Program Reviews

I can 100% say this was one of the best trips I have ever done, and I did it as a single traveler. But not once did I feel home sick or an outsider! Lynne and Bob are fantastic people and treat all the volunteers as family. I was there for three weeks, the work is hard but you don't resent it as it's rewarding and there is such excellent team sprit among the volunteers the time disappears so swiftly! And getting to spend time with the monkeys is truly a wonderful experience. They are so full of energy and are brilliantly mental, intelegent and loving. There is also opportunity for some down time! I really have to recommend the safari trip to Kruger national park. South Africa is so beautiful you have to take every opportunity to explore its scenery and its unique wildlife. And I honestly believe this trip offers you the best kind of holiday experience wether you are a single traveler, a couple or part of a group.

Going to Riverside was the first time I had ever went away myself to do anything like this so I was pretty nervous but as soon as I arrived at Riverside I automatically felt ease and in 100% in a family environment. So I would say it is a great project for people going away themselves for the first time.
Getting to spend time with the animals was the greatest experience of my life! There is honestly no words to describe how amazing it is to spend every day caring for them and knowing you are making a difference to their lives. While I was there, there was a release so it really did enforce the difference you were making.
Listening to Bob and Lynne talking about their lives is something I dont think I could ever get bored of listening too. They really are amazing people!!

My time at riverside was amazing! From the moment I got there I felt welcomed into the riverside family. I wasn't just welcomed by humans either; a baby samango monkey popped out of a volunteers top to greet us. Within the first hour of being there I had held the samango and been jumped and climbed on by the baby baboons. One even fell asleep in my top. That feeling is just indescribable!! From then on it was just hands on everyday. There isn't a day you aren't surrounded by primates. There is a lot of cleaning and work involved but it doesn't feel like work as you are surrounded by new friends. The whole experience is very rewarding. One thing I do advice is to completely immerse yourself in the lifestyle. Don't worry about getting dirty; there isn't time to be stressed or worried. Just enjoy it!

Travelling to riverside was probably one of the most incredible things I have done in my life (even better than trekking the anna purna circuit in Nepal), I could not recommend this highly enough. Having said that though, you will need a love of wildlife if you go to this place. You'll be regularly getting down and dirty, having your hair pulled, and having dirty baboon hands placed where baboon hands should not be, but the best part is that although by the end of the day you look worse than you've ever looked before, you will love every single second of it.

So if you're interested i can give you a little insight..

You'll start the morning early (yes those dreaded words) but its so amazing to wake up to the sounds of the almost wild baboons who are in an enclosure right by the volunteer dorms. I even woke up an hour early to watch them and enjoy some peace before the busy day began. You can indulge yourself in a morning chat and a quick tea or coffee before you get to work. If you can call it that. Who would call feeding a baby baboon with a bottle of milk work?? I would happily be up at any time of the day for that. Afterwards you will have to put in a little bit of effort as its either time to clean the cages or prepare the food. And yes, if there is no shortage of the fresh fruit and veggies then the owners have no problem with you having some bananas, papayas, oranges, or even cabbage! Trust me, you will never have had fruit quite as good as there.

After breakfast its time for a general tidy up of the area, even some harvesting to collect wild plants (look out for Marula fruit) so that the monkeys can start to learn what they can forage for in the wild. This is also time to finish off any chores that need doing, and again the babies will need feeding once more! After lunch it tends to be more of a chill out time, depending on what projects are going on. This is the time when the volunteers are asked to monitor certain monkeys or baboons, or they take the baboons down to the pool to run around and climb. Don't be afraid to jump in the pool, the baboons love a good swim and your clothes will probably be dirty anyway.

From 4 in the afternoon its your time, you can take a shower (you should take a shower), use the wifi, read a book or play cards with other volunteers. Alternatively if you haven't had enough of the monkeys you can go and chill in the cage with them for a bit longer. Just make sure you have clean clothes for dinner!

I need a new paragraph for dinner because Lynne does fantastically with that one. All sorts of foods are provided. Breakfast and lunch are similar every day, but dinner is something new all the time. Saturday night is braii night which is a south african barbecue (although they'll kill me for calling it a barbecue) which is great if you like meat - they do also provide veggie options. Lynne also makes other south african dishes, but i have no idea how to spell them, so be prepared to get to know about south Africa a little bit more. Ask anything you want and you'll be sure that Bob and Lynne (the owners) will give you some insight, they have so many stories that they are always happy to share.

You may be on baby duty, which means you'll need to do the evening feed for the babies and bring their boxes down to your dorms at night! The volunteers tend to play cards and have a couple of drinks, its all very social. Some people even sneak off for a midnight swim. But generally everyone is in bed by 10, ready to wake up early again the next day.

Hmmmm.... the only thing left that I haven't said is some advice:

-Dont take any clothes that you care about, they will get dirty. And the washing is good, but it is still south africa so items of clothing may get a little damaged.

- Take an old towel that you dont care about (or a couple). You can donate them to the baboons once you're done there and you have space in your bags for souvenirs.

- Take as much money as you can (best on a travel card, and maybe a spare card). It's a one in a lifetime opportunity and you don't wanna miss out on the trips like kruger.

- Bring something from your country, there are so many different people, it'll be a great conversation starter.

I'll stop talking now, but i'm always happy to talk about the place I love! Can't wait to go back for a few months in the summer.

I found Oyster to be a fantastic organisation whose team in the UK and staff on the ground in Chile provided us with unparalleled support both pre-departure and during our program. The pre-departure briefing at their offices was useful. It prepared us well in terms of practical knowledge and to give us some idea of the cultural do's and don'ts. It was also a good opportunity to meet other members of the group. In terms of support in Chile, having someone just around the corner was invaluable for days when I felt a bit homesick or if I had a problem I struggled to resolve.

Everyone participates in the Spanish course at the beginning of the program. Most of the other participants had a similar level to me (post-ALevel) so they tailored the classes to make them intermediate level. We went through useful vocabulary to use every day and some classroom/teaching specific vocabulary. The teacher was really lovely too.

I absolutely loved living with my host family! It was a bit daunting at first (as I wasn’t very confident with my Spanish) but in the end it was my favourite part of my life in Chile. My family were really welcoming and always included me in their celebrations. September 18th is Chilean independence day and my family taught me how to make all the traditional Chilean foods and all about the traditions associated with the day, so they helped me adjust to the culture too. They didn’t speak any English so it was great practice for my Spanish and they always helped with things I didn’t understand. I loved family meal times as we all got to sit and chat together, and my Chilean mum was a really great cook! I still speak to my Chilean family now and I left 5 years ago now, so you can see we had a great relationship.

At the school, I worked as a teaching assistant in English classes mainly helping with the speaking aspects of classes for children aged 4 to around 14. We also played games and sang songs with them (all in English of course!). Children with disabilities and with learning difficulties don’t often receive special educational help, so I also gave catch-up classes and one-to-one help to children who were struggling or who needed special attention. We wrote and corrected exams. We also helped with an after-school English programme where we worked on projects and prepared presentations which the children gave in whole school assemblies. I love to sing, so also helped out with the school choir – I’m sure if you have any interests, like sports or art, then you could help at another club! It was great to see how students progressed and I have fond memories of my time teaching there. This has also helped me to get other teaching jobs abroad since.

A great addition to the program is the expedition element. As a self-confessed couch potato, I never thought I would go glaciar trekking or ice climbing but did so during our time away from Coyhaique. Seeing the marble caves was an amazing experience and stopping off en route to see the cave paintings of Chile's oldest residents was an added bonus! It was a great excuse to get out and see more of the south of Chile but was structured and well organised.

I had the best experience in Chile! I now go in to secondary schools where I live to tell people about my experiences and to encourage them to also take a Gap Year before university.

I spent 6 months living in Arusha through Oyster Worldwide, working as an English teacher in a local primary school in the mornings and with disabled children undergoing and recovering from life changing surgeries in the afternoon.

The work was very hard. This was no extended holiday. Taking on a class of 50 ten year olds with minimal English skills and attempting to control them without the use of a stick (the standard punishment there) was very daunting. But after a few days both the children and I settled into it. They respected the effort I was putting in to help them and loved the change in teaching style. I fell in love with them and yearned to see their faces light up when they got something right. Go armed with lots of sparkly stickers! The standard method of teaching involved the children learning sentences by rote, without necessarily understanding any meaning. By the time I left, just being exposed to somebody speaking to them in fluent English had improved their confidence and competence in holding an English conversation ten fold. Half the class (including me) wept at our goodbye party.

The problems children had at the home I worked in were very distressing and ranged from cleft palates to burns over the entire body, club feet to knocked knees so bad the child had never walked. Essentially, my role was to provide them with entertainment and some basic education. The staff there were hard working and loving but their time was taken up with cooking, cleaning and finances. For the first few days I was a climbing frame and could only get through to the youngest children. However, after a while my Swahili improved and I started building true relationships with the older children and teaching them to read, write and do basic arithmetic. I feel that on both placements I made a real difference to the children's lives.

Throughout the experience, an Oyster representative was there to support us. Tracy became a true friend, having three of us over for a sleepover while our housemates climbed Kilimanjaro, taking us to dinner, showing us around Arusha and welcoming us into her lovely family. Her Tanzanian partner gave us Swahili lessons and many contacts around the town so that we always felt we had somebody we could trust.

Oyster provided five of us with a clean and nicely furnished little house just outside of the centre of town. The school was a 3 minute walk away and the children's home was a 300TSh (12p) bus journey away. A man was hired to keep the premises clean and safe and we had a large locked gate, which made it feel very secure.

Plantain, mangoes and papaya grew in the garden and we could see Mount Meru from the track outside.

Arusha is a fast paced, exciting and interesting town. Once people are familiar with you they go out of their way to make you feel welcome and comfortable. After a couple of weeks of always walking as a group (5 of us) two of the boys went to the post office alone to cries from the usual punters ("come buy beautiful paintings!" "You need taxi?") of "Where are your sisters!".

Arusha is the main stop off point for tourists who go to Tanzania to go on Safari (which simply means journey in Swahili), and so the locals are used to bewildered people in khaki trousers, throwing money around and shouting 'Jambo!'. They therefore really respect any visitors who make a real effort with the language and culture. The support Oyster provided meant we felt comfortable going into local cafes and ordering slightly scary looking dishes.

Overall I feel that Oyster Worldwide provide a very secure safety net for travellers which enabled us to independently go through the experience and discover Arusha. They tailored the experience to each of us and I cannot imagine how it could have been any more rewarding or worthwhile. Thank you Oyster!

My time in Tanzania was probably the best experience I have ever undertaken!

Oyster organised everything perfectly and prepared you fully for the trip through the pre-departure course (where they told you everything from facts about the Tanzanian culture to what to pack in your bag), the Swahili lessons and the orientation days in Arusha. It was very comforting to know that everything had been taken care of so thoroughly and that there were people waiting for you to get you settled in Arusha and to sort any problems you had during your stay. This was particularly reassuring for my parents!

I spent my mornings teaching English to 2 classes of 70 children. Although, it was very difficult to control the children at times, I had a fantastic time and really felt that I made a difference to their English. In the afternoon, we travelled to a local rehabilitation centre for children who had just undergone different forms of surgery. This was the most amazing place that I have ever worked and truly cemented my love for Africa! Here I really felt that we made a difference and I have since returned and continue to support the development of this amazing place!

I would thoroughly recommend doing a placement in Tanzania and the only thing that I regret is the fact that I only stayed for 3 months and not for 6!

I participated in this programme from January-May 2014. Oyster did an amazing job selecting the group for the programme and I knew we would all become a tight-knit group from the outset (even the surprise addition of another volunteer before the mid-month break did nothing to break up the dynamic!). The first few days orientation were very welcome and well set out, especially the Neapli lessons! The local rep, Basant, was incredible and was always there to answer any questions along with the rest of his team. His offer to keep all of our valuables (passports, extra cash etc) in his safe deposit box was a very helpful weight off our shoulders.

The first few days at our village placement were difficult but luckily our host families were very welcoming and friendly as were the teachers and kids at the school (having my fellow volunteer Rebecca just down the hill was a great help aswell). Living in the village with a local family was an incredible experience. We got fully involved with the family and they treated us as part of their family. I got invited to a number of parties throughout my time and one evening I even had dinner with the local chief of police! On public holidays in the village I'd often head down to Rebecca's house and play cards although we'd mostly end up making Momos with her host family!

Conditions in my house were basic (I lived in a traditional house with a seperate shower and toilet "hut" outside) and this was difficult at times (especially when you I got up in the morning having only a cold shower to look forward to) but I got used to it after a few weeks.

For the first week at the school Rebecca and I taught our lessons together to get used to it as we'd both never taught before. After this we got assigned seperate classes to teach on our own. Our coordinator teacher helped us set out our timetables and would regularly check to make sure we were coping and the kids were behaving. I loved teaching at the school and trying out new things with the kids. The younger ones loved being read to whilst the older ones enjoyed toned down versions of TV quiz shows from back home. It was difficult at times to come up with new ideas for teaching but it was all part of the challenge. We had plenty of fun with the kids aswell, a particularly memorable moment was when a goat decided to walk into my class in the middle of a lesson and me and the class had to chase it out the building!

I can definately say that if you want a complete cultural immersion then this is the programme for you. Living for a long period with a local family in a different culture was the perfect way to get to know the "real" Nepal. From going to local weddings through to experiencing Holi (the festival of colour) in our village with our students and friends, I can truly say I got a truly unique cultural experience.

Life in the village did get boring sometimes, especially in the evenings when lessons were planned and books are read. Luckily we were allowed to head back to Kathmandu on the weekends to have a break from the village and teaching. We'd meet up with the rest of the Oyster group and share our weeks stories. Some weekends we'd head out of Kathmandu to see some sights. The medieval city of Bhaktapur was a favourite (especially the yoghurt the city is famous for!).

After the first two months were over we had a month of travel and activities lined up for us as part of the programme. Firstly was a 7 day trek along the Langtang Valley. The bus journey to the start was scary but the trek and scenery was amazingly something most breathtaking I've ever seen. And to share it with my amazing friends was something I'll never forget. After a day's rest in Kathmandu we took the bus to start two days white water rafting. This was an amazing trip and the rapids were awesome! Our overnight camp was comfortable and we had a great evening dancing and relaxing as a group. Straight after the rafting we headed to Chitwan National Park for a few days seeing the amazing wildlife. On our elephant back safari we saw a rhino whilst our river trip got us close to some crocodiles and another rhino!

After Chitwan we had a few days to kill before our next organised trip. So we organised to spend a few days in the lakeside town of Pokhara in Western Nepal. We had a great few days relaxing and seeing the sights, including a visit to the Gurkha museum and an afternoon's kayaking on the lake. Back in Kathmandu a few days later we headed off for an eight day cultural tour of Tibet. This was a truly once in a lifetime trip that included a visit to Everest Base Camp. We learnt so much about Tibetan culture and I'll admit the scenery was simply spectacular!

At the end of the whole four month placement we were all sad to leave our host families, schools and the country we had all come to love so much. But it is an experience I will never forget and would recommend in a heartbeat to anyone. The Oyster Worldwide programme was incredible, from the interviews and pre-departure preparation through to the support of the rep in Nepal and the truly incredible programme and placements. This is a programme were you can truly make a difference and truly immerse yourself in a beutiful country and it's culture. I made friends I'll keep for the rest of my life and had the best four months of my life!

I would recommend this experience to people of all ages and background who have the desire to work and play hard whilst furthering an interest in nature and the large carnivores such as bears and wolves. It is not a holiday, but rather a taster of a lifestyle where you will give as much to a community as what you can take from it. Daily tasks at the sanctuary can be physically hard work, but there are also many opportunities to just watch, relax, and absorb your surroundings. We enjoyed ourselves so much first time round that we went back for 3 months the following year, and again the next year for a week. It was good to see at first hand the progression made at the sanctuary, and most importantly, to find the bears responding to their newly acquired enclosures and seemingly able to put behind them their years of captivity.

Living and working in Tanzania for 3 months is something that will never leave my memory. It took me a while to settle in the first week and i was convinved that i was going home, however i am SO glad i decided to stick it out as 7 months later and i am back in Tanzania for the second time this year! The actual voluntary aspect is both fun and rewarding, and the social life in Arusha is amazing! I met some great people here who I am back in Tanzania with now.