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GYC2953 - Conservation at a big cat reserve Country: Costa Rica Cost: £995.00 Cost Includes: The price includes accommodation, food, kit and pickup from airport but does not include flight, insurance or visas      Duration: 3 weeks Company Rep Nearby: Various 0845 344 7592 or

 

	This placement would suit... volunteers who love working with animals and will be committed to the long term goals of the project, as there may be hard manual tasks to be done that are essential to the project. Obviously a love of the outdoors is essential because big cats don’t spend much time inside! You should also relish working as a team as there are plenty of opportunities to work together to achieve goals. This is the perfect placement to take as part of a gap year and can be combined with other i-to-i projects. Travel to Costa Rica and let the ‘poco a poco’ (little by little) pace of life wash over you! And if you want to volunteer with animals while you're there then we have the purrfect project for you - working in the north of Costa Rica with a Big Cat or animal rescue centre. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to work with magnificent creatures like jaguars, pumas and ocelots. This under-resourced centre was originally set up to deal with the catastrophic effects of poaching and subsequent capture by local authorities. The projects strives to reintroduce the animals into the wild when they have fully recovered. If you are an animal lover, enjoy working outdoors (and with others) then there are plenty of activities to get your teeth into including feeding, cage cleaning, guiding, sign-making, maintenance and helping out with an environmental educational programme. So, if you fancy a brush with some of Costa Rica's greatest assets then this is a project to pounce on! Project details: You will be working in the Guanacaste or Alajuela provinces of Costa Rica with a Big Cat Rescue Centre or Wildlife rescue centre. The project will be assigned depending on the need for volunteers of each rescue centre at the time of booking. The Big Cat Rescue Centre was officially set up in 1985 and its main goal is care for cats who have been taken by poachers and then captured by local authorities. Once the animals have fully recovered the aim is to reintroduce them back into the wild. The centre also runs an environmental education programme to help locals and visitors better understand the ways to protect some of Costa Rica's greatest assets. La Marina Rescue centre concentrates on the care of those animals that have no hope of returning to their natural habitat. The animals have been maltreated, staved and put in situations of high stress. At the centre they are given the care and attention to improve their quality of life. They also have a breeding centre that aims to reintroduce the offspring of the animals back into the wild. Why the project needs volunteers: Both rescue centre are not officially funded and volunteers therefore can make a massive difference by caring for the animals and maintaining/improving the facilities. This placement gives you the opportunity to work along side some of the most amazing animals as well as have a base in one of the most diverse ecosystems in Central America. Your role as a volunteer: There are many tasks you can get involved in including feeding the animals, Cage cleaning Help guide groups through the project, assist in the environmental education programme, infrastructure maintenance and sign making. You will work 5 or 6 days a week with one day off to be arranged with the project host. You will be able to be more involved with working with the big cats the more Spanish you have for safety reasons. On a typical 4 week placement you can expect to get involved with the cats after 2 weeks dependant on your Spanish level after this time. Where the project is based: The Big cat rescue centre is based in the province of Guanacaste in the northwest part of Costa Rica. It is located near the small town of Canas which is not too far from the province capital (Liberia). La Marina rescue centre is based in the Alajuela province about 4 hours away from San Jose. There are hot springs located in nearby La Fortune and Arenal which will be a good way to relax after a hard days work. You will need to arrive into San Jose airport (SJO) on the specified arrival date. "Excellent preparation for the project. Knew exactly what to expect. The in-country team were also excellent. Gave us a thorough briefing yet they weren't intrusive and didn't "nanny" us, but it was good to know they were there just in case. Although I was initially apprehensive about homestay accommodation it turned out to be fine and added to the whole experience. More wildlife projects please!" Andrew: Conservation at a big cat reserve in Costa Rica 0845 344 7592 i-to-i: We pride ourselves in a high level of service to ensure that all our gap year travellers get the most our of their meaningful travel. With Teaching, Community Development, Conservation, Sports, Media and Health placements in 24 countries, we can offer you the meaningful gap year that you want.