Location: Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Duration: Minimum 4 weeks (flexible for min 2 weeks depending on intern’s qualifications)
Start Dates: Project is ongoing, and you can join at any time, depending upon availability
Cost: $800 for the 1st week + $600 for each additional week (4 week minimum is recommended) – see ‘Costs’ tab for further details
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where volcanic rock meets turquoise waters, Santa Cruz Island is a lively and welcoming heart of the Galápagos. The island’s main town, Puerto Ayora, is full of colorful fishing boats, small cafés, street food vendors, and the everyday rhythm of island life. Yet just a short ride away, the landscape shifts—lush highlands, slow-moving giant tortoises, and quiet farming communities remind you how deeply nature shapes everything here. Santa Cruz is where both locals and visitors come together, not only to enjoy the beauty of the islands but to care for them in meaningful ways.
Introduction
This is a unique and holistic internship placement based on Santa Cruz where a community conservation and advocacy project comes together with a high-end eco-lodge and organic farm to protect the island’s precious biodiversity. Led entirely by Ecuadorians, this blended community initiative and social enterprise draws on social action, ethical ecotourism, and conservation tactics to demonstrate how tourism in a high-traffic destination can be done respectfully. As an intern, you’ll become part of a movement that explores how advocacy, hospitality, and communities who come together can support biodiversity, empower local people, and finance innovative conservation efforts.
Daily Life
As an intern, you’ll live with a local host family and participate in a wide variety of activities between the advocacy group, the eco-tourism lodge, and the regenerative farm. Mornings might include harvesting organic fruits and vegetables, helping care for the chickens, or maintaining native plant gardens used to attract tortoises. You might assist with marketing and sustainability documentation for the eco-lodge or participate in communal beach clean-ups with the advocacy group. Afternoons may focus on time with your host family or at the lodge, engaging with visitors, preparing materials for youth workshops, or contributing to social media efforts.
Interns generally work 4–5 hours a day, Monday through Friday, with plenty of time in the afternoons and weekends to explore the natural wonders of the island. This is a truly immersive internship that invites you to live the values of reciprocity, sustainability, and intercultural exchange—learning through doing, connecting through presence, and contributing in meaningful, grounded ways.
Travel & Accom.
The best airport to fly into is Quito (UIO, Mariscal Sucre International Airport). At the Quito Airport, you will need to purchase your flight to go to the island of Santa Cruz in the Galapagos. Upon your acceptance to the program, you will receive information on how to book your flight to the Galapagos and additional details to prepare you for your arrival.
Throughout your internship, you’ll live with a local Ecuadorian host family, immersing yourself in Spanish, building real relationships, and experiencing daily life as part of the community. This homestay experience gives you a deeper cultural understanding that most travelers miss, and connects your internship work to the lives of the people it supports. Host families provide 3 meals per day, bedding, and a place to do laundry.
Requirements
We recommend that interns commit to a min. of 4 weeks on the ground in Ecuador, have an intermediate level of Spanish proficiency (or a strong motivation to learn quickly before and upon arriving!), and bring knowledge in their area of research if looking to do a personal project. Interns are expected to finance their own travel costs. Further requirements include:
- Minimum 4 weeks commitment
- Motivated students, industry professionals, graduate/undergraduate students majoring in environmental studies, food systems, agriculture, ecology, development, and related fields
- Full travel & medical insurance
- Necessary vaccinations
- Flights & visas (Most nationalities are granted a 3-month tourist visa automatically upon arrival, and you can extend this for 3 more months for a fee while in-country.)
Costs
$800 USD for the 1st week, $ USD 600* for each week thereafter.
* Currency conversions are approximate. Use xe.com for up to date currency conversion rates
** All payments incur a 5% bank transfer fee
*** Places are confirmed with a 1 week deposit.
What’s Included:
- Accommodation and 3 meals a day with a host family. Includes a private room, bathroom, all bedding, and place to do laundry
- A pre-departure orientation
- In-country introduction and orientation during your first few days on Santa Cruz
- 1:1 check-ins every week
- 24/7 emergency support
- Network of doctors, therapists, Spanish tutors in-country
- Access to network of experts and information databases for research support
- Exit interview and end-of-program reflection
- Alumni group and future references
What’s not included:
- Costs of flights and visa
- Costs of vaccinations
- Entrance fee to the Galapagos National Park ($200 for foreigners)
- $15 per day for food during orientation training
- Personal transportation
- Any other activities outside of scheduled program activities
Full assistance will be provided in getting all these arranged if you choose our Premium Support.
Premium Support Upgrade
We understand there’s a great deal to plan and organise for your trip. When booking a Placement, many of our participants choose to purchase our Premium Support Upgrade to benefit from the expertise, knowledge and experience of our Project Coordinators. We can provide the personal advice you need to ensure your trip is organised with excellence and planned with efficiency; ensuring the very best experience possible. Read more about how we can help you.
Napo, Manabí, Ecuador
Note: Map coordinates are approximate
