Reviews of Volunteer Programs in Costa Rica

April Bonnette, ISV volunteer alum

April Bonnette, 22 years old, went on the Costa Rica trip June 8th, 2011. She goes to school in Fort Collins, Colorado and is from Boulder, Colorado. April is graduating in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography and a minor in Business Administration. From there she will move to Denver, Colorado to be able to start her career as a professional photographer. For now, however, she is a nanny.

I was working with the poison dart frogs in the rainforest and the dolphins in the Gulf. We took the first 2 days out of our volunteer time to go over what we were looking for in the environment and how to spot the different animals and log their behavior. For the frogs we would take a pretty major hike through the rainforest trying to spot different dart frogs. The rainforest was right behind the kitchen where we were staying so we did not have to travel too far to get into the forest!

When we hiked we would be out there for about 4 hours and come back before lunchtime. When we were tracking the dolphins we set out on a boat that picked us up from our camp right at the gulf. We would ride around looking for dolphins and then track their behavior and pod size when we did find them. We would be on the boat all day long on these days.

April's volunteer group in Costa Rica

At the beginning of our second week a huge rainstorm came and brought us 3 days of nonstop rain. During that time we watched movies, hung out in our cabins, and went to town for a little bit. After that we were really not allowed to do anymore rainforest work because the trail was way too muddy to hike up. We spent the rest of the time on the boat with the dolphins and doing our optional activities like going to a chocolate farm and visiting a wildlife refuge.

We would always have some free time when we returned to relax, shower, and just visit before dinner. After dinner we would all play games or go over some eco-travel lessons as a group. This was really great bonding time for all of us and we became really close really fast!

Learn more about volunteering with ISV in Costa Rica.

Guido Negri, SEE Turtles volunteer alum

Guido Negri, born 21 December 1976, in northern Italy, is a physics researcher at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. He volunteered in Costa Rica with SEE Turtles from 20-26 August 2009 in Parismina (at ASTOP) and traveling around Costa Rica from 26 August - 7 September 2009.

Guido in Costa Rica

We landed in Parismina on the first day of our trip and we were warmly welcomed by the director of the ASTOP and by local people. We were hosted in the house of a local family. They were extremely kind and made us feel like family. Two parts English, one part Spanish, and one part Italian: this was the cocktail that was poured on our conversations with the people from the small village.

The volunteering activities ran as 8 hours shifts throughout day and night, patrolling the beaches to cross leatherback turtles laying down the eggs and taking the eggs to a secure hatchery. There were also chances to participate in some more activities during the afternoons to help the local community. For example, we spent time playing with the children, contributing to educational activities, and painting beds in the ASTOP hostel.

Volunteer on the beautiful beaches of Costa Rica

Our stay in Parismina has been a great experience: we met extremely interesting people, the sea turtles turned out to be amazing and incredible creatures (and staying on their side while they were laying eggs on a deserted beach in the night unlocks feelings that can hardly be described in words), we tasted a true bite of Costa Rica, far away from the geographically close, heavily exploited Caribbean coasts, and in the end we also feel we gave something of our own to the turtles and to the local community.

We left Parismina to start a tour that took us around the whole country, passing through erupting volcanos, chilly rain forests, great surf spots and colorful and shiny people.

But the first image I recall of Costa Rica is about the great time I spent in Parismina, either patrolling the beach on a black, rainy night or just swaying on a hammock under a porch listening to soca music coming from all the surrounding houses. And feeling equally well!

Read Guido's interview and learn more about SEE Turtles in Costa Rica.