Tortoises breeding center
The center's main purpose is to breed tortoises to release them back in the nature but to do so they also need to monitor the tortoises in the wild to make sure they have the right conditions to survive. One problem in the wild is the goats that were brought to Isabela a long time ago when the Island had several prisons. The goats are today wild and they eat the vegetation that is the tortoises' natural food but when the tortoises only eat the part over the surface so that the plant can grow up again the goat eats the roots as well and thereby kill the vegetation.
When it is season for the tortoises to lay eggs the staff from the center collects part of them to let them hatch in the center and in this way control and make sure that they can repatriate a certain number of tortoises to the different Islands depending on where they belong.
Volunteers normally work either morning or afternoon and the staff in the center will let them know. Sometimes they might be asked to work the whole day as well if there are things that need to be done.
Depending on what needs to be done the volunteers might help with:
-Feeding and measuring the Tortoises.
-Collecting eggs in the park from the tortoises. (nesting time is from May to September)
-Looking after the eggs to make sure the eggs will be in good conditions by the time they have to hatch.
-Assisting in keeping records about the tortoise’s behaviour and changes.
-Cleaning the corrals (It is work that involves removing tortoise's poo).
-Working in the tree nursery.
-Reforestation.
-On-going projects that the National Park has at that moment related to the breeding center.
-Marking the tortoises to keep a record of them.
Getting there
Participants will after paying the $110 entrance fee to the national park in the airport on Baltra island travel on their own with local transportation over to Santa Cruz island and all the way down to Puerto Ayora where they take the boat over to Isabela island. Here the host family will wait for them in the harbour to take them to their home.
For the transportation the participants need to calculate about $75 from the airport on Baltra island to Isabela island and back again.
Participants normally leave the host family in Quito at 07:00 and arrives to the family in Isabela at 16:30.
Accommodation
Participants will live with a family in the small village of Puerto Villamil where they will share a double room with another volunteer and have their three meals per day. The house also works as a hostel and in the dining room quite a few of the locals come to enjoy lunch and dinner so it's a great opportunity to practice some Spanish and get new friends. From the family it's an easy 25 minutes walk to the tortoises center partly through some beautiful mangrove.
Please remember that there is NO ATM machines or banks on Isabela island so participants need to calculate and bring money for their whole stay on the island from the mainland, after all Puerto Villamil is just a village on the beach.
Location
Isabela, Galapagos IslandsRequirements
Advanced beginners or intermediate Spanish recommended.
The volunteers will need gloves and working clothes (they will get dirty cleaning around the tortoises).
Open-mindedness to live and work in a different culture.
Galapagos is warm so volunteers should bring sun block (not while working with the tortoises), light clothing, rain jacket, cap or hat and also something for the nights that might get cooler.