There's no denying it, these bloggers are bound to make you jealous. Whether it's their guts, their energy or their tan you admire, overseas volunteers have got plenty to share with you about their remarkable work in fascinating countries. Read on to find out what you could be missing.

All | Jonathan | James | Fiona | Emily | Dana | Selina | Lucy | Sally | Lucille

« Previous day (Feb 24, 2008) | Main | Next day (Feb 26, 2008) »

Monday Feb 25, 2008

Time out

It's nice to get some time from work now and age- while it is about challenging yourself, it is also about getting the most you can from your time there. During the 1st week we climbed Mirador - it was 3.5 km up a fairly steep slope, only to be greeted with a view that can only be described as breath taking. After watching the sunset, we set up camp. We got up in time to watch the sunrise across the land and sea, a great start to Valentines Day! During our time there we also visited a local beach on the Pacific Coast. It was literally just a white sanded beach spanding for miles, with only one or two people there.

Posted by James ( 1:19 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]

The first phase

 

I arrived in Costa Rica at the end of Jan to be greeted by many other volunteers, all of different ages and ethnicities. The charity I am working with is Raleigh International - it consists of 17 - 24 yr olds working overseas to help the local communities with basic needs, such as a clean water supply or flood defences. There are 3 phases - Environmental, Community and Trek.

I've currently just finished my first phase which was the environmental one - it was amazing! It was this lovely national park called Barra Honda, where we worked with the locals to provide drainage systems and also refurbishing (sp) a local school and volunteers hut. The area in total is 2,295 hectares of land, which during the dry season can be damaged by forest fires, meaning the rangers job's are extremely important for the surrounding environment. We had our camp area set out - a small part of the rainforest where we set up hammocks and an area where we made and ate our food. Our group was lucky enough to have a shower and toilet nearby, meaning we didn't have to use any streams or make long drop loos!

 

Posted by James ( 1:17 PM )
Link to this post Comments[0]