Volunteer in the Galapogas Islands
Volunteering in the
Galapogas Islands is an attractive opportunity to see the famous
islands and their fearless wildlife. You may be thinking that
you'll experience the Galapogas for free on a working holiday, it will
be better than a
cheap tour or cruise, you'll get subsidised or discounted
flights.... what a
bargain!
Think again.
The Galapogas is never cheap, even for volunteers, and for good reason.
The islands are a long way from the coast of Equador and
shipping supplies in is costly. Tourists (and volunteers)
can accidentally introduce invasive new species to the islands and
unintentionally damage habitats. The wildlife and habitats
need protection and money from Galapogas tourism and conservation volunteers pays for it.
Galapogas
volunteering is possible and it can
be very
worthwhile. BUT, you will almost certainly
have to pay for your volunteering to cover project costs.
This is not a free vacation, Galapogas working holidays have
their price.
In addition, a return flight from Europe to Quito or
Guayaquil and on to the Galapogas Islands will probably
cost at
least £900/$1800. Then for a month on the
islands, where everything costs
around twice as much as the mainland, you'll probably get through
another £600/$1200.
And that won't include any kind of Galapogas cruise or tour,
though of course you will see some of the amazing Galapogas wildlife.
If
you are genuinely
interested in the Galapogas wildlife, flora and fauna, and have the
budget to volunteer, then search around to find the best volunteering
opportunity. Remember that some companies offering Galapogas
volunteering will be not-for-profit conservation charities, others will be
commercial companies making a big profit from you.
Ask questions about the organisation, the
project and what you will be doing as a volunteer in the
islands. Is the Galapogas project relevant and useful?
Make sure
you know what you are getting for your Galapogas working holiday and
where your money will go.
The
Galapogas weather can be hot with scorching sunshine - great
for
holidays, but tough if you are doing manual volunteer work for long
hours. In some months it rains every day: again, not ideal
weather conditions for Galapagos volunteers working outside on
conservation projects. Check what you will be doing,
for how long, and where on your volunteer project. Check CRACYP's
Galapogas volunteer opportunities. If you're based
in the
USA, try www.globalroutes.org.
Galapogas voluntering is
expensive, but you could squeeze more from your budget by
volunteering
in mainland Ecuador.
The mainland of Ecuador has much to offer:
beaches, volcanoes, snow-topped
mountains, wildlife,
trekking, rafting and much more. There are
hundreds of opportunities to
volunteer, though you probably need to speak at least some Spanish to
get the most from your volunteering experience -
you might like to visit
our friends at the Rumiñahui
Spanish School for Spanish lessons.
One very economic volunteer option, if you have basic Spanish language
skills, is
volunteering with CRACYP's community
ecotourism projects in the tropical foothills of the Andes in
a beautiful and unspoilt part of Ecuador.
Green Progress,
CRACYP - volunteer in the Galapogas Islands
Galapogas volunteering, working holidays in the Galapogas Islands
and conservation vacations.
