Amazing volunteer experience!

Volunteering in the rainforest? Yes! Abundance of interesting, rewarding field work? Heck ya! Weekend trips visiting waterfalls, caves, beach and river tubing? You bet! AND affordable?? How good could it get at Betary Reserve?!

All these reasons and more contributed to my more than incredible experience for the month I spent with IPBio and Celine at the Reserve. I worked as an eco-volunteer, meaning I participated in variety of programs they offered: tree inventory, amphibian research, bioluminescent mushroom research, gardening, bird and fish inventory. My favorites were gardening and tree inventory (I looked forward to this as I study Horticulture), and my love for bird inventory surprised but delighted me (for this we spend a few hours making our way through the jungle looking for birds to photograph for records/cataloging, extremely meditative and peaceful). All the work is fun, regardless, and the program is nice in that we do different work each day of the week, so it never feels tedious or repetitive. I mean, you’re also working in the middle of the Atlantic Forest, so there’s little complaint to be made. The volunteer coordination is also pretty on top of their agenda, so the program flowed real well, and through the busy days there definitely was some valuable experience gained in research methods and studying biodiversity, pretty good stuff. It should be said however, that there is a fair amount of downtime, and while the work is structured, if you are looking for a more rigorous volunteering program this may not be the one. Also, it focuses more on field work than harder laboratory/science/biology practice, but is still good experience.

As for the living situation, oh man let me tell you it is real nice. The volunteer house is fully furnished, surprisingly with hot showers, and the kitchen is fully stocked and working. The staff and other volunteers were all incredible, helpful, supportive, welcoming and fun. I felt safe, comfortable and happy here. So, so, so, happy. One of my favorite memories is every morning walking outside and seeing this enormous mountain behind the reserve covered in fog and mist, greeted with these unbelievably brilliantly colorful birds, a beautiful scene to start the day out right.

So, almost needless to say, I had the time of my life, balancing work and fun, enjoying my days in Brazil, each day better than the last and exceeding my expectations more than I could imagine. I highly, highly recommend volunteering with Betary Reserve, even if you are the tiniest smidgeon interested in it. They definitely could use your help, and the program is absolutely wonderful.