make a difference
we have only one earth
Costa Rica
bahia drake, osa peninsula
volunteer
Heading 3
WE HAVE 2 SEASONS
WITH DIFFERENTS PROJECTS
June to january
Sea Turtle Conservation Season
It does requires a more in depth application and interview process. This period of the Project work mainly consists of:
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Prepare and maintain the turtle hatchery.
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Make nightly patrols in search of mother turtles to secure their eggs.
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Keep baby turtles safe and conduct turtle liberations.
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Give information and collect donations to tourists on the beach when the turtles are released.
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Exhumation of the turtle nests, to collect data for our biologists.
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Ensure the proper functioning of the center by helping with household chores, such as cooking, cleaning, gardening etc.
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Gardening, cultivating plants and helping with composting.
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Build new infrastructures and maintain old ones.
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Assisting with social media, marketing, and awareness of the project
January to June
Sustainable Summer Season
During this period there are no turtles on the beach, but we still need volunteers to maintain our campsite and farm. Permaculture, creative/sustainability projects, are the focus during these months. The work mainly consists of:
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Gardening, cultivating plants and helping with composting.
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Build new infrastructures and maintain old ones.
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Creative projects, painting walls and improving the visual aspect of the campsite.
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Find sustainable solutions and projects using the materials found on the beach (ie: making a greenhouse using washed up bottles).
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Help with the marketing and visibility of the center (distribution of flyers, awareness raising among young people, etc.).
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Ensure the proper functioning of the center by helping with household /communal chores (ie: cooking, cleaning, gardening etc.).
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Beach cleanups.
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Preparing the turtle nursery for the following season.
Our initiative includes...
Community Conservation
We love to involve the community in our project, inviting locals and the community to participate. We love giving the local children the chance to be release the baby turtles.
Beach Cleanups
Early Education
We connect local and international children to nature through interactive workshops and educational lessons about environmental issues, climate change, animal and forest conservation.
Marine Conservation
Reforestation
The campsite is situated on a jungle farm. We replant different types of trees - papaya, banana, plantain, chestnut, cacao, etc.
Upcycling Projects
Every week we conduct beach cleanups, picking up trash and microplastics that wash up on shore from the ocean.
We cover 2km of the beach - Playa Rincon.
We are passionate about all wildlife and consider them our friends. The ocean is home to many vulnerable species, and we are always conscious about our lifestyle choices that may impact these creatures.
Our remote location makes it such that we often rely on material from the area - we use natural resources to build with (bamboo, washed up wood, etc.) and we love utilizing the plastic found during beach cleanups for creative projects.
volunteer testimonials
09/03/2021
"Our one-month stay at RASCAREY truly couldn't have been more fulfilling. Why? Here we go:
THE PLACE: to put it simple, it's just paradise for nature lovers. The house is literally a minute away from a beautiful, long, and solitary beach, surrounded by vegetation and trails through the jungle. Plenty of amazing creatures - underwater (bring a snorkelling mask, please!), on the land, and in the air. There is something new to discover everyday if you keep your eyes and ears open. From our personal experience we can say that if you spend enough time here you might get lucky and see even more animals than in some of the tours in the Corcovado natural park.
THE PEOPLE: Brisa and Esteban are doing an outstanding job at recruiting volunteers, managing the project, and sharing their knowledge about the surroundings they're so well-adapted to. They care for the people they host and they ensure to build a harmonious environment for comunal living. People at Rascarey not only work together, but also cook in teams that vary daily, have communal meals, and often spend free time doing something fun together (hiking, snorkelling, learning how to cook Costa Rican dishes and how to make coconut oil from scratch, watching movies or documentaries on the projector...). This also provides the opportunity to get to know well other volunteers, who, in our experience, are like-minded people that care for the environment, enjoy nature, and have many interesting stories and conversations to share. We're very grateful for being part of the Rascarey family and for having met a bunch of its awesome individuals.
THE WORK: obviously mainly outdoor and generally with some degree of physical tasks, but also with the possibility to do more "office-like" work such as contributing to the social media and website content of the project or artistic activities such as painting. We've done many different kinds of work, most of them making use of the natural resources around the house: construction work with bamboo, seeding and transplanting trees for the agriculture project, remodelling the entrance of the finca with rocks and gravel sand... so many useful learnings! Around once a week there's also a beach clean-up, and we've been using the shamefully large amount of plastic bottles that we find to build a fence-wall for a greenhouse that is looking great [This description relates to the kind of activities performed during the turtle off season].
THE OUTCOME: we've gained new and useful skills, become fitter, learnt a lot about Costa Rican nature and culture, had a lot of fun, and fallen in love with this place and these people, now Friends. We consider ourselves blessed for having spent one month at RASCAREY."
- Adrià & Judith, Spain
05/03/2021
"My one-month nature immersion experience at this place was fantastic. I have spent unforgettable moments with the family. The center is located in a magnificent remote area, full of nature and wildlife, just in front of the beach. During my stay, I could observe parrots, a tapir, a boa snake, frogs, coatis, white head monkeys and several other wild animals. I had as well the chance to participate in several releases of freshly hatched baby turtles into the ocean. This place is a true paradise for nature lovers and to take a rest.
I was warmly welcomed by Esteban and Brisa upon my arrival and felt directly part of the family. They did their best to make me feel comfortable and I enjoyed to spend some time with this inspiring couple. They live a close-to-nature unconventional life, focused on their essential needs. I really enjoyed as well the activities we did with the couple in our free-time - e.g. fishing with Esteban's boat, hiking in the natural reserve close to the house with our private guides, watching movies in the evening, learning to juggle etc. I met as well so many kind, funny and inspiring volunteers during my stay and I appreciated all the discussions and laughs we had together. Hope to meet the crew again in the future!!
With regard to work, I had the opportunity to participate in various activities - e.g. beach clean-up, bamboo cutting, building bamboo structures, cleaning the house, preparing coconut oil, helping with the excavation of turtles' nests, planting various seeds and trees, creating a gravel path, constructing a bookshelf, learning to prepare local dishes etc. I gained several practical skills related with sustainable lifestyle, which are going to be of great use for my life. I had to work four hours a day, activities have never been too exhausting, and I think the balance between work and relaxation was good.
One warning, you need to be comfortable with the idea to live close to the wild, that implies to have sometimes weird insects visiting you. One advice, come with joy and good mood and this place will give it back to you!
Thank you so much Esteban and Brisa for this great experience and I wish you all the best in your projects!! Hasta la proxima :)"
- Victor, France
