📝 Detailed information
🏢 About the local organisation
ACOTPRO is an organization founded by the people of Progreso, this community struggles to protect the turtles that arrived to the region of Bahia Drake, Progreso Beach, Ganadito, and Ganado Beach. The community Progreso is located 1 km east from the Bahia Drake Airport.
Besides this tries the organization to educate the community about the importance to preserve their natural resources. The ACOTPRO association is integrated by around 30 members of the community of the village.
- Wildlife conservation: protecting the turtles
- Support for local Eco-Tourism
- Educational program: establish an environmental program for the children of the village and support them learning English or other languages
💼 What the programme involves
As a volunteer, you will have several missions : Night patrols at the beach. This include spotting turtles, recollecting the eggs, measuring the turtle and laying the eggs on the safe location, it is important to know that you will be never alone; Besides this you will have to attend the hatchery, they have to watch the nest to find out when the eggs ecosionate, but also must check if any predator is feeding from the nest (ants, crabs, birds); Bring hatchlings of sea turtles to the sea and guard them while entering the water; Clean the beaches; Collection of garbage in the communities; Community work (environmental education in schools); To clean the community (school, streets churches, main square, etc.); To help local entrepreneurs (eco-tourism, trap cameras, monitoring of animals, etc.); Construction/maintaining work at the house or the hatchery; Agricultural work and reforestation; To help in translation work of the web site (if the language is not available).
During the turtle high season that starts in July and finish in October, the community organizes the work in different shifts during the 24 hours.
You will work from Monday until Friday. The schedule is flexible (depending on tasks and weather).
Examples for night patrols: (it depends on ocean`s tides)
*First Patrol: From 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.
*Second Patrol: From 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.
🏠 Accommodation on site
You will be hosted in the project in dorms where there is no Wifi. You need to bring 1 bed sheet and 1 sleeping bag.
Normally the food will be supplied by somebody hired by the project itself.
📍 About the location
The community of Progreso is located at Bahia Drake, that is resting on the northern side of the Osa Peninsula, Drake Bay (Bahía Drake) is an adventure-seekers place. It is named after Sir Francis Drake who is believed to be a port used by Sir Francis Drake during his raids on the Spanish Main in the 16th century and the location of one of the British pirate’s fabled hidden treasures.
The beach where the turtles arrive is located 3.5 km from the village.
El Progreso is a small village mainly with family houses very close to the beautiful beaches of Bahia Drake. The main economic activity is the agriculture, and also people live from the tourism that comes to Bahia Drake. This community is very from away from main cities.
There is a clinic in the town, an ATM, restaurants and bars. The town is by foot 1h30 min away, by motorcycle 20 min. The next supermarket is 1h by foot.
Every volunteer will receive a training of two days related to the tasks and information about turtles and the surroundings.
Please arrive to Costa Rica 3 days before you start the project. You will have an orientation meeting in San Jose the second day. The third day you will travel to the project.
ℹ️ Additional information
700US$ (Program Fee) + 140US$ (ACI Fee for 1 to 4 weeks)+29US$ (night and breakfast at the hotel during training days)+40US$ (food during the training days)