Ana in Bolivia: "Bolivian badgers have been a discovery"

Ana together with the rest of the volunteers of the project.

Ana still gets emotional when she remembers her solidarity trip to Bolivia. He collaborated for a month in summer with the center for rescued wild animals. She is a veterinarian, and her dream was to work with primates. “But I had Bolivian badgers, the so-called coatis. And I don't care because it has been quite a discovery!”, it states. If you are thinking of collaborating with this project, don't miss out on his experience, since he tells in great detail and with great honesty what the day-to-day life of volunteers is like. Thank you for your solidarity, Ana! 🙂

What tasks do the volunteers do in the Bolivian project?

We got up at 6:30 a.m. and went to prepare the food for the animals together with the other volunteers. At 7:10 we had breakfast in the small cafeteria and at 7:40 we went up to our respective areas with food and other belongings. Until 12:30 or so, we worked in the area. We fed the animals (Bolivian badgers, in my case), we cleaned their cages, we walked them through the jungle until we reached some very long ropes, tied between two trees, where we hooked their leashes and they were entertained throughout the morning, sniffing the ground... And many other things, we didn't stop!
Later, we would eat in turns and go up again with the animals, to finish the tasks for the day, give them dinner and put them in their cages to sleep. Going down, we passed by the cage of another small animal that we had to take care of, a kinkanju, that being nocturnal, we cannot disturb it in the morning. Finally, we took our belongings to the food room and cleaned it if we had to that day. We finished around 6:00 p.m.

The nature of Bolivia and its landscape are spectacular.

Spending the day with the animals must be tiring, what did you do in your spare time?

When we finished the tasks we went out to the Wi-Fi zone, where the rest of the volunteers were. We chatted for a while (in different languages, there were people from all over the world). Some days we went to buy things and have dinner in town and others we stayed in the cafeteria, in the room or in the volunteer kitchen.

A day or two a week, there was special dinners. We ordered food at home and ate it all together, in the cafeteria, on the river bank… But most of the time, we went to sleep very early. The tiredness was noticeable, especially as the month progressed!

What did you like the most about the trip?

No doubt about it, bolivian badgers. I would love to see them again. And I also liked discovering different people and sharing time and music and food and intense cold with them...

special dinners in the project at night.

And the least?

Maybe the pain in my feet, which sometimes made me doubt if I would be able to last a whole month there, despite the fact that I was enjoying it and I was happy with the people and with my area… The work was very hard!

Do you recommend the experience?

Yeah! Also in the project needs a lot of volunteers!

Coexistence is one of the most beautiful aspects of the solidarity trip

Ana Sierra volunteered at the Bolivian wildlife rescue center from July 3 to August 3, 217.