Indonesia is the largest archipelago in the world, made up of 17,504 tropical islands fringed with sandy white beaches. Sulawesi is the closest Indonesian island to the Philippines and is the hub of illegal trade in wild and exotic animals from places like Java, Sumatra, Borneo and the islands of the Indonesia archipelago. This rescue and rehabilitation centre targets animals that have been victims of the illegal trade in animals and their products. Volunteers will help assist this centre to decrease this trade and return animals to their natural habitats.

Project fee from EUR 1,180

Your Role as a Volunteer

The centre is home to many birds, primates such as Orang-utans, Gibbons, Macaques, as well as the Malayan Sun Bears, leopards, crocodiles and Babirusas. This project does not require you as a volunteer to have any special experience or qualifications, as you will receive the training you need upon arrival. You will also receive continual guidance while you are at the centre.

Many of the animals that reach the centre are under a lot of stress and have been neglected in bad conditions. This requires immediate veterinary care to return them to a stable condition before rehabilitation can take place.

Some examples of tasks you might perform as a volunteer at the centre:

• Provide fresh drinking water to the animal’s enclosures.
• Clean animals’ enclosures.
• Preparing food and feed the animals.
• Collecting grass, seeds or forage for the animals.
• Enriching animals’ enclosures, providing them ways to stimulate their days.Volunteers work 5½ hours per day between 06:00 am – 16:00, breaks included.

The Project’s Mission

The Centre works to prevent border-crossing trade of wild animals. This project is also aimed at animal rehabilitation, so that the animals that come to the centre can be returned back into the wild.

Local Partner

Our project is situated in the northern part of the exotic island of Sulawesi, where the wildlife rescue centre is located.  The centre had been established in a strategic position, approximately one and half hours by car from the regional capital, Manado in order to help tackle the border-crossing trade in wild animals. Thanks to this cooperation Volunteer Travels can offer you a safe and meaningful experience.

How do I book a trip?

You can book your trip with Volunteer Travels by calling us on (+46) 08-23 93 00 or by booking through our website www.volunteertravels.com by clicking on “Book a trip”. You can also email us on [email protected]. When you have registered yourself we will send you an invoice with a registration fee of £200.00. The registration fee is later incorporated into the trip price and the amount is then deducted from your final invoice. When you have paid the registration fee you are formally registered. You will then receive preparatory information from us in good time to plan your trip.

Your Everyday

Orientation

On arrival in Manado, you will be greeted by one of the staff members from the centre. After an hour’s drive, you will arrive at the centre in the northern tip of Sulawesi. Once at the centre you will receive a straight forward introduction that will prepare you for your time at the centre. There is limited communication at the centre, so we suggest you make all travel arrangements before your departure.

Accommodation and Food

While at the centre you will be staying in a volunteer house together with other volunteers from all over the world. The volunteer house has separate male and female dormitories furnished with bunkbeds with a total capacity of 20 people. The house has shared bathrooms, a small kitchenette and a communal living area for dining and relaxation. Each dormitory has a balcony and beds are separated in personal spaces with lockable cabinets.  The centre itself has its own beach of black volcanic sand.  You will need to loan linen for yourself from the centre for your stay. The centre also has a common room with a kitchen, laundry room, common room with TV and various board games. There is also wireless coverage at the centre, so volunteers are free to bring their own laptops. However, it is a bit slow and a lot of people might want to use it at the same time. There is a better one at a internetcafé in town that isn’t hard to get to in the afternoon.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are prepared Monday to Sunday by the centre’s chef, who offers delicious Indonesian dishes. There are only vegetarian dishes served, supplemented with regular fish and egg dishes. 

Leisure

As a volunteer, you will work six days a week. One day a week you can join the weekly shopping trip to buy snacks. On your day off, you can take a taxi to Manado, a city with over half a million inhabitants, where there is a wide selection of restaurants, bars, shopping malls and cinemas. The local village is also worth visiting and the curious villagers will happily practice their English with you. On Sundays you can visit neighbouring national parks, try to hike up a volcano or enjoy the snorkelling and dive sites. After or before your time at the project, you can visit Bunaken Island National Park 30 km off the Manado coast, boasting some of Southeast Asia’s best dive spots.

About Indonesia

In south-east Asia the fascinating island kingdom of Indonesia is made up of over 17,000 large and small islands of which only 6,000 are inhabited. The landscape is magnificent with its beautiful volcanic scenery, snow white beaches and tropical jungles to its snow-capped peaks of West Papua. Indonesia has the world’s second largest rainforest with unique flora and fauna, including the amazing primates, the Orang-utans. This country can be described as one of great diversity, where the people, customs and practices vary considerably in each and every province, making each state feel like you are traveling to a new country. Indonesia has 215 million people inhabiting its islands – from more than 200 ethnic groups!

Rainforest devastation is a big threat to all the animals and plants in Indonesia, with over 140 species under threat of extinction. With the rise in illegal trade of rare species, the situation has worsened. Several areas have been established as nature reserves under the UNESCO to try and lessen the plight of many of Indonesia’s animals.

Rainy Season

Northern Sulawesi is a year round destination. February to October is considered dry season with good weather and plenty of sunshine. When the west monsoons sweep across between November and January it can rain, but usually only during a part of the afternoon.

Practical Information

Flight

Flight tickets are not included in the price of the trip. Your ticket should be booked so you arrive to Manado’s Sam Ratulangi International Airport, MDC, on Monday (the same day the project starts). You should not arrive later than 6 pm; if you do you will need to spend a night in a hotel close to the airport. Your last work day would be Friday after the number of weeks you have chosen to work as a volunteer. If you would like to travel home straight after the end of the project, then you should book your return ticket to Monday. Make sure that you check that the arrival and the departure dates on your ticket are correct.

Visas

It is the volunteers responsibility to acquire the right visa for the trip. Different visa rules may apply depending on your nationality. Visit the embassy web page of your destination to find out what the visa terms are between your country and that destination.

Insurance

It is your responsibility to make sure that your insurance covers illness, injury and theft whilst you are volunteering. Most travel agency’s sell a travel insurance that is valid for volunteer work, so be sure to enquire about it when booking your flight tickets. Volunteer Travels does however, supply liability insurance and is included in the price. Liability insurance applies to instances when compensation for damages is demanded of you, as a private person, for unintentionally hurting someone or for unintentionally damaging someone else’s property.

Vaccinations

For any questions regarding vaccinations, you should contact a vaccination centre in your home country. They will tell you which vaccinations are necessary for traveling to Indonesia. Vaccination against Hepatitis A and B is always recommended when travelling abroad.

The centre requires that you have vaccination against Hepatitis A and B and tetanus. They also require an English written test results for Tuberculosis, Hepatitis C and HIV. They need these tests to protect the health of the primates that live there. If you are infected, you can still work at the centre providing that the disease is under control and that they know about it.