Tico Lingo Spanish School

The sun is up early in Costa Rica and breakfast is served typically around 6:30am. After breakfast, project leaders and volunteers will come together for the morning meeting where you will hear all of the exciting stories from the night before! This is also when you will be assigned your role for the day As sea turtle activity generally occurs during the night time and early mornings, most volunteers will be assigned to night beach patrols and should be prepared to start work around 7pm and finish around 3am and to also be involved with any morning activities scheduled. Other volunteers will be assigned to the hatchery or beach cleans and should be expected to be available for at least 4-hours / day to keep watch of any hatching baby turtles and maintain a good level of cleanliness. Lunch is typically served around 12:30pm while dinner is usually around 5:30pm. During free time volunteers will have time to relax on the beach, play volleyball and soccer with other volunteers, read a book from the project’s vast library, and practice their Spanish with locals.

Volunteers work alongside the resident biologist and support local community leaders and other volunteers to protect nesting turtles and their eggs. Your goal is to ensure that more adult and baby turtles can make it safely to the sea. We do this by getting involved in different activities: Night beach patrols – Going out on nightly beach patrols in search of nesting sea turtles in one of the most important duties of a volunteer. You will be responsible for transporting any eggs you encounter back to the safety of our hatchery where they will have the best chance of survival. Hatchery guarding & releasing turtles – Looking after the turtle hatchery on a shift like basis, volunteers will be guarding all of the nests from any potential predators. While guarding the hatchery, nests may explode at any minute with energetic little babies! You and one other volunteer will be responsible for measuring, weighing and releasing the hatchlings straight away. Beach cleans – Ensuring that the stretch of coastline along the project site is clean and tidy will result in more females coming up to lay their eggs. Hatchery maintenance – A clean and tidy hatchery is vital for keeping our hatch rates high. Anything from litter to natural debris needs to be removed as soon as possible. Volunteers will check that hatchery labeling is correct and the details of each area in the hatchery are correct. When nests hatch, you will get to exhume the nest and follow the correct procedure.

The volunteers in this animal rescue center generally get 2 day(s) off a week. In regards to working hours, the volunteers work per day 4 hours/working day.

Housing Sleeping quarters are mixed gender bunk rooms with up to 8 other volunteers in each room. Western style bathrooms and a showers station are on site and provide volunteers with a clean place to wash up after a long day’s work of volunteering on the beach. Except for some very basic solar power panels on site, electricity is not available at the project. Likewise, finding cell-phone signal can be a bit of a challenge (like standing in a very specific spot on the beach holding your hand in the air!) but most volunteers enjoy being “off-grid” Communal areas can be found outside and provide volunteers with panoramic views of the jungle and it’s amazing wildlife. Hammocks are aplenty and picnic areas are used for sharing meals, playing card games, reading books, or looking for monkeys and sloths.

The animals they take care of in this center are:

Turtles

Anyone who is enthusiastic and open-minded is welcome in the program. Volunteers will be working alongside 15-20 other volunteers whom come from all over the world. Looking for nesting turtles can sometimes be physically demanding, so we advise registrants to be in decent physical condition. Requirements – At least 18 years of age – Participants ages 13-17 are welcome when there is a faculty leader, parent, or guardian present – Healthy and physically prepared to work and live in a remote area with very few amenities – Flexible; willing to do various tasks based on season and project needs – Positive mindset – Hard working, ready to do anything! – Responsible and safety-minded

Email: office@ticolingo.com Whatsapp: +506 8361 3592

No

Included: – Beach hut accommodation – 3 generous international meals daily – Turtle patrol & hatchery training and materials – Transfer by 4×4 and boat to project

Fly to SJO International Airport in Costa Rica

To volunteer in this center you will have to be at least 18 years old

Every Saturday and Sunday

Explore a few pictures submitted by the organisation: