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The Tangaré foundation is an Ecuadorian non-governmental, non-profit organization. The mission of the foundation is to promote and strengthen an alternative and innovative model of development in Ecuador, with the main emphasis on sustainability and environmental conservation in the Tropical Andes and the Choco bio-regions. We aim to help promote economically viable alternatives to current practices that are environmental friendly. This will be achieved through a combination of research, natural resources management and environmental education.
The following review was written by Sejal, a previous Tangare Foundation volunteer.
I volunteered at La Hesperia biological reserve through the Tangare Foundation for 6 weeks in November – December 2010 and really enjoyed my experience. The reserve is both remote and easily accessible at the same time, making it the perfect place to enjoy the beauty of the cloud forest and travel around the country over the weekends.
Volunteers work Monday – Thursday. Every other Friday is off work, and on the other Fridays the volunteers go on a hike within the reserve with some great views of the forest. On working days breakfast is at 7.30, the morning work shift is from 8.30-12, lunch at 12.30, afternoon work from 2-5, and dinner at 6. The tasks are varied and some are a lot of hard work but this is very rewarding. Tasks include planting trees, clearing paths, working in the tree nursery, weeding the garden, making bread, planting seeds in the garden, harvesting oranges and many more depending on what needs doing at that time of year. We all developed ‘machete muscles’ after a few weeks! If you stay for a reasonable length of time, you can get involved with one of the projects at the reserve e.g. scientific research or community work (there is a small school for 2-5 year olds on the reserve).
On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we finished work at 4pm. On Tuesdays there was a talk by on a topic chosen by the volunteers (anything from the ecology of the cloud forest to the economic and political history of Ecuador). Wednesday afternoon is put aside for a soccer match involving the volunteers and staff (including Elsa, the cook, who plays whilst wearing her apron!).
The staff are friendly, funny and great to work with. The food is good, and there’s a lot of it! Vegetarians are catered for. It’s best to have at least very basic Spanish before volunteering here as only the station manager, Alexandra, speaks English. Although Alexandra does offer Spanish lessons to volunteers.
The accommodation is basic and most people share a room. The showers in the bathrooms at the volunteer house only provide cold water, although there is a hot shower outside the dining area, which I used most of the time. There are sockets in all the rooms but the electricity does sometimes stop working, as does the water, but this is not that often. There is a common room downstairs with speakers and a selection of books left by previous volunteers. There are also resident bats!
One thing that definitely made the experience more enjoyable was that there were several other volunteers there at the same time. The busiest time is of course over summer, but whilst I was volunteering the lowest number of volunteers was 5 and the highest number was 13. You’re guaranteed to meet people to go travelling with, something I was looking for in a volunteer placement. The cost is also reasonable.
One of the main aims of the reserve, to be a model of sustainability, is something I really believe in and hope can be achieved so I was proud to be a part of it. So basically, this place is great and if you want to work outdoors in a stunningly beautiful country, aren’t scared of a bit of hard work, want to broaden your horizons and meet some great people, you should volunteer at La Hesperia!
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