A few stories from volunteers from all over the world...
Jenny Arnold
Age: 22
Country: United States
Period of stay: June/July 2009
"I had the time of my life in Costa Rica this summer! I spent two months there, and volunteered for a total of 6 weeks at Cabo Blanco Absolute Reserve on the Southern Nicoya Peninsula. I had so much fun, and would recommend working in the park to anyone who is interested in and hoping to do something worthwhile, fulfilling, and incredibly awesome with their time.
It was hard to know exactly what to expect upon arriving, but I kept an open mind—I was just excited at the opportunity for a new, exciting experience. Ultimately, I think that is the overall most important thing for anyone: to have an open-minded attitude. Sure, there were a couple of minor agitations I discovered pretty quickly, such as very limited transportation between Cabo Blanco and nearby tourist towns (Malpais and Montezuma), and a lack of hot water in the volunteer house showers. It is nearly impossible to not get annoyed or wishful of the conveniences at home once in a while—but I still considered these things as part of something much bigger— the fact that I was in a new country, experiencing a new culture, and living each day learning more and more about Costa Rica and about myself. Volunteers must constantly remind themselves of that, and come to embrace and appreciate the different culture they are experiencing. Furthermore, being right on the beach with an abundance of wildlife (especially the monkeys!) is more than enough compensation for the remote location. It was incredible to wake up every morning to a beautiful sunrise over the water, and quite hilarious to, on most mornings, have the howler monkeys in the trees outside as an alarm clock.
I was also fortunate to have met some really awesome people from many different countries, and I had an amazing time befriending them and spending time with them. We played cards, tanned, talked, and really bonded in a short amount of time. On that note, if anyone that is considering coming to volunteer in Cabo Blanco has any doubts or concerns specifically regarding loneliness or language barriers: have no fear of either. The other volunteers are from so many different places that there are always multiple languages being spoken and multiple ways to communicate. It is definitely a cool chance to learn or improve speaking another language. And it’s important to remember that everyone is the same as you; everyone is just looking to do some good work and have a great time too.
Lastly, in terms of the volunteer work, I felt it was a good mixture of effort and enjoyment. We were never overworked. In fact, sometimes I felt like I was on vacation and wished I could have worked a little more! Volunteers could rotate between beach patrol and cleanup, working at the front of the park and admitting tourists, cleaning the trails and the volunteer house, and a few other odds and end jobs. All in all, it was a pretty satisfying variety of options.
The whole experience was truly rewarding—an unforgettable adventure that I am blessed to have had, and would recommend to others to give it a try!"
Pamela Nuñez
Age: 22
Country: Costa Rica
Period of stay: July 2009
"Cabo Blanco…!!! Inolvidable…
Una de las experiencias más tuanis que he tenido en toda mi vida!!! Y en mi propio país!!!
En julio del 2009 tuve la oportunidad de realizar trabajo voluntario allí, fueron solo 22 días pero habría deseado que fueran más, por qué? Porque es un lugar donde se puede compartir con diferentes culturas, se puede apreciar de la naturaleza y lo lindo que es nuestro país además de tener cerca un ambiente bastante alegre como el que se vive en Montezuma, todo eso al mismo tiempo que se aporta un granito de arena para ayudar al conservar y mantener en buen estado la primera reserva del país, o sea, en resumen hace que ir a la playa sea algo más que unas simples vacaciones!
Como ticos es casi un deber ir a esta reserva aunque sea una vez, porque con solo una vez, el deseo de volver florece por sí solo, ya sea por el buen trato de los guarda parques, por la buena cuchara de las cocineras, la armonía que se vive con la naturaleza o simplemente por el hecho de que es Cabo Blanco!!!
Por eso si van… entenderán a la perfección de lo que les estoy hablando!!! 
"
René Hoogland
Age: 23
Country: Holland
Period of stay: July 2009
"During my stay in Costa Rica I wanted to spend some time doing volunteer work involving nature and animals. Other volunteers recommended me to go to Cabo Blanco.
I arrived in the park mid June (rain season) and stayed there till mid July.
What I really liked about the accommodation is that you live in a house with other volunteers. It’s easy to get to know new people. Monday till Friday are working days in the park, how many hours a day depends on the kind of work you have to do. I really enjoyed the work in the park; hiking on the trails where you get to see a lot of animals, cleaning the beaches or stay at the entrance of the park to give information to tourists. There were days that I didn’t agree with the work they gave us, because it was a little bit useless (just to keep us busy).
In general I had a great time in Cabo Blanco, the park is beautiful (especially San Miguel, a piece of the park that doesn’t allow tourists) and it’s close to Montezuma where you can go out for the weekends."
Finn Hingst
Age : 18
Country : Germany
Period of stay : August 2009
“Im Sommer 2009 habe ich etwa eine Woche im Nationalpark Cabo Blanco gearbeitet. Die Anfahrt zum Park war schon ein Abenteuer, da es von Montezuma nur eine kleine Buckelpiste nach Cabuya und dann weiter zum Park gibt, aber dafür wurde ich bereits am Parkeingang entschädigt, als mich eine Bande Affen begrüßte. Zu der Zeit in der ich dort war, waren außer mir nur lediglich 2 andere Voluntäre im Park und so wurde von der Chefin beschlossen, dass ich nicht in der Hauptstation, sondern in dem Außenposten San Miguel arbeiten sollte. Also Gepäck aufs Quad geladen und einmal quer durch den , wunderschönen!, Park nach San Miguel, welches fernab vom nächsten Dorf an der Südwest-Spitze des Parkes liegt. Die Arbeit in San Miguel war sehr überschaubar und unsere Hauptaufgabe dort war eigentlich einfach nur da zu sein. So blieb uns Zeit die Umgebung zu erforschen( von Expeditionen durch den Dschungel abseits der Wege ist abzuraten, da dort aggressive Wespen-Banden lauern;)) . Ansonsten ist San Miguel perfekt gewesen um einfach mal abzuschalten. Man bekommt dort sogar ein bisschen das Robinson-Crusoe-Gefühl. Man kann stundenlang (getan!) am Strand lang laufen, ohne auch nur ansatzweise ein Zeichen menschlichen Lebens zu entdecken. Außerdem ist die Station verhältnismäßig komfortabel und das Essen dort war so ziemlich das Beste, was ich während der gesamten Zeit in Costa Rica gegessen habe.
Meinen letzten Tag hab ich dann wieder in der Hauptstation verbracht, was ich genutzt habe, um mit der überaus freundlichen Laura, die sich dort unter anderem um die Volunteers kuemmert, einen Spaziergang zur Isla de Cabuya zu machen, was bei Ebbe ganz locker geht. Das interessante an der Insel ist, dass auf ihr ein Friedhof liegt, der immernoch von den Bewohnern Cabuyas genutzt wird.
Alles in allem kann ich sagen, dass ich eine sehr schöne Zeit im Cabo Blanco Park hatte und es jedem empfehle, der sich für Tiere aller Art interessiert. Aber auch wer feiern gehen will kann das schaffen, da das berühmte Montezuma nicht weit entfernt liegt.
Saludos,Finn“
Nina Porter
Age : 19
Country : U.K.
Period of stay : 2001
"I volunteered at Cabo Blanco National Park a few years ago. From the moment I stepped off the bus at the entrance to the park I was struck by the beauty and tranquility of it. The ranger station and volunteer house are located in a beautiful clearing in the jungle, on the coast, and a short hike through the jungle takes you to the beach. The volunteer house is separated by a short jungle path from the range station, and during the day there are always plenty of white-faced capuchin monkeys hanging around. For a nature lover, Cabo Blanco is paradise, and I saw more wildlife here than I saw anywhere else in Costa Rica.
Another area of Cabo Blanco National Park is Cocolito, the house where the founders of the park once lived. It is a small wooden house set back in the forest from the beach, a short walk from Montezuma. It was an amazing experience to be there.
Volunteer duties at CB included translating for visiting tourists, helping the rangers to maintain clear paths, and clearing debris and litter from the beach. The rangers were all incredibly warm and welcoming, and I felt like I was really making a difference and helping out there. I would definitely recommend Cabo Blanco as a place to visit and volunteer at, and hope that I can return there someday."
Age: 21
Country: Germany
Period of stay: May 2008 - September 2008
"I've been at the Cabo Blanco National Park for more than 5 month. At the beginning I just wanted to stay for 1 month, but when I arrived there I knew that I had to stay longer at this wonderful place. The work was hard sometimes and the trail wasn't what you call an easy hike but y really never saw a beach like this. The parkrangers are very friendly people who always try to help where ever they can and the food is delicious .
If I could, I would go back just to be at this lovley place for one more day! I can say that the experiences I made in Cabo Blanco National Park were some of the best I made in my life. My time in Costa Rica was my greatest adventure and I fell in love with this small but extraordinary country.
I would recommend you: Do not miss the opportunitiy to work in Cabo Blanco!!!!
Ciao, Sina"
Anne Lewerentz
Age: 19
Country: Germany
Period of stay: October 2008
Erinnerungen an einen Monat Cabo Blanco
"Im Rahmen meines Freiwilligendienstes in Costa Rica konnte ich einen Monat im "Reserva Natural Absoluta Cabo Blanco" verbringen. Trotz der Regenzeit inklusiv Überschwemmungen am Anfang und der Tatsache, dass ich einen Großteil der Zeit die einzige Freiwillige im Projekt war (was aber durchaus nicht die Regel ist) war dieser Monat eine unglaublich tolle Zeit!
Das lag vor allem daran, dass ich nicht nur wie ein Tourist einen oder zwei Nationalparks besuchte, sondern die Möglichkeit hatte mitten in der herrlichen Natur des Landes leben und arbeiten zu können. Und gerade in Cabo Blanco ist das besonders eindrucksvoll: Das nächste Dorf ist ein paar Kilometer entfernt und die Freiwilligen wohnen in Hütten, mitten im Regenwald, an der Steilküste. So fühlte ich mich nicht nur wie ein Arbeiter, sondern wie ein Teil von Cabo Blanco: Schon morgens wurde ich zum Sonnenaufgang von dem Geschrei der Brüllaffen geweckt, immer wieder kam eine Waschbärenfamilie auf der Jagd nach unseren Keksvorräten vorbei und selbst beim Fernsehen mit den Rangern im Hauptgebäude leisteten uns Frösche Gesellschaft und schwirrten Fledermäuse durchs Bild. Und so als "Teil des Parks" war es für mich um so schöner auch Mithelfen und einen - wenn auch noch so kleinen - Beitrag zur Bewahrung dieser Natur leisten zu können. Meine Aufgabenbereiche reichten von Büroarbeiten über Ticketverkauf und Touristeninformation am Parkeingang, harter körperlicher Arbeit zur Instandhaltung von Wegen und Anlagen im Park bis zur Unterstützung der Forschungsarbeit des Meeresbiologen über Haie. Das Erleben des Meeres mit seinen Bewohnern bleibt mir als einem "Kind der bayerischen Alpen" in besonderer Erinnerung.
Eine zusätzliche Bereicherung für das Arbeiten und Leben im Park waren die Bekanntschaften mit den herzlichen Angestellten und anderen Freiwilligen aus der ganzen Welt.
Dieser Monat mit all seiner Bereicherung für mein Leben begleitet mich nun durch mein Studium der Geoökologie mit der Hoffnung später irgendwo auch einen Beitrag zum Erhalt unseres wunderbaren Lebensraums Erde beitragen zu können."
Hannah Schoenenberg
Age: 23
Country: Germany
Period of stay: Februrary - May 2010
From mid-february to mid-may 2010 I worked as a volunteer in Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica, and it was the most fun, rewarding and exciting experience I could have wished for. Trying to take a break from the stressful study-routine at home this was the perfect place to recover my balance and still do something productive.
The park needs the help of the volunteers to maintain it and keep it open for tourists, and everyone who is motivated to give something back to nature, get to know awesome people from all over the world and meet all kinds of wild animals along the way should give it a shot.
The work in the park variates and depends on the number of volunteers that are staying in the park. Mostly we worked in the Caseta, the park entrance, giving information to the tourists, went on beach patrol and helped cleaning the trails. We were also very lucky to go on ocean patrol to track illegal fishing in the protected areas and got to know the marine side of the park watching sea turtles, manta rays and countless fish in their natural habitats around the Isla Cabo Blanco. On shore howler monkeys, white-faced monkeys, iguanas, coyotes, deer, pizotes, racoons and many other animals were constant companions while we stayed at the volunteer house, ate at the ranger station and worked or hiked in the forest.
The ranger station and the volunteer house are located in about 15 minutes walking distance south of Cabuya, the village with the next supermarket, internetcafé and a panaderia that makes the best brownies. Montezuma is also not very far and on the other side Mal Pais and Santa Teresa are nice destinations to spend a free day or to go out on the weekends.
South of Mal Pais the biological station of the park San Miguel is situated on the southern coast of Cabo Blanco. It is closed to tourism but sometimes also calls for volunteers. Helping there was another great opportunity to get to know an even remoter and also very very beautiful part of the park.
Apart from work, living together in a house and shared rooms with other volunteers is another experience I would not want to have missed. After weeks of working together, spending days at the beach, playing cards, fighting scorpions (they are not really dangerous, but we just didn't want to share a room with them) and taking free days togther I have made some really good friends and found travel buddies who I know I will keep in touch with. Not to forget the staff members living in the ranger station with whom we have shared some laughs and who did their best to make our stay as comfortable as they can.
The three months in Cabo Blanco are an experience that I will live on a lifetime and I can recommend it to everyone that is motivated, needs a break from life as they know it and wants to experience the pura vida of Costa Rica 
