Volunteer Program

If you would like to take part directly with our sea turtle conservation program you can apply to be a volunteer.

Volunteers help our team of sea turtle researchers complete the many goals of our project. They patrol the beaches nightly looking for nesting sea turtles, record data, help find and relocate nests, release hatchlings and maintain a protective hatchery. Volunteers also help us to maintain our turtle research equipment and field station. Everyone works hard but there is always time for hikes in the rainforest, swims in waterfalls and sunsets on the beach.

The ideal volunteer is interested in the environment and its conservation and willing to work hard to help protect it. You must be in good physical shape and willing to work long hours at night on a remote beach, walking in soft sand.

Volunteers make it possible for Salvamento Internacional de la Tortuga del Mar to protect the 8km of nesting beach from Rio Carate to Laguna Pejeperro. We need your help, if you are interested in having a great incredibly exciting learning experience.

Requirements

Must be over 18 years old, one month minimum commitment, able to walk long distance in soft sand, willing to live in tropical heat and humidity in rustic conditions.

Costs

University Students………$ 800 US Dollars/month
Non-students……………....$ 1200 US Dollars/month

Costs include meals and housing while at the field station in Carate.
Costs do not include transportation internationally or domestically to or from the station or housing and food while in the close by town of Puerto Jimenez

What to expect….

SITMAR has had many incredible and interesting volunteers in the last two years. Our volunteers come from all over the world in order to help to save some of the oldest reptiles on earth, the sea turtles. With the help of all these volunteers we have released more than 40.000 sea turtle hatchlings from our protective hatchery and started to raise awareness and conservation on the Osa Peninsula.

Volunteer will enjoy their stay in cabins at the jungle hotel Terrapin Lodge.

Everyday volunteers are responsible for correcting and transferring the previous nights data, preparing materials for night patrols and keeping their living area clean. Once a week we all go out on to the beach and pick up non-organic trash that washes ashore, especially plastics. Most of our work is in the late afternoon and night so we usually wake up late.

Hatchery duties include checking the hatchery every three hours for hatched baby turtles, keeping it weed and debris clean and excavating when nests have hatched.

Nightly beach patrols include monitoring the beach in two four-hour shifts, 8pm-12am and 12am-4am. We walk a 4km stretch of beach to search for sea turtle nesting activity. When we find fresh nests we excavate them and move them on foot to our protective hatchery. During the night patrols we release our baby sea turtles.

Morning nest surveys are conducted on an ATV and count nests missed on the night patrols and poached nests.

Everyday volunteers have free time where they can hike, relax or do whatever. No matter what you are doing, you will see a lot of tropical wildlife: monkeys, macaws, toucans, coatis, hawks, iguanas, frogs, etc., not to mention all of the sea turtles.

We are starting our volunteer positions at the start of June through to the end of November 2005; we may accept volunteers after this time but we still need to hash out details. Please let us know of your availability within these dates in your application, minimum stay one month.

While you are in the Osa, you may want to plan a few extra days to visit Corcovado, Costa Ricas largest National Park.

Corcovado is teeming with wildlife and offers some of the best wildlife viewing in the world, a must see.

Check out our Osa Península link for more information.

You will need many things while you are down in Costa Rica. We have made a list of some of the things you should take with you.

What to bring?

• Passport- you need a valid passport to enter Costa Rica
• Clothing for hot weather: fast-drying is good, cotton is good, be prepared to get dirty everyday (bring extra socks)
• Headlamp with halogen or strong incandescent bulb and extra rechargeable batteries
• Shoes-at least 3pairs
• Beach shoes-closed toed that can get wet- not sandals
• Hiking shoes or boots- comfortable already broken in
• Tennis shoes-old comfortable shoes for spare
• Rain gear-windbreakers do not cut it, we work in the rain and you do get wet!!! You might want rain pants also
• Swim/beach wear- we live right on the beach
• Sunblock
• Sunglasses
• Insect Repellent
• Hat for the sun
• Personal articles; toiletries(biodegradable products…?), towels, etc.
• Money for transportation, telephone calls, ice cream, beer, hotels, internet, souvenirs, or anything you forgot - most ATM cards do not work in Puerto Jimenez at the machine but if you have a credit card symbol on your card, Visa or Mastercard, you can enter the bank and take out money at the teller; in San Jose many ATM machines have Plus or Cirrus symbols and you can successfully take money out with your ATM card
• Optional
  Camera, music player (such as portable CD or iPod), books, film, extra rechargeable batteries

Research with your local medical facility on what inoculations or vaccinations you need to protect yourself against tropical disease in the Osa peninsula (our staff does not take malaria medication and there have not been any cases of malaria in the Osa for a long, long time.)

This will be an unforgettable experience where you will learn a lot about the tropical ecosystems of the Pacific southern zone of Costa Rica and help to protect an important sea turtle nesting beach.

Aplication form:

While you are in Costa Rica our contacts are:

Salvamento Internacional de la Tortuga del Mar - SITMAR
http://www.crseaturtles.org

Rachel Silverman
contact@crseaturtles.org
Costa Rica Program Director

Fabian A. Sanchez
contact@crseaturtles.org
Education Director

Jason Murray
contact@crseaturtles.org
Conservation Director

PO Box 13700-1000
San Jose Costa Rica

PO Box 49-8203
Puerto Jimenez, Golfito
Costa Rica

Fabian’s Cellular: (506) 838-9171
Rachel and Jasons telephone: (310) 488-5065

If you are applying to be a student volunteer or volunteer coordinator please do not forget to send two recommendations along with the application.

Useful info:

There is a satellite phone available for international calls at the field station in Carate. We will have a schedule when the phone will be available to receive international calls which each volunteer will be sent prior to arriving at the station, just in case loved ones want to talk to you.

In case of emergency, Carate has an airstrip serviced by a small domestic airline, Alfa Romeo Aerotaxi, which provides 24-hour emergency service. Golfito is less than 20 minutes away by air and has a hospital; San Jose is less than an hour flight where there are many modern medical facilities and hospitals. For not-so emergency care, the station has first aid equipment and trained staff. Additionally, Puerto Jimenez has a medical clinic that can help with anything from a twisted ankle and sore throats to snake bite and childbirth. No expectant mothers please.

Carate is a very beautiful but very remote place. It is only 45 km from the main town of Puerto Jimenez but you have to make the trip in a 4x4 vehicle and it takes more than 1 1/2 hours. There are no phone lines or electricity lines. We use solar energy to run our station. There is no Internet outside of Puerto Jimenez. Most volunteers go back to town to email or wash clothes once every week or two. Our water comes from a spring and is good to drink. The sea turtles come up during the rainy season so we get very wet while we are working; pack accordingly. There are no stores in Carate, so you should have everything you need when you arrive at the station.

Travel information:

There are a few different ways that you can get to the field station in Carate.

The cheap, but very long way: there are two buses from San Jose to Puerto Jimenez, one at 6am and one at 12pm. The bus company is Lobo Blanco and is located 100 meters diagonal from the bus stop for San Carlos in San Jose (telephone: (506) 257-4121). The cost is approximately 2500 colones and the trip takes about eight hours. The bus station is not in a good area of San Jose so keep your eyes and body parts around your bags. The thieves are fast and invisible here and the police won’t help get your stuff back if it gets stolen. We suggest having the taxi wait with you until the bus arrives at the station.

The quick but expensive way: there are two domestic airlines that fly to Puerto Jimenez multiple times a day. The trip takes about 45 min and costs up to $90 per person. We fly Nature Air.

NATURE AIR
Telephone Puerto Jimenez:(506) 735-5062 OR 735-5722, fax:(506) 735-5043
Telephone San Jose: (506) 220-3054
http://www.natureair.net

SANSA
Telephone Puerto Jimenez: (506) 735-5017, fax: (506) 735-5495
Telephone San Jose: (506) 221-9414
http://www.flysansa.com

Once you arrive in Puerto Jimenez there is a collectivo bus that will take you to Carate. It leaves twice a day at 6am and 1:30pm. The trip takes about two hours and costs approximately 2500 colones (approx. $6US). This will be the transport you take back and forth from Carate to Puerto Jimenez for email, laundry, etc. Just tell the driver that you are headed for the sea turtle conservation project in Carate and they will drop you off at the Field Station Laguna Tortuga.