Last year, I had spent an enthralling week volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand. So, during my brief stop off in London in January, I spent more time researching volunteer schemes in South America than any other travel planning task. Funnily enough, even with all that time spent, I hadn’t come across La Senda Verde. Instead, it was a tip off from another traveller who had heard from another traveller about the animal refuge, that gave me the pointer I needed.
After a read through the wealth of information on their web site, I dropped Vicky (one of the owners) an email and a week later I was walking across the beautiful bridge entrance into the eco reserve. As a volunteer, I would be spending two weeks caring for wild animals ranging from tropical birds, tree-climbing bears, astoundingly smart monkeys and head butting tortoises.
What is La Senda Verde?
La Senda Verde is a privately run animal refuge in the in Yungas area of Bolivia. Co-founded by Vicky Ossio and Marcelo Levy in 2003, its mission is to provide the best care possible to animals rescued from illegal traffic in a natural environment under technical and scientific conditions.
At the time of writing, the refuge is home to several species of primates (spider, capuchin, howler, squirrel, owl and tamarin monkeys), birds (macaw, amazon, parrot, parakeet and toucan), bear (spectacled), cat (ocelot), tortoises, turtles, caiman, boa constrictor, tayra, coati and four loving dogs.
As a volunteer, you’re given a chance to work with most animals in the refuge. The tasks are split into the four animal groups that exist in the park. Monkeys, Birds, Quarantine and Misc. Quarantine is mostly a wide selection of animals that have been recently received, but need to be separate from others until they can be introduced. Misc includes the two bears, turtles, tortoises and the domestic dogs. Depending how long you intend to stay, will dictate how long you spend on each.
La Senda Verde ask that volunteers stay a minimum of two weeks and whilst I was there, I came across volunteers who had been at the refuge several months. If you’re there two weeks (which is most common), you’ll get around 3-4 days on each section.
What is a typical day like for a volunteer?
As a volunteer, your main duty is to clean and feed the animals, starting at 08:00 in the morning and typically finishing at 17:30. Cleaning means leftover food and poo, so be prepared to get dirty. With most animals needing feeding twice, maybe three times a day, you’re left with a handful of hours outside of cleaning and feeding.
Those hours are used to enrich the lives of the animals. That could include:
- Monitoring eating habits (to ensure animals are getting enough food and have a balanced diet)
- Building or repairing facilities (feeding platforms, cages or anything you believe an animal needs)
- Teaching animals skills (they may have forgotten or never learned being in captivity)
- Cleaning the food preparation room or dishes after dinner
- Carry fruit and vegetable deliveries from the entrance to storage (believe me, running through the refuge as fast as you can, pushing a wheelbarrow full of bananas, hotly pursued by a group of hungry monkeys is not easy)






















How much does it cost to volunteer?


What’s the best way to reach La Senda Verde?
From La Paz, you can take a 2.5hr mini bus to Coroico (the nearest town) and from there, a short taxi ride (any driver there would know of La Senda Verde).
The alternative way, is via one of the mountain bike companies that take tourists down the infamous Death Road. The end of the Death Road is near La Senda Verde, so the way I got to the refuge, was to cycle down the Death Road (another blog post, don’t you worry) then afterwards, take my backpack from the mini bus that followed the cyclists down and jumped out at La Senda Verde. The three companies you could use for that are Gravity (who finish in La Senda Verde), Altitude (who pass by La Senda Verde after) and Barracuda (who finish next door to La Senda Verde).
5 things I learned at La Senda Verde
- Hierarchy is so important with the animals, especially with the monkeys. Understanding the role of the alpha male monkey in the group and how the volunteers would work around it was really interesting. How they come about being the alpha and maintaining status is so similar to humans and worth a background read if you’re interested in sociology.
- Sometimes, the animals just “choose” you. The relationship with “Macca” was pretty unique – he was happy to peck at others who should have been seemingly ok with him. Likewise, there were other animals who didn’t take to me, but took to others. I have no idea why it happens, but perhaps it’s like humans where sometimes you just “click” with someone.
- Having been my second wildlife volunteer scheme, I couldn’t help but contrast them in my head. La Senda Verde was a much smaller and younger place compared to the Elephant Nature Park and it was a great insight into the changes that would occur over the next several years as La Senda Verde grows. It made me realise that the stage of a volunteer scheme can really dictate the amount of support that a volunteer gets (not saying that a small amount of support is bad, in some ways it gives freedom to do more) and the amount of support a volunteer gives back.
- Don’t assume the wildlife is tame. You soon realise that understanding the animals is the most important step in dealing with any animal. No one will ever guarantee complete safety working with animals, but if you ignore some of the obvious signs of communication, you will increase the chance of something happening unnecessarily.
- Volunteer schemes are a great place to learn new skills. No once did I rely on computer skills during my time there, so instead all the extra “building” tasks was great for practicing the everyday craftsman skills that I only got to use through home DIY jobs.
Tips for Volunteering at La Senda Verde
- Get yourself a Bolivian sim card before you get to the refuge. There’s no wifi and just a scrap of mobile data in certain areas of the refuge. Luckily, I had a pay-as-you-go sim card with the network operator TIGO (all over any small town). It will save you a three hour round trip into Coroico to do a simple task like checking emails or Facebook.
- Long pants and sturdy shoes are a must. Whilst you get given a fresh volunteer shirt to wear every couple of days (or sooner if needed), you need to be prepared from the waist down to get all sorts of mess on you. Sturdy shoes are useful for attacking birds too.
- A headtorch and bottle of water are useful for the walk back to the volunteer house. Unfortunately, there’s a territorial dog you need to walk passed at night. Although the dog probably doesn’t want to cause harm, the water is a great “gentle” deterrent should he overstep the line.
- Cheap caps are useful when working with the monkeys. Monkeys are very happy to clamber over your head. If it’s been raining and/or they’ve been running around in the mud (or worse), you be thankful you had a cap. I say cheap, because there’s always a chance it can be stolen by a furry thief.
- Have a snack stash. Although you get fed three times a day, the first meal is after the morning chores and it’s common to get a little peckish in-between meals in the day. You can pick up simple items in Coroico, but you’re better off bring a small stash from La Paz on your arrival at La Senda Verde
For more information on volunteering or supporting La Senda Verde, you can visit their web site at http://www.sendaverde.com/
Great post! I wish I’d had time to do this when I was in Bolivia. I visited at the end of my Death Road bike ride and was meant to spend the night, but they forgot to book me accommodation during a national holiday!
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Great post! I went there a few years ago, and am heading back in a couple of weeks! Very excited. It’s great to catch up via your blog on how the place is set up now. Enjoy your travels
Such a great, informative post! I will be photographing and volunteering Senda Verde in 10 short days. I applied thru Photographers without Borders for this assignment. You should check out their site, they help a ton for not for profits!
Thanks for all the info and happy traveling!
Kindest Regards,
Tracey
Thanks Tracey!
I just took a look at the site. From what I read it sounds like a great idea – http://www.photographerswithoutborders.org/
Hope you have a great time at LSV. Looking forward to seeing your photographs.
Say hi to them for me.