Costa Rica Volunteer Locations: Samara

Travel to Teach’s second Costa Rican volunteer location is in the the picturesque coastal village of Samara. Situated in the northern eastern province of Guanacaste, the so called “Gold Coast” of Costa Rica, Samara is considered to be one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches.

Samara is something of a hybrid coastal town with its share of westernized restaurants, internet cafés and art & souvenir stands, but it has so far managed to escape the mainstream over development of so many Costa Rican coastal towns and everything seems to done on a smaller scale and slower pace.

Travel to Teach’s volunteer programs involve teaching in schools in Samara and it’s five surrounding communities. We teach English, sports and various other subjects in the primary schools of these communities and we also are involved in several community development projects

Volunteer Programs in Samara

Teaching Projects
Turtle Conservation
Wildlife Conservation

School Teaching Projects

Our volunteer teaching program involves teaching basic English, computers, math, art and sports. Many schools in the Samara area lack resources to provide sufficient education; we support these schools by assisting teachers and sometimes taking on our own classes. Volunteers play a valuable role in helping these under resourced schools.

Your role as a volunteer
You will have the choice of either leading your own class or assisting another teacher in their daily lessons. Your placement is completely dependent upon your level of comfort within the classroom, your level of Spanish and your educational background.

Project requirements
Volunteers participating in the teaching projects should enjoy working with children. They should also be creative and self-motivated as even the most basic resources can be limited and require the use of imagination to compensate for the lack of materials.

Schedule
Costa Rican school semesters usually start from the beginning of February until the middle of December. There are usually no classes in December, January and parts of February and June We use these vacation periods to run summer camps, restoration projects and building construction projects based in the schools.

The teaching schedule will typically be Monday to Friday for 3-5 hours a day. These classes will either be in the mornings, afternoons or both. Every school day has a long lunch break.

Community teaching
As well as teaching in schools we also teach English to members of the local community. This is something that our volunteers can do in addition to there school teaching for 1-2 hours in the afternoons and evenings.

Turtle Conservation

Costa Rica's Pacific cost is a breeding ground for 4 species of sea turtle including the critically the critically endangered leatherback (the world's largest breed of turtle) and the endangered Olive Ridley. The turtles are under threat for various reasons including poaching, fishing, pollution and habitat destruction.

Although the Costa Rican government attempts to protect turtles in certain areas funding is insufficient and many of the most prevalent breeding grounds including those in Guanacaste province remain completely unprotected. In response a number of coastal-marine conservation projects have been set up and volunteers play a crucial part in these programs. Volunteers can take part in the program in any part of the year, with the exception of April, when there are no turtles.

Your role as a volunteer
Travel to Teach volunteers work with a project based in Playa Buenavista, 3.5 kilometers from Samarra. The project involves four core objectives:

• Analyze and collect data on the nesting dynamics of the female sea turtles that arrive on the beach, in order to predict their nesting behavior for the following year.
• Protect and closely monitor nesting sites and recover nests within known breeding grounds.
• To transfer the information generated to the local authorities and local communities in order to suggest a plan for regulating and protecting the beach and raising awareness of areas that need to be protected.
• Initiate fund raising events in order to generate funds and resources to construct a conservation station in Buenavista.

Volunteers daily tasks will involve the following:

• Construction of the breeding grounds
• Beach signaling
• Patrol walks to protect nests and females, and for data collection purposes (biometry, marking, etc.)
• Transfer of nests and monitoring of the breeding grounds
• Registry of breeding ground information
• Liberation of newborn turtles
• Nest exhumation

Program Schedule
Depending on the type of work that you are performing, your hours can vary between 4-6 hours in the morning, afternoon or night. Patrolling activities will typically be performed at night while research is conducted during the day. We must stress that sometimes the work can be very physically demanding and the emphasis of the project is strongly (and happily) on conservation.

Project Location
Suggested resources to bring to the project include a flashlight, sleeping bag, batteries, hiking shoes, sun block, repellant, rain clothes, hat or cap, books and a mosquito net. Although most people do not take malaria pills and the malaria threat is low they are worth considering.

Program Requirements
The turtle conservation projects are designed to allow our volunteers to have hands-on experience in marine turtle conservation. No prior knowledge or experience in turtle conservation is necessary. Volunteers should enjoy manual work and working with wildlife and be prepared to work unusual hours as turtle nesting typically occurs during the night.

Accommodation
Volunteers will be living in very basic conditions on a beautiful beach. They will be housed in a two story cabin; the kitchen and living area are on the ground floor, and the dormitories are on the second floor. The single mixed dormitory sleeps up 12 people. There are functional sanitary services and showers. There is no electricity, but there is a telephone.

Meals are provided 3 times a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and consists of traditional Costa Rican cuisine such as rice, beans, pastas, meats, vegetables and fruits.

Wildlife Conservation

The wildlife refuge is located next to Samara in the town of Carrillo. The refuge is run by a European couple who created the refuge 3 years ago to raise awareness of the species of animals that inhabit the coastline of Guanacaste province.

Your role as a volunteer
You will be responsible for feeding the animals on a daily basis and also cleaning the cages every 2-3 days. You will also be giving tours to visitors of the refuge. There is a botanical garden, which requires trimming and watering on a daily basis.

Project requirements
Prior experience with animal care is not required but you must enjoy working with animals. A background in biology or any related field would be useful

Schedule
Monday-Friday 8am-1pm or 2pm-7pm

General Samara Information

Accommodation
Teaching and wildlife conservation volunteers have the choice of staying with a Costa Rican family or living in a small volunteer flat sharing with other volunteers. The flat is equipped with a small kitchen, fridge, and a private shower area and it is very comfortable decorated to local standards.

All home stays are located in safe neighborhoods and are within short distances of your project locations. You will be staying in either a private or shared room within your home stay family’s house. You will be given a key to the house and you may come and go as you please. Washing facilities will be shared.

Turtle conservation volunteers stay in a beach side cabin next to the conservation project. Although in a beautiful location facilities in the cabin are very basic, with showers and a telephone, but no electricity.

Food and Cooking
2 meals a day are included in your program fee, these will be standard Costa Rican cuisine such as rice, beans, pastas, meats, vegetables and fruits. Vegetarians can be accommodated. There are also several local and foreign restaurants in Samara and you can generally dine on about $4-7 depending on your tastes.

Turtle conservation volunteers will receive 3 meals a day as they stay further away from Samarra.

Weather
The weather throughout the province of Guanacaste is characterized by being hot with well-defined wet and dry seasons. Summer, the dry season begins in December lasting through April and winter, the wet season is around June, July, and August.

Back to top