Volunteer Opportunities in Latin America
Below are places that I have volunteered at as well as friends that I met on my trip or through the Internet!
Volunteered on an organic farm (https://www.workaway.info/en/host/481424625228) on a tiny island near Puerto Montt in Chile. Such a great opportunity to slow down after tons of hiking in Patagonia, save money (free bed & board) and learn from the owner about living more sustainably and autonomously.
- @adèlesreeves
1 - Casa voyage in San Pedro, Chile. Casa voyage is this green paradise just 10 min from the main street of San Pedro. For 4 hours of cleaning I get a bed and 2-3 meals. They do an activity every night, have a pool and workout space. Good vibe.
2 - @dogshelterpalomino (check their insta) - It’s these young guys dedicating their life to the street dogs in this beach town in Colombia.
- @_michelleexx
1 - One of the most special volunteers I did was on the Combu island in the Amazon River, next to the Brazilian city of Belem do Pará. On that island, I lived with a small family. We cultivated cocoa and collected Açai to take to the city market. We spent many hours talking about everything, playing the guitar and going through the flooded jungle with a boat. Was an amazing month in the jungle.
2 - I spent a month volunteering in Nicaragua, in the almost isolated Caribbean region of Bluefields. We arrived by boat, we ate coconut rice with beans and crab soup with bananas every day. I took care of the chickens, made sure that the horses did not eat the pineapples from the crop, and had to separate the baby worms from the big ones to place them in the boxes to make compost. In the mornings the manatees approached the river bank.
- @charly_vk
I volunteered at a treehouse hotel in Brazil near the capital! The tallest treehouse in South America to be factual. Everyday I woke up to parrots, monkeys, toucans, all just outside my bedroom window, I was the English male Snow White!
I did a few more but this is the one I recommend, it’s called Mariri jungle lodge.
- @elljothomas
1 - I spent approx. 6 weeks in Peru and 6 weeks in Costa Rica. I found all places via Workaway, so definitely recommend, however in Peru it is a lot easier to find a workaway than in Costa Rica. From my experience in Peru you can literally text them a week before and they will reply yes because if you ask too far in advance they don't know, it's more relaxed, you text 5 places and at least 4 will deffo reply. In Costa Rica on the other hand, it's more popular, so you text like 25 and maybe like 3 will reply if you are lucky haha and you have to text waaaay in advance, even few months. I was with a Peruvian family in the mountains-Cordillera Blanca/ Huascaran (close to Huaraz) for the first 3 weeks. It was a nice experience, very rural but also great to get in the real peruvian life. Also very chilled and good for practising Spanish.
2 - Second was on the coast up north in a surf town called Lobitos. It was in a super quiet hostel, which was a shock at the beginning but after few days I really got time to just be with myself so that was quite special. And learning surfing of course!
- @alexandraslepkovka
I have been backpacking through South America for the past 6 months and a half, and I visited Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. In Ecuador I decided to volunteer with the indigenous community Waorani in the Yasuni National Park, est of Quito and not very far from Coca. It was a 2 weeks volunteering experience in which I got the chance to know the Waorani, a little bit of their culture, traditions, belives and the most important I had the chance to observe their connection with the nature.
The name of the Waorani community project is Yasunivive. During my stay with the community, we worked on a tradotional house, we cleared a small portion in the forest and prepared the place for the construction of a volunteer center (deep in the forest), we met the community and the kids of the community and gave them gifts and played with them. Sometimes we would go at the river to swimm with the kids and cool down from the heat of the day. I also got the opporrunity to try different indiginous food and drinks.
However, my favourite part of the project was learning about the natural environment, looking for bugs and identify them, spotting birds, monkeys up in the trees and occasionally other small mammals, lizard or snakes.
I definitely recomand this volunteering project with confidence! For me it was an amazing experience, where I got close to an indigenouse community and I learnt so much from them, I reconnected with Pacha Mama and I left with many special memories.
- @remusfleseru
Volunteering in South America allowed me to connect with cultures, improve my Spanish massively and most of all make friendships that I will keep forever.
I firstly volunteered at a coffee farm in Colombia where I learned more about coffee than I could ever imagine, listen to inspiring stories of the owner of the farm and was hosted by lovely family that was looking for someone who could speak English and Spanish to translate their tours. A very heartwarming experience to live with the family for 3 weeks.
After that I volunteered at a hostel in Colombia and one in Ecuador, both very different experiences, but both amazing as well. Volunteering at a hostel in more agitated and fun for sure but you equally connect with the staff, that are locals and that is my favourite part. I made the best of friends with the other people working at the hostel, most of them my age and I made so many good memories with them.
- @mafaldavidigal
Two of our highlights were staying with a 68 year old lady called Dionny in a small town in the North of Peru called Tinco near Huaraz. We helped her with her corn fields and she taught us all about Peruvian cooking. She had little English and it really helped us improve our Spanish and even gave us a chance to learn some Quechua. It really allowed us to get in to thick of Peruvian life. The workaway is called Adobe mountain home and friendly family awaits you in Carhuaz, Peru.
Our other to note is our horse and cattle ranch experience in Argentina. We worked on 15000 hectares of land, helping with the animals and maintaining the ranch. We worked with the gauchos and really experienced their way of life. We ate from the land here which was great to learn about.
- @weegiesinthewild
Volunteering in Latin America was by far the best decision of 2022! My first gig was in Mexico, i volunteered in Isla Holbox, Playa Del Carmen and San Cristobal. I must admit living on a tropical island in Isla Holbox was one of my favourite experiences of the whole trip! My job was the breakfast girl at a party hostel, i started at 7am and had to help the chef prepare the buffet breakfast until 12. Where it was a buffet i just had to keep things topped up like the milk and juice. Because i worked at a party hostel the guests didn't usually wake up until around 10am/11am so i practically done the bare minimum, i would have spanish lessons on shift with my Argentinian co workers and they would teach me new words everyday. If i could do one thing, it would be to have started volunteering in hostels earlier in life!
- @paigeecopeland
My favorite volunteer experience was at DreamSea surf camp in Costa Rica! All of my other exchange experiences were through social media collaborations. If you’re interested in learning about how I collaborated with hotels, hostels, and luxury hotels, sign up for a travel hotline call to learn more! I met so many other volunteers throughout my 10 month trip. If you need me to connect you with more people, I am happy to help! If you’re just starting out, I would recommend looking at opportunities on workaway.com. My discount link is: https://www.workaway.info/invite/9554DEX7
- @alexamcdonald, owner of feelingflytoday.com
