” I had an amazing experience at the reserve. I was nervous at first as I had never done anything like this before but everyone made me feel so welcome. We got stuck into the amazing activities right away, within an hour of being there we had met our first baby turtle. It was unreal. On top of the amazing activities with turtles, butterflies, crocodiles and birds we had the daily experiences with lizars and howler monkeys! The community feel at the reserve was what really made with experience, cooking and eating together discussing the days findings. I wish I never had to come back to reality in the UK. See you soon Playa Tortuga! “

– Samantha, UK

“I’ve stayed at the Reserve for 10 weeks and those 10 weeks were the best of my life. Not only the nature is beautiful, the people and the love for their job is what made my stay here so awesome. It’s been such an pleasure to work with Oscar, Adrian, Melissa, Graciella, Gabi, Luis, Bryan and Javi. My internship was for the third year of my study applied biology at the Aeres University of sciences in the Netherlands. It existed out of making educational signs for a public trail in the reserve and Oscar helped me a lot with that. I also got to help with all the other researches that where going about, crocodiles and caimans, snakes, mammals, bats, sharks, turtles, birds and butterflies. This trip made me learn so much about the biology in the jungle and changed my perspective on my future plans. The best experience out of the many many great experiences was Oscar catching a 3m crocodile with a fishing rod!! The animal put up a big fight and we had to drag it to shore with 4 guys to measure it and tag it.

Keep it going guys! You are doing an awesome job protecting the nature that is so dear to you all!! I will see you all soon!!”

– Jesse Schuitemaker, Netherlands

“I was looking to do some marine conservation when I came across RPT on the Working Abroad website. The turtles appealed to me first but the variety of projects made it an easy decision. I have been able to help with patrolling the beach for turtles at night, exhuming nests and releasing baby turtles, cleaning out and hatching butterflies, snake walks in the jungle and data collection on capture, crocodile monitoring in the boat and data collection on capture, macaw and bird monitoring, gathering shark population data, measuring beach erosion, beach cleaning, reforestation of the beach… the list is endless. No day is the same but they are all an experience.

It’s a beautiful place, and the staff are all so lovely and supportive not to mention knowledgeable. I have had an amazing time and would highly recommend this project to anyone with an interest in wildlife and conservation with a thirst for adventure”.

– Helen Rogers, United Kingdom

“I got the opportunity to be involved in bird observation walks, shark surveys, late night beach patrols looking for nesting turtles, releasing newly hatched baby turtles, snakes walks, maintaining a butterfly garden, croc/caiman searches, and more. I will never forget the humbling experience of watching a female turtle come up the beach and lay her eggs.

There were also amazing opportunities to help out in the local community. I spent one month at the reserve and I could have happily stayed on so much longer. I loved every minute, and the people are incredible. If you want a real conservation experience then this project is the place for you”.

– Michael Lavery, New Zealand