Costa Rica Volunteers

Every morning at 4:30am the house hold bird rouses the rest of the family. I drift in between sleep and consciousness where I listen to breakfast chatter and at about 7:30 I make my way to the kitchen... Read Brianna's Volunteer Story

Every day I arose with the morning light and the soft summer dew collected on the window. I had my beans and rice plate and was out the door, on my way to the unexpected... Read David's Volunteer Story

My trip to Costa Rica started on 31 July 2008. I took the airplane from the Netherlands together with a friend. Fiorella brought us to our host family and our adventure begun... Read Aniek's Volunteer Story

On the third of July I arrived in Costa Rica, together with my friend Aniek. The next day we met Fiorella of uVolunteer, and we get introduced to our host family where we would stay for a month... Read Eline's Volunteer Story

I chose to go to Costa Rica because of both the country's beauty and the opportunity to work with children. Arriving alone at San Jose was a bit nerve wracking... Read Lindsey's Volunteer Story

Katrina and I wanted an excuse for a second honeymoon, and what better way to enjoy that then by spending 5 weeks in a tropical paradise helping others during the week, and relaxing... Read Josh and Katrina's Volunteer Story

When I came to Costa Rica, I really had no sense whatsoever of how it would be. It ended up being the most unique and impactful experience of my life so far... Read Lauren's Volunteer Story

Two weeks is a short time to be here in San Ramon. What surprises me is how much life I have experienced in less than nine days already. I was enough time to see that the orphanage where... Read Jennifer’s Volunteer Story

A month in Costa Rica. Most volunteers with uVolunteer stay longer than a month. I've been given a briefer glimpse than most of life here in Samara, Costa Rica. During this month, I've had the opportunity to get... Read Greg’s Volunteer Story

Costa Rica rocked my world. Not gonna lie, I was a bit worried about living in a different country, but I´m glad I made the decision to volunteer abroad. I worked in a special-needs school in... Read Ekta’s Volunteer Story

The high light of this trip was mainly my host family. My family brought me extreme warmth and comfort each time I felt home sick. I hope to come back one day and visit... Read Silvia’s Volunteer Story

After 3 weeks of Spanish school in Samara, I felt prepared to undertake the main bulk of my uVolunteer program: 8 weeks of teaching English in San Ramon. The first thing that hit me as I stepped out... Read Joachim’s Volunteer Story

Our first night here, Maria Elena, our madre, took us to karaoke where we were made to humiliate ourselves with a terrible rendition of the beatles, although we managed to laugh all... Read Erin’s Volunteer Story

I arrived in San Jose a day early and spent the night in a hotel. The following day Meaw and Santiago picked me up at the hotel. We went to pick up another volunteer then proceeded to San Ramon... Read Heather’s Volunteer Story

When I first arrived in Costa Rica, I had certain expectations of exactly what I wanted my trip to be like. I was so exited + nervous for everything. When I arrived at the airport, I was greeted by to volunteer coordinator... Read Alana’s Volunteer Story

At first I was a little nervous to travel to Costa Rica by myself. I am only 17 years old, and I was afraid of all the little things that could possibly go wrong. However, all of those fears quickly disappeared the moment I arrived and was greeted by uVolunteer... Read Jenna’s Volunteer Story

I found uVolunteer a different way than most. I had already been living and studying in Costa Rica for a couple of months when I decided, cheesy as it may sound, that it was time to do more than lounge around language school two hours a day, and instead give something back... Read Ingrid’s Volunteer Story

Let me start by saying that if you are reading this and thinking of volunteering, then you are on the right path. I have just finished my turtle conservation project at Buenavista and can honestly say that it exceeded my expectations in every way possible... Read Lucy’s Volunteer Story

The energy in El Torito school this week was slightly unusual than what would be expected from a typical week. There existed this aura of anticipation, this great expectancy that pointed to something big, something different, something not common to every school week... Read Mickey’s Volunteer Story

Let me start by saying that I have always been a traveler at heart. Nothing fills me with more joy than heading out into the unknown with an open mind, ready to explore... Read Katie’s Volunteer Story

I knew that I wanted to take part in a volunteer or service project when traveling to Costa Rica. The first thing I did was "google it", like many of us are accustomed to do for research topics. I searched all over the internet for the perfect program... Read Amanda’s Volunteer Story

I am having a great time on San Ramon. It is the perfect place to be because it is small enough to walk everywhere but it has all the amenities of a city. There is plenty to do. The weather here is perfect too. I am always happy to come back from weekends at the beach where it is often hot, humid and buggy... Read Allison’s Volunteer Story

So you're thinking of signing up for the turtle project....well, I''ll try and paint a clearer picture so you know a little more about what to expect. We were greeted by Roy, who set up the whole project about two years ago. Read Etain’s Volunteer Story

As I stepped off the bus and dragged my suitcase down the puddle-filled road, I couldn't believe I had finally made it. La Casa de Bambu would be my home away from home for the next two, fast-flying, months... Read Hallie’s Volunteer Story

A few days before I set off for the turtle conservation project on Playa Buena Vista, I met a volunteer who'd recently completed two weeks out there. After half an hour of chatting to him, I was almost ready to cancel my stay out there. Read Marie’s Volunteer Story

My experience as a volunteer was certainly a life changing one. Two friends and I were going on a 5-week trip, and we wanted to do something productive with our time in Costa Rica... Read Daniel’s Volunteer Story

Having only been a uVolunteer for 24 hours, my new 'family' decided an outing was necessary for my initiation and immersion in 'Tico' lifestyle, so we decided to go and check out a Surfing competition in Playa Guiones; in fact this was the top surfing competition in the whole of Costa Rica, so our expectations were high. First of all we had to get there…so we started to walk with the intention of hitching a lift (thinking that it was about 30 mins away). Our party of 6 was quickly four as two of our group gave up after 200m. Read Oliver’s Volunteer Stories

I have wanted to visit Costa Rica for a long time because of its vast natural resources: rivers, oceans, beaches, rain forest, swamp lands, mountains, etc. Therefore, when I realized I could afford it, I started looking for ways to not just coast through Costa Rica, but to give something, too. Read Nancy’s Volunteer Story

My name is Jenna. I just turned 21 and I am from California. While many young adults were spending July 2007 perfecting their tans, working a part time job, or grasping on those last few moments of warm weather, I decided that I wanted to make more out of my three months of summer break. Nothing in my twenty years of living could have prepared me for the lifestyle I encountered in Samara, Costa Rica. Read Jenna’s Volunteer Story

I choose to work on the organic farm, since this has always been an interest of mine. Even after all the information uVolunteer sent me, I didn't know what to expect. This was my second time traveling internationally and my first time traveling solo. Read Laura’s Volunteer Story

Volunteering at Ecological Farm was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The farm was a perfect getaway from school work and the monotonies of city life. It was hard work, but it was honest work which left me feeling healthy and mentally enlightened by the end of my three week stay. Everything from planting trees to building terraces to milking cows was so new and exciting that (even though we had to wake up at 6 A.M) I looked forward to work everyday. Read Colin’s Volunteer Story

As a language student, in the middle of my fifth year at university, I really needed a break. All the books I had to read, the hours spent studying at the library didn't suit me anymore. I wanted to discover something more concrete. As I want to become a teacher , I tried to find a project which would help me to know more about this job. Read Julie’s Volunteer Story

I traveled to Costa Rica through uVolunteer with two of my friends (Colin and Daniel) from high school. Our trip started with us arriving in San Jose at about midnight. We taxied over to our hostel Pangea, which was described as a crazy party place with a bar, pool, mechanical bull and so on. Read Mike’s Volunteer Story

My journey to Costa Rica actually began about 4 or 5 months ago when my friend Jenna and I decided that we wanted to reach out to children in another part of the world. Jenna received notification from her college of an organization called UVolunteer that assisted people in volunteering overseas. Read Danielle’s Volunteer Story

Being a solo traveler for my very first time was a very frightening, yet thrilling experience. Having never traveled on my own before I was very apprehensive as to how I would take to it and even if I would enjoy it.
In all honesty it was much easier than I was expecting and when I finally reached my destination (Samara) I then realized how all of my nerves and apprehension were a waste of time!! Read Katy’s Volunteer Story