Sri Lanka - Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation

I very much enjoyed burying the turtle eggs into new pits, protecting them from predators and promoting the growth of male turtles through keeping them within a cool temperature and as part of a monitoring process. I also loved feeding the turtles, it's was a very pleasurable experience.

I was very anxious to do any voluntary work, but as I had a short break from work to recover from life I thought this is the moment to embrace some hands on experience outside of the UK. Everyone essentially is travelling alone or with an academic institution. The age range can be from 16 to 60 years, it all depends on who attends what projects and when. I was so nervous and GoEco were the only programme out of a couple that I had contacted globally who provided consistent communication and spoke to me at my time UK time within reasonable hours, irrespective for the time on their side. Elinor was great she really helped me select the right programme to reflect my objectives at this time and the duration I was available for. I honestly could not decide. However, that said I decided to go on the Turtle Rehabilitation Programme in Sri Lanka. It was the best decision of my life. Zoe then jumped in to ensure my documents were all up to date and I was happy with what was going to happen next, just a phone call away. Don't get me wrong it is hard work and the night patrol was hard, but looking back after completing the experience is was an absolute blessing to be part of such a project. GoEco team are contactable from beginning to the end. They message on WhatsApp and are there if you need them. The project you select also add you to a group chat and are always there to answer questions. You will get picked up and from that point are taken care of, security is excellent at the volunteer house (Aasha House). I stayed in a separate room near the house in a guest house as I needed AC to keep the mosquitos off me during the night, there are plenty of ceiling fans at the house. My guest house was very spacious and cool, only issue I had loud walkers upstairs so I didn't really sleep well so hopefully this aspect will improve moving forward. That said, I was always at the house with then other volunteers. Citronella pure oil is just amazing and works fabulously as a repellent, which can be bought across the road outside of the house. My location was in Unawatuna Beach. We were literally walking distance to the beach restaurants and the main road where you can make purchases and also go to the infamous coffee house 'Wild & Sage'. Here you can grab a latte, read a book or crack on, on your laptop. Some you time. There are also plenty of Spa places to go to, my recommendation would be Kahuna Spa on Beach Road. Time really does fly and the programme is very structured as soon as you arrive. This helps to integrate volunteers quickly. You will feel nervous at first but I promise you after a day or so you will settle in and get to know other people. Not everyone clicks but this is normal, just give people time as you have to remember this is a global programme everyone is from different backgrounds and cultures. I have actually made contacts who I plan to meet up later this year. I love the group I have made friends with and they are so much younger than me, but here age is no concern as the objective and mindset are the same. You need to embrace and be open minded. I had warm water for my shower after 2 days and I was so grateful. The Team Leaders fitted this in for me and ensured I was happy with my facilities. Do not expect 5 star luxury, you are staying in the heart of a residential village and this is real Sri Lanka. We can all have holidays but sometimes you need to kick back and appreciate where everything comes from and what people do for us outside of the UK. The turtles are just beautiful creatures, but watch your hands because they are ratty when they are hungry We cleaned their tanks, filled the tanks with clean water with labour intensive water bucket filling from the sea and carrying it back to the tanks. Clean water from the ocean is a must, you have to wash your hands all the time. We gutted sardines with our fingers, fed the turtles one at a time, washed them off with clean water after removing them from the feeding tank, cared for their eggs and eventually released a baby into the ocean if you are lucky to do this when you are there. This was just a beautiful moment, we hope they survive but at least this egg was saved from poachers and has a chance to be free in the ocean. Food wise there is plenty to eat at the house, the cooks work so hard to prepare the food. Breakfast is toast and jam with salad/ coconut rice sometimes eggs. I am gluten free so brought my own bread from the UK and I was more than happy to do this. There are plenty of restaurants outside of the house if you want to top up on food and it really is inexpensive. Great seafood and veg options. I just want to say thank you so much to Aasha House for taking care of me and keeping me going in the 33 degrees heat. We had fresh juice and water is filtered. There is also a pool at the house but you will just go to the beach every day, not to mention the beach club parties, amazing ! Beware of the Tuk Tuk drivers they can be aggressive. You have to haggle as they seriously overcharge and think you are millionaires when actually you are working for free to help their country, you just need to be savvy. Also do not travel alone if you are female and new to the area, certainly not at night. Just not safe in the sense of female security. Aasha house is cleaned regularly. Falik, Amjad, Rishad and Viduni (other staff in the house) are all there for you at the site. All your questions can be answered and they can also exchange money for you with no issues. They are a fabulous management team and seriously have to manage so many programmes and volunteers it is not easy. I really do miss the Turtles, especially George. She can never go back into the ocean as she has gas in her shell. She also has one less flipper. We all really bonded with George, and I think she did too! She loved us stroking her shell. Thank you very much for helping me through this project and I look forward to my next adventure, I had better start saving

The greatest part was the volunteering itself and being able to interact and closely take care of the sea turtles. The team and staff were amazing and together with other volunteers we made every work fun and super enjoyable. :)