Sustainable tourism in Latin America: an animal refuge in the forest

Sustainable Tourism in Latin America: Animal Refuge in the Amazon Rainforest in Ecuador: William’s Experience Review!

What this experience brought me…

Mainly meeting new people within the project and discovering Ecuador during the days off, as well as practicing my English and Spanish.

My best memories…

The “training” part (choosing an animal to train throughout the project) with the development of my bond with Yalla (an Andean fox).

Also when we went to Tamandua (another reserve deeper in the Amazon rainforest). Then the overall visit of Ecuador after the project.

If I had to rate the services offered from 1 to 5…

• Information before departure: 4/5: Quite good but some “incorrect” information regarding what to bring to the reserve: no need for mosquito nets, sleeping bags, boots (provided), or knives.
• Registration process: 5/5 : Everything went well despite the short deadlines.
• Supervision / Project coordinators: 5/5 for those at the reserve (Raul is exceptional and very skilled).
• Volunteers’ schedule: 5/5 : 8am-12pm, 2:30pm-5pm Monday to Friday, then 8am-12pm on Saturday or Sunday.
• Meals and accommodation: 3/5, sometimes light dinners (like soup), so we supplemented with fruits/snacks bought in Puyo.

Do I recommend this project?

Definitely yes, the reserve is really top-notch and the supervision is perfect.

It’s really great for beginners, with varied animals (Tasmanian devil, grisons, ocelots, foxes, otters, birds, sloths, monkeys, deer, capybaras, caimans…)

The reserve is very accessible by public transport and there’s no problem using public transport.

You become autonomous within one week max if you invest yourself.