Program Reviews

I was an intern with GVI for 8 weeks on the Tenerife base in the Canary Islands. Overall, I had an incredible experience and I would recommend this program if you are interested in marine life and not a diver. I was supported by a wonderful and welcoming staff member during my time. The boat rides were a real highlight and I learnt really useful skills regarding data collection and input and also fin ID. It was great going out on the boats and recognising certain individuals from the nicks and scars on their fins! The marine biological researcher GVI partner with in Tenerife is incredible, she is full of so much knowledge and is a key element of the program. I am very grateful to have learnt from her and experienced such incredible marine biodiversity.

The base is still very new so I experienced a few teething problems and things could be improved but I am sure this will get better with time and improvements can be made. For example, I do feel like the actual project work could be bulked out more. Gaining more local partners associated with the work such as beach cleans, and expanding in terms of education and awareness would make it feel like volunteers and interns are having more impact and increase the work done on the project. There is also only a tiny difference between a volunteer and an intern - an intern does a few quizzes and presentations but everything else is the same. This is something to be looked into further as even I struggled with thinking of ways to differentiate the intern and volunteer workload/type!

I am really glad I chose this project and to intern with GVI. I have great memories and overall absolutely loved my experience! When the base gets more established, which will come with time, I think it will be a fab hub and a great place to learn and experience marine life and get involved with conservation!

I had such an amazing time in Ghana. I met so many other great people who were volunteering or staff of GVI. I made friends for life with some of them. My program was so great working with kids every day and being able to watch them grow in their English, Math, Science, etc. The community Kokrobite is so welcoming and some of the nicest people I've ever met. I have no bad things to say about my trip except that leaving was very hard. I would definitely recommend this program to anyone and everyone, it was seriously one of the best experiences of my life and I will definitely be going back.

I absolutely fell in love with Huay Pakoot in the two weeks that I spent living in the village. From experiencing elephants in the wild, to living in the homestay of the local family and getting to experience their cultures - I learnt so much. As well as hiking with elephants daily, I also had the opportunity to learn their local language of Pakinyaw, and teach technology skills to one of the villagers from nearby. All of the volunteers were amazing, and I got to meet so many fantastic people that I will continue to see in the future.

I can't wait to take part in more GVI projects in the near future!

For this scheme you are based directly in the Amazon cloud forest which in an incredibly unique experience. We went hiking further into the forest where I was taught more about the environment and the different species that inhabit it. They are trying to educate the area on reforestation and techniques to prevent environmental damage which we played a role in. I met so many new people who were so welcoming and ready to help whenever needed. I don’t speak Spanish but that didn’t hinder my time there at all, I even picked up some Spanish while I was out there. I was also able to visit incredibly locations in Peru before and after my volunteering such as Lima, Machu Picchu, Cusco and the oasis in Huacachina! Highly recommend.

I have just returned from spending a month with GVI in Pureto Morels, Mexico. The staff on the base were so caring and passionate and the level of training I recieved from them was second to none! I felt like I had found my community and people as soon as I arrived. Being surrounded by like minded souls who were all as passionate about conservation as I am gave me a lot of confidence and a sense of belonging that I have never experienced before.

The dive training and presentations taught me a huge amount about the reef but they were only a part of what I gained from this experience. I learned so much about myself, my ability to adapt and the way that I want to live. This is the part that I know I will keep with me forever and which only comes from going out of your comfort zone.

My only advice if you are thinking of going to Pureto Morelos, especially if it is for a short period like a month, is to check the time of year that you go as during the windy season the diving can be quite limited.

I have already started planning another GVI experience and I can't wait to see what will come from the next one!

Never felt the intensity like that going to another country by myself and feeling secure soon as I met up with Gvi and from there on was amazing. With that being said my time on base was amazing no phones so basically you and your group socializing and getting to know about other cultures. Being on surveys I always knew I’d see something and maybe you don’t but being out there all you can do is believe you will. On the way to base the first thing we saw was a jaguar track and that let me know I’m in for a crazy experience that I can’t live down

My time with GVI Chiang Mai has been one of the best experiences of my life and I'm so sad to have left! I've learnt so much and met so many amazing people... it really is a little family on base. I have a new-found appreciation for the Karen culture as well as wildlife conservation and sustainable living which I'll take with me wherever I go next. If you're thinking of volunteering abroad I'd highly recommend doing it with GVI. It's so much more than volunteering: you learn about why they do what they do and how important this is to the different bases; all the staff I encountered on my GVI journey were amazingly helpful, friendly and truly loved what they do. I'll definitely be volunteering with GVI again, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Tl;dr: My experience was overall balanced, 6/10. It’s a great programme on paper and many dive sites will let you experience great encounters with wildlife. The base management has also recently improved and everything is pretty well organised. However, the Seychelles base at Cape Ternay has a multitude of problems including high staff turnover, unreliable equipment (boat and compressor, diving gear is ok) and inability to manage effects of Covid-19. Also be aware that most participants are aged 18-23 and looking for a fun experience more than to create impact. If you’re looking for many serious and knowledgeable conversations about sustainability and conversation, this is not the place for you.

Long version:
I am a 34yo male from Switzerland. I was due to spend 2 months at the GVI base in Belize. However, 1 month before the start of the programme, I was advised that I had to choose another location because the Belize base hat problems getting the necessary documents to open. I chose the Cap Ternay Base on the Seychelles.

Unfortunately, I arrived shortly after a spike in Covid-19 cases on the Seychelles, which basically kept us in perpetual lockdown due to the Seychelles requirement of putting the entire group into isolation for 5 days if even just one person tests positive. Sadly, GVI proved unable to operate the base “safely” under these conditions, despite advertising that they could. This was less due to a lack of hygiene, but just the high infectiousness of Omicron which made new cases almost impossible to avoid. As a result, between Christmas 2021 and 07.02.2022 the base at Cap Ternay was in lockdown 4 times, for a total of about 22 days. This meant we were not allowed to leave base or dive (snorkelling was ok though). Under these conditions, the most reasonable course of action would have been to close the base until the Seychelles caseload or quarantine restrictions had improved. GVI however did no such thing, probably since that would have meant losing revenue.

Unfortunately, this is not where problems ended. When I arrived on base, the boat used to bring the volunteers to the dive sites was still in its annual service. After it finally was done, there were unidentifiable engine problems that staff could not solve by themselves. Additionally, the compressor used to fill the dive tanks is an old beast, which is both super prone to breakdowns. (Being petrol-fuelled, it also emits high amounts of CO2, quite shocking for an organisation dedicated to environmental conservation which has been on site for 16 years.) As a result, there were many days even outside of lockdown when we could not dive either. At least the program manager could rent boats and tanks from local dives shops sometimes so we got at least some dives in. But even these were sometimes cancelled at a moment’s notice.

A word on participants: the typical volunteer is in their early 20s and from the UK. A considerable number of people also arrives from the US or continental Europe. Based on a call with a sales agent I had hoped for more participants that were similar to my age (34), life situation (career change) and strong interest in sustainability, but that was not really the case. People were mostly looking for a fun time. Not necessarily a bad thing, but for me it killed a big reason for doing the programme in the first place. Just something to keep in mind. If you consider all these points, you will also know if chosing the (career) internship, as opposed to the volunteering, is for you. Are you a student or recent graduate? You might get some really valuable insights, especially if you are in the field of conservation. If you're already an experienced professional, you will get little value.

Finally, most people join a GVI programme to do actual volunteering work. But do not be fooled: since GVI does not provide any species identification training beforehand, you have to learn everything on base. This includes very interesting but time-consuming workshop and self-study sessions as well as “point-outs” where you go diving or snorkelling and a member of staff points outs species for you to identify. This makes sense, since animals may look very different in the wild compared to a power point slide. It’s also fun! But until you get to actually surveying fish or even corals, you have will have spent at least 4-6 weeks, even under optimal non-covid conditions. Studying invertebrates takes less time (about 2-3 weeks under optimal conditions) until you can start surveying. This means if you want to do actual volunteer work, you should plan for at least two months, otherwise you just spend your time training and on fun dives.

All that being said, when things DID work, it was an amazing experience. I loved the diving around Cap Ternay and surveying is super fun! Especially when you see what happens with the data you collect over the long term. Unfortunately, these brilliant moments are balanced by the many frustrating ones. To be fair: things improved greatly in my second month and base management knows about the issues and promises to improve them. However, I can only rate what I experienced.

Here’s my extended pro & con list

+ Knowledgeable, fun and friendly staff which is also fairly experienced when it comes to marine conservation
+ great location in between two marine parks which are great for both snorkelling and diving and have beautiful beaches as well
+ day-to-day live is generally well organised
+ Feedback is taken seriously
+ surveying is SO much fun!

- GVI staff and organisation unable to keep base running during covid, bad & short-sighted decision-making considering the circumstances. This was a really big downside during my stay, especially considering GVI’s absurdly strict no-refunds policy.
- Diving happens less frequently and is less impactful than they promise, for a multitude of reasons. After 9 weeks I had a total of 47 dives (out of a maximum of 90), of which 18 were surveys, 5 were cleaning dives (“DAD”) and 9 for survey training. Meaning a third of all dives had nothing to do with marine conservation, which I consider a bit too much.
- Base in need of significant investment: need for new, electric compressor, several parts of the base are in disrepair and lots of trash lying around on premises.
- Not very ecological operations. Air compressor is a fuel guzzler, cleaning products are not bio-degradable (bleach to clean floors is swiped directly into nature), the recycling station is the biggest mess I have ever seen, though improvements on all
- More education on sustainability and conservation could and should be done during the programme.

The 2 weeks I spent volunteering in Oxapampa with GVI were 2 of the most enriching weeks of my life. GVI brings in volunteers and interns to support the work of a project started and run by local conservationists at CDS. This former passion fruit farm was purchased by a couple a little over a decade ago and now, thanks to their efforts, provides habitat for an incredible amount of biodiversity. In my time there we learned about the process and methods used to revive the forest, from sifting compost, to potting saplings, to planting young trees in future forests. The field guide, Duggie, knows more about the local flora and fauna than I could believe possible. He lead us on night walks where we found glass frogs, bats, and countless incredible insects. We conducted bird surveys, came across beautiful Peruvian birds, and learned how to set up camera traps and log sightings of mammals. Evelyn the program manager was incredibly organised, supportive and friendly. Together they and the CDS staff made our stay a really incredible experience.

In January 2022 I was involved in the GVI Chiang Mai project. As part of the project I helped with the collection of health and behavioural data on a group of Elephants in the mountainous village of Huay Pakoot. Each weekday we hiked to where the elephants were eating their breakfast and observed them, recording their behaviour and interactions with other elephants at set intervals. Seeing these creatures in the wild gave me a greater understanding of why it's so important to protect them. I didn't fully comprehend the complexities of the tourism industry surrounding Elephants but speaking to the locals and GVI staff has educated me on the most ethical ways to experience these animals- in their natural habitat! I was lucky enough to be able to complete this project and travel to and around Thailand with my boyfriend. I'd highly recommend having a travelling companion because it's wonderful to share the experiences together and reflect on the trip when back home. However, I wouldn't let a lack of travel buddy stop you from travelling! You meet so many amazing, like-minded people along the way that you soon have a great group of friends to share your time with. Before deciding to volunteer, I had no idea what I wanted to do with the next stage of my life. I thought I'd enjoy doing something that involved helping others and protecting the world around me but I wasn't sure what that looked like. Having this experience has reassured me that I really want to be a part of something important and impactful. If you have the opportunity to volunteer with GVI, take it.