Our main mission at Tortugas de Pacuare is to protect endangered sea turtles such as the Leatherback sea turtle, Hawksbill sea turtle, and the Green sea turtle. With the support of the local community and of the international volunteers, we aim at conserving the environment. By working with sea turtles and communal and environmental education programs, we will be able to educate people on the importance of caring about and protecting such a valuable part of the maritime ecosystem.
Turtle seasons:
Leatherback season from the last week of February to the end of June
Green turtle from July to September
Hawksbill from April to August
Working with Turtles
Working with the turtles means that you will be doing night patrols on the beach. With local guides and a group of people, you will patrol on the beach to collect turtle eggs and relocate them to a turtle hatchery where they will be safe from poachers. Furthermore, you will be working at the hatchery, take care of the turtle eggs and the freshly hatched turtles and make sure that they are well prepared for their dangerous journey back into the sea
What’s Included
Accommodation and 3 meals a day
What’s Not Included
Travel insurance, plane ticket, transportation
Trip Itinerary
Typical day
Your schedule as a volunteer can vary each day, but mostly it will look like this one:
Meals
8:30 am: breakfast
12:30 am: lunch
Communal work
9:30 am: communal work
2:30 pm: communal work
The total communal work during the day is approx. 2 hours
Turtle hatchery
The turtle hatchery has to be protected 24/7. These are the timetables that have to be respected. Of course, you won’t work the whole day there.
8:00 am to 12:00 pm
12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
8:00 pm to 10:00 pm
10:00 pm to 4:00 am
4:00 am to 8:00 am
Beach patrolling
The most important time to patrol on the beaches is at night. This is when the turtles usually come ashore to lay their eggs and thus, the most dangerous moment for them.
8:00 pm to 12:00 am
12:00 am to 4:00 am
Program And Price
Minimum 2 weeks, maximum 12 weeks, price per week $225 US dollars
Awards/Testimonials
In total, I spent a bit more than 9 weeks at the project. First I helped there for 6 weeks as a volunteer and even decided to come back after 2 weeks and worked for 3 weeks as Staff. All in all, I have to say that it was the best time of my life! I was pretty afraid beforehand because it was my first time travelling on my own and I didn’t really know what to expect. Luckily Luis assisted me and helped to answer all my questions from the beginning of my preparations till my final day in Pacuare. The way of living is a lot simpler than in Europe, however, it is also a lot purer and relaxed. You’re basically surrounded by nature wherever you look, you can just go outside grab a coconut or see some monkeys without even having to search for them. Obviously you go there for the turtles and OMG seeing your first turtle is an experience you’ll never forget, since I’ve been there for a long time I have seen quite a lot of them and I can tell you it never gets boring, the adults are so huge and impressive and the babies are one of the cutest things on the planet. The locals are open to everyone and will happily tell you some awesome stories about the location or help you improve your Spanish skill. Besides, I also made soooo many new friends with the other volunteers. It was such an awesome experience to live and work together as a group, having fun while knowing that you’re doing something good. The work includes collecting plastic on the beach, planting trees, protecting turtle eggs a the hatchery, patroling, building small shelters and all kinds of other stuff. You also have enough free time in pacuare, where you can go for a swim or just lie on the beach or in a hamac ,play volleyball or football as a group or simply take a walk trough the jungle to watch some wildlife, we even once did a boat trip to the Nationalpark in Tortugero with the boatman Minor. However, I would still recommend to bring some books.
Finally, I wanna thank Luis and all the other locals including Mita, Minor, Charlie, Gabello, Roberto, Kevin as well as all the other people I met in Pacuare for the awesome time I’ve had. You and Pacuare will always have a place in my heart!!!
Muritz (Germany)
