Volunteer on the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador

There are three main programs in the Galapagos Islands of Ecuador: Journalism, Teaching English, and the Giant Tortoises program.

For the Galapagos programs, volunteers need at least intermediate Spanish, since there is very little English spoken by either the host families, the coordinators, and the general population of the islands.

For journalism, you would work directly for the park service, writing articles for the park’s website about their programs/events/news, and also doing things like writing press releases, and even helping out with the tourist-education programs they have.

For teaching, you would teach English at one of the local schools. The children speak Spanish primarily, but they have a regular English class which you would assist with.

For the tortoise program, you would assist in feeding, measuring the tortoises and in monitoring tortoise eggs. You will also assist in some basic record-keeping and descriptions of tortoise activities, behavior and changes.

Please keep in mind that the Galapagos programs have two extra costs:

• Round-trip flight from Quito to Galapagos: US$410
• Entrance fee to Galapagos National Park: US$100

Volunteers cannot fly directly from your home country to the Galapagos - you must first fly into Quito on the mainland. After you land in Quito, our local Coordinator will assist you with buying the round-trip flight tickets for the Galapagos. You'll need cash in USD to buy the tickets, so either bring USD to Ecuador or use an ATM or money exchanger to get dollars.