Description
Location: Curieuse Island, Seychelles
Duration: 1-12 weeks commitment
Start Dates: Weekly project starts on a Saturday.
Price: from £2,345 for 4 weeks. Check the Prices tab for further information.
- Includes: All food, accommodation, airport pickup, pre-departure orientation & training and all project related activities
- Does not include: Flights, travel insurance, visas and vaccinations
Highlights:
- Developing valuable skills needed for a career in conservation
- Access to a job portal
- Opportunity to complete courses offered in partnership with the University of Richmond in the United States
- Contributing to the conservation of endangered species
- Living the island life on an uninhabited, untouched island
- Snorkeling in clear blue waters and spotting dolphins, fish and coral
Introduction
Travel to the pristine, uninhabited island of Curieuse in the Seychelles and join an international group of interns on marine and terrestrial conservation initiatives.
Work alongside partner organisations such as the Seychelles National Parks authority to contribute directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as #14 – Life Below Water, #15 – Life On Land, #4 – Quality Education and #17- Partnerships For Goals.
Project work varies depending on seasons. You could expect to be working with endangered green & hawksbill sea turtles; collect data on the understudied sicklefin lemon shark pups; conduct beach profiling surveys to monitor coastal erosion or partake in a yearly census of giant Aldabra tortoises. Rotating between various focuses provides the chance for you to make a valuable impact and to develop a vast range of new skills.
You will be motivated to generate new solutions and propose new elements to improve contribution to conservation in the Seychelles.
Interns are required to complete weekly assignments and host leadership days. While on program, interns are supported by a dedicated mentor.
This internship includes three online courses which must be completed in order to obtain a certificate offered in partnership with the University of Richmond in the United States:
- Wildlife Conservation
- Leadership Training
- Career Development
After successful completion of this internship, you will be offered two career coaching sessions as well as gain access to a job portal.
Are you looking to pursue a career in conservation? Why not upgrade to a career internship.
The career upgrade offers you the opportunity to gain valuable work experience by working with partner orginisations in multiple locations. This combination of having a virtual experience on top of on the ground experience are qualities that are highly sought after by employers.
Do you have an independent research topic to complete? Why not upgrade to an research internship.
Gain valuable experience and collect data for a dissertation or thesis. This program offers virtual check ins with a research supervisor who has extensive experience and credentials in this sector. As a research intern, your main focus will be collecting or analyzing data and writing a paper.
JOB GUARANTEE: for both the Career & Research internship, we offer a job guarantee for those who join for a minimum of 6 months with a 50% cash back guarantee (terms and conditions apply).
Get in touch for more information!
Daily Life
Volunteer work is Monday through to Fridays with weekends free to explore. The Island is only accessible by boat.
- 5 or 6am: Wake up call
- 6 – 10 am: First Survey
- 12pm: Lunch
- 1pm – 4pm: Second Survey
- 6pm: Dinner
- 9pm: Bed Time
Travel & Accommodation
Accommodation & Food:
Curieuse Island and the waters around it are listed as a national park. Our camp is positioned on the beach front of Anse St Jose and overlooks Praslin island.
Accommodation facilities are shared dormitories and can be considered basic.
Our base has fresh food ingredients, meals are mostly vegetarian. Volunteers take it turn to prepare meals for the team.
Health & Hygiene:
The work we contribute to across the globe remains important and new measures allow our participants to continue to join our programs and continue impacting positively on their world and the communities we work with. Changes to our existing protocols have been made by our health and hygiene team to strengthen our health and hygiene protocols and ensure that international standard safeguards are in place to protect our participants, staff and host communities. Please inquire for more information on the protocols.
Travel:
By participating in this program, you are not only offered an opportunity to work toward conserving ecosystems but also the opportunity to see local sites! Our dedicated field staff are the best resource when researching local trips, they have compiled this list of activities.
- La Digue island visit
- Praslin island visit
- Visiting surrounding Curieuse
- Visiting Madagascar (3 hour flight away)
- Visit other coral islands like Desroche, Bord, Dennis, Farquhar and Amirantes which are a bit further away but so worth it!
Requirements
- Minimum age 18
- Be keen and enthusiastic to get involved in the project
- Ability to work within a team environment
- Minimum 1 week commitment
- CRB Police check (or equivalent) showing that you have no previous criminal convictions
- Signed medical form
- Good English skills
- Necessary vaccinations
- Necessary flight & visas
- Full travel & medical insurance. Full assistance will be provided in getting everything you will need ready if you choose our Placement Support Package.
Prices
- 1 week – £2,345
- 2 weeks – £2,695
- 3 weeks – £3,045
- 4 weeks – £3,445
- 5 weeks – £3,795
- 6 weeks – £4,195
- 7 weeks – £4,545
- 8 weeks – £4,895
- 9 weeks – £5,245
- 10 weeks – £5,595
- 11 weeks – £5,945
- 12 weeks – £6,295
* Check the latest currency conversions with xe.com
** All payments incur a 5% bank transfer fee
*** Placements are confirmed with a deposit.
*Discounts are available for those travelling after September 2021*
WHAT’S INCLUDED
- 24-hour emergency phone
- 24-hour in-country support
- Access to Alumni Services and Discounts
- Airport pick-up (unless otherwise stated)
- All necessary project equipment and materials
- All necessary project training by experienced staff
- First Aid & CPR training
- Live and work in a protected reserve under GVI
- Location orientation
- Long term experienced staff
- Meals while on project (except on work placements for long term internships)
- Safe and basic accommodations (usually shared)
- Welcome meeting
- 2 Career Coaching sessions
- Access to job portal (upon successful completion)
- Weekly evaluation with your mentor
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED
- Additional drinks and gratuities
- Airport transfers
- Extra local excursions
- Flights
- International and domestic airport taxes
- Medical and travel insurance
- Personal items and toiletries
- Police or background check
- Visa costs (where necessary)
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.
Note: Map coordinates are approximate
