the water, you forget all about the struggle coming on the boat. Numerous, vividly colored reef fish, various types of nudibranchs, giant rays and so on. I have managed to see three, 2.5 meters long white tip sharks chilling under a rock. I have missed the whalesharks seen two weeks before I arrived to the base unfortunately. During the dives, I have done distinct works underwater including removing debris from the bottom, coral surveys, invertebrate, reef fish and nudibranch surveys. Everyday is an opprtunity to learn something new and the staff tryies really hard to make variations on the daily schedule. One day you go for a seagrass research in the bay, another day you find yourself snorkelling at dawn, searching for juvenile sharks. Withnessing the work I have done there is utilized for conservation purposes by local institutions makes me eager to do more, and learning from the people working there about their experiences of conservation in distinct countries gave me hope to plan my future oriented around conservation while travelling around the world. It was a once in a life time experience for sure. I am greatful for the opportunity to get to know both volunteers and staff members and to share precious moments and memories with them. I felt how much this experience contributed to my perspective of life and my personality as soon as I landed in Turkey. I will definitely continue participating in other programs with GVI.

I am a thirty-something from Pennsylvania who ventured to GVI Limpopo South Africa. I decided to take a break from my current career and get involved with the wildlife conservation internship. I was there for a total of 5 weeks. I loved the experience so much I extended a week while on base. I would recommend this program to anyone who is a nature enthusiast and especially big 5 animal lover. You will get the most out of this experience if you stay 6-8weeks. Being self-directed is an important skill to be fully invested in the impact you are making. Get used to little sleep, cold showers, bad coffee, fluctuating temperatures and hand washed laundry, it is part of the experience. If you can go with the flow and don’t mind a minimal, communal living you will love this adventure. Every morning you watch the sunrise and every evening the sunset. I am a learner for life, so the internship program was a great way to stretch my “book brain” since it has been sometime since formal in-school education. You will learn everything from animal behavior, bird identification and calls, invertebrate and soil surveys, trees and invasive species, reserve work and more. The most amazing take away is all the friendships you will acquire for a lifetime. Go, Enjoy and don’t forget your camera!!!

This was a mind opening experience! We got to see the wildlife so up close and personal. There really is something so unique and special about seeing the wildlife thrive in their natural habitat. As well I’ve made life long friends from so many different parts of the world! I definitely recommend everyone do this at least once in their life! At first I was very skeptic about traveling so far and sharing a room with strangers but you learn to adapt quick. One of my favorite memories there was seeing a leopard on a kill.

I travelled to Phang Nga Thailand on the u set 18s course over July/August 2022. To volunteer in the Community and with Turtles and a week of adventure. Every single day was full of new food, places, experiences, we learnt so much and seeing the lifestyles of this country was extremely eye opening. I didn’t full appreciate what we had in the Uk that is just taken for granted. The GVI staff were so friendly, supportive and kind the trip would not have been the same. We explored local communities and visited lots of markets and a Primary school which was incredible. My favourite part was working in the Royal Thai Navy base centre for the conservation of Green Sea Turtles. Been up close to the amazing animals, was so special as they are endangered I felt so lucky. Eve was also so cool to work for, all of us were truly inspired by her and aspire to have the same job as her. During adventure week we explored mangroves, jungles, waterfalls, temples it was non stop! The team spotted many species of wildlife for us to see. Every night we travelled to new accommodation, as my group was quite small we all became close friends pretty quickly and each night we’d be playing card games with our GVI staff ( Jen, Kiz, Gay, George and Kyra) and then sit out on our balcony chatting before bed. Now that I’ve had to come home I miss all my new friends so much! I’d completely recommend this trip to anyone wanting to try something new and make new friends as it was a really great 2 weeks. Travelling alone at 16 was a bit scary at first but I met some other volunteers at Heathrow and the journey was completely fine we were just so excited to land in Thailand and get started. I’d do anything to relive my experience there I loved it so much.

I would recommend volunteer at GVI. I volunteered at GVI Thailand Chiang Mai for two weeks and it's one of the best experiences I've ever had. The staff, the villagers and the other volunteers and interns were very nice and friendly people and you can have lots of laughs with them. The experience here would change you and you wouldn't want to leave the place while being there because everyone else makes this place feel like home to you. There's a lot of good things to do there like elephant hikes and rice picking and I've learned a lot of new stuff and skills while being there. I'll definitely come back again and I've missed so many of my new friends. I would definitely want to volunteer at other GVI programs to learn more about the animals and other new stuff. It was also good to learn about the elephants in GVI Thailand Chiang Mai.

I spent twelve weeks in GVI's Chiang Mai base. For the first eight I was a career intern, then I became staff in my final month. I spent my internship hiking into the forest daily and carrying out observational biodiversity surveys on the forest's inhabiting elephants. In addition to this, I took part in courses and seminars relating to local biodiversity and global conservation concepts. I took classes to learn the local dialect, Pakinyaw, and also taught English to some of the villagers. I fell in love with the community and staff alike. To say it was a life-changing experience would be an understatement!

Greece was a unique experience,
If you're looking for an organized, fun and helpful trip while traveling around Greece then this trip is perfect for you ! I had a chance to volunteer in Greece and help protect turtle nests. The best part about this trip was being able to relocate the eggs if we felt they were endangered. I got to hold them and carry them to a safer place, it was such a wholesome experience. For volunteer work, we also got to do beach clean ups that were both necessary and fun because we would turn them into competitions as to who would get the most trash. After each beach clean up, we would look through the garbage and reuse some things like glass bottles for flower pots and other rubbish as decoration, it was so creative ! While other people were doing other surveys (morning walks to protect the nests) other people would make bamboo turtle tunnels to protect the nests from light pollution. I would 100% recommend this trip because it was not only fun but also worth every penny, I loved getting to know all the teens that were with me that came from all over the world and we got to discuss so many things and have open minded conversations about anything. As a group, we also got to be immersed in Greek culture by visiting places like Olympia and tasting different food and beverages local to Greece. Making these friends was so fun and it felt like I had known them forever :)