This expedition is the essence of remote adventure. Live in the heart of the jungle surrounded by the natural beauty of Tortuguero’s rainforest-lined Caribbean beaches. Hike the jungle trails conducting biodiversity surveys, walk along the beach looking for evidence of sea turtles during turtle nesting season, check camera traps for footage of jaguars, and explore the rainforest canals noting important aquatic bird species.
Not only does this program offer you the opportunity to get involved in ongoing conservation efforts, but you will also be provided with the training and experience to grow professionally by mastering both transferable and technical skills. These include teamwork, intercultural communication, and best practices for recording biodiversity data.
Due to the fact you will work in a national park, you will need special scientific permit to approve you for conducting research. Further permits are required for turtle and jaguar research. The permit for turtle research takes about one month to process, while the permit for conducting jaguar research takes about 2 to 3 months to process.
Highlights
- Live and work at a research station in the middle of a Costa Rican national park.
- Observe Costa Rican wildlife species in their natural habitats, including sea turtles on the Caribbean beach, and monkeys, neo-tropical birds, and amphibians in the caponies above rainforest canals.
- Visit an incredibly jaguar-dense area and one of the only locations in the world where jaguars are known to prey on adult sea turtles.
- Explore the rainforest by canoe and walk the pristine Caribbean beaches.
- Learn biodiversity survey techniques and gain real field experience.
- Undertake turtle nesting surveys and monitor nesting sites during turtle nesting season.
- Contribute to jaguar research by setting up and checking camera traps in the rainforest.
