Volunteer in Bolivia – Wildlife Conservation zoo

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Arriving in Santa Cruz was quite overwhelming, I had just flown thousands of miles away from home to another continent completely solo. That didn’t last long as I was warmly welcomed into the home of my host family, who were absolutely awesome!

The first few days were a total culture shock, everything from the transportation to the food to the language was completely different from back home in Canada, but thankfully my host family and the staff at the zoo helped me out a lot and I quickly adapted.

Santa Cruz De Le Sierra is an amazing city, there is so much to see and experience and if you get the chance even more places to explore outside of the city. The Zoo was absolutely amazing, there are so many different kinds of animals and I had a ton of hands on experience with the animals. During my time in Bolivia we had baby monkeys, anteaters, and deer who I was more than happy to bottle feed and interact with.

It was never a dull moment at the zoo, something new was always going on. A typical day would consist of the cleaning and feeding of the birds and majority of the the animals, then in the afternoon we looked after the rest of the animals ensuring all needs were met. The afternoon was also when we got to experience most of our up close encounters with the exotic fauna including the bears, sloths, anteaters, armadillos and much more. A few additional duties we took part in included fishing in the “mono islands”, capturing exotic birds and welcoming new additions to the zoo.

My overall experience in Bolivia was absolutely incredible, I am so happy I was able to go on this adventure to South America. I strongly recommend this project to anyone with an interest in animals. If you have the chance to go, take advantage of it. I guarantee it will be unforgettable.

Get involved and begin the journey of your lifetime!  More details on the Wildlife conservation zoo in Bolivia can be found on the GoEco website!