Turtles 🐢

Volunteering with Sea Turtles - Wildlife Experience

In Nungwi, at the northern tip of Zanzibar, on one of the most beautiful beaches on Paradise Island, we are presenting an interesting project that includes many activities around the protection of endangered sea turtles.
Other activities include recycling / creative recycling and environmental education with children. As part of a group of enthusiastic volunteers from around the world, you will join a range of activities that have been planned and scheduled by Project Leader Christina.

What the volunteer has to do?

25 hours per week of the following:

✔ Animal Care

✔ Building and Repairing

✔ Housekeeping and Cleaning

✔ Cooking and Kitchen Work

Requirements:

✔ Intermediate English

✔ Over 18 years old

✔ Accepts Solo & Couples

About the Program:

This is an amazing experience, you will live around sea turtles all the time at the beach.
Sea Turtles are endangered creatures, so you will be helping a small local reserve with a few small projects.
The reserve  will accommodate next to the beach and provide you 3 meals with a cheap price per week as an exchange of your help. 

🐾 About Work:

Weekly Task List -
✔ Changing the water for the baby turtles.
✔ Cleaning around the project's environment and the beach.
✔ Various maintenance tasks, such as roof cages, etc.
✔ Cleaning both small and large turtles.
✔ Administering treatments to the turtles.
✔ Examine the tortoise (land tortoise).
✔ Checking the water conditions.
✔ Preserving the environment by recycling plastic.
✔ Guiding tours around the aquarium with daily visitors.
✔ Collecting turtle eggs on the beach.
✔ Releasing turtles on February 20th.
This program changes every day. We don't do everything in one day.

Work starts from Monday to Friday, from 8:00-16:00. Saturday and Sunday are days off for volunteers and they do not work on these days.
We meet weekly on Thursdays with volunteers to get to know new volunteers and share feedback from previous volunteers.

🐢 About the Organization:

All species of sea turtles are endangered and their numbers are declining. About 85% of all sea turtle deaths are caused by human intervention. This includes poaching for turtle meat, eggs, racks and fins, which is also common in Tanzania. Gillnets and trawl nets used for fishing are also deadly traps for sea turtles. Extensive human construction activity often takes place along beaches and coasts for tourism purposes without regard for the needs of turtle populations. Sea turtles often ingest plastic waste floating in the ocean, causing them to die.

Five of the seven species of sea turtles in the world can be found in Tanzania. The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) are critically endangered, and the three species of green turtle (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) and olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) are classified as critically endangered. It is endangered. Sea turtles have a long lifespan and take a long time to reach adulthood. This makes them particularly vulnerable to human interference during all stages of their lives.
The Mnarani Sea Turtle Conservation Aquarium in Nungwi is a local citizens' initiative, operating as a sanctuary following the principles of the 'National Turtle Conservation Commission' (TTCC) since 2003.
In the reserve, in a large natural lagoon, sea turtles, which were rescued from injuries, are kept, treated medically, and released into the ocean again. Turtle eggs are also collected from beaches where their survival would be at risk due to human pressure. The eggs are incubated within the protected area of the reserve and the baby turtles are kept in ponds and released into the ocean once they reach a certain size.
Restoration work on the reserve has been a great success because the villagers own the project. Due to the project's long-term presence, in Nungwi and northern Zanzibar, due to the project, poaching of sea turtles is much less common than in other areas of Zanzibar, or on other islands and along the coasts of the Tanzanian mainland.
The Mnarani Sea Turtle Aquarium is funded by revenue generated from tourists who visit the lagoon, where they can learn about the life of sea turtles, and by contributions paid by foreign volunteers.

🏠 Accommodation:

Costs for accommodation - You can choose one of the following options:

1. Pay $50 per day (includes meals) - Accommodation is located right by the beach and the reserve. In addition, $80 for the taxi from the airport to the reserve and from the reserve to the airport and $50 as a donation to the reserve.
✓ This accommodation has been tried and tested by the HomeAwe team.
This accommodation is not available all the time.

2. Pay $35 per day (includes meals) - Accommodation is a 5-10 minute walk away from the beach and the reserve. Additionally, $80 for the taxi from the airport to the reserve and from the reserve to the airport and $50 as a donation to the reserve.
✖ This accommodation has not been tried or tested by the HomeAwe team.

• The room in the accommodation is shared by either 2 or 4 people (depending on the number of volunteers).

• Shared rooms and bathrooms - males in a shared accommodation and females in another shared accommodation.

⛅ Weather in Zanzibar:

The weather in Zanzibar is generally summer-like, with temperatures ranging between 22°C and 32°C.

📆 Registration Dates:

Program Availability: All year long

• Days off: 2 days per week.
• Minimum period for volunteering: 1 week (Preference is given to those who choose a longer period)

💳 Registration Fees: (Does not include HomeAwe Fees)

$180 or $165 - paid in cash to the host.

The fees cover accommodation, food and transportations.

Regarding registration fees, flight costs and living expenses in Zanzibar, this opportunity is invaluable. A regular tourist trip would undoubtedly cost more. Here, the experiences you will have with HomeAwe are unique. And the daily life is relatively affordable.

• Important note - If you decide to participate for 2 weeks or more, you will need to pay an additional $200 for a work visa.

📋 Registration Process:

1. Sign up through the program's link down below - your details and answers to the questions will be reviewed and based on that, your acceptance will be determined. (It is preferable not to hesitate in providing clear and explicit answers to the questions without any sense of shyness. The clearer, more spontaneous and heartfelt your answers are, the higher the likelihood of your acceptance).
If we do not contact you within 2 weeks, it means that you have not been accepted.
If you are accepted, we will communicate with you via WhatsApp or email to arrange the payment of the registration fees to reserve your spot in the program.

2. Pay the registration fees of $400 to HomeAwe.

3. Have a personal interview with HomeAwe for introduction and further explanation of details.
+ In certain cases, an introductory interview with the HomeAwe team or program organizers will be scheduled to provide more detailed information about volunteering, confirm your acceptance and set a volunteering schedule. After the interview, your acceptance will be official 100%. If, for some reason, you are not accepted after the interview, the registration fee will be refunded on the same day.
Once you are officially accepted 100%, with or without an interview, there is no refund for the registration fees, even in case of an emergency. The fees will be retained until your participation in another program later on.

4. The host will communicate with you directly via WhatsApp or email to arrange your arrival day and to come pick you up from the airport.