Magali spent 4 weeks on our Reptile Project in 2016.
I have always been highly attracted by reptiles. A good reason to experiment volunteering in Reptilandia.
I spent one month in the park working mainly with the owner, Quetzal, and the employee dedicated to the animals’s care. Roel, his worker, is kind beyond measure and passionated by snakes and by all the animals in general. He taught me a lot of things and demonstrated a lot more : how to take hold of a snake, how to recognize when they are about to shed their skin, how to create a good environment within the cages and enclosures… He was even cooking for me and drove me downtown when I needed !
I had the opportunity to dig for the eggs of an endangered specie of turtles from Madagascar. I saw the hatching of African giant tortoises so small that I held them in the palm of my hand. I learned how to handle boas with a snake hook and clean the cages’s windows having an eye over its inhabitant ! But I never felt unsecured, Roël was always very explicit about what is preferable not to do and when to be careful. If your accommodation is in the house of the park you just have to be prepared to sleep a few meters above some python’s cage. Moreover don’t fear snakes crawling in the kitchen of the park’s house… these ones coming from the wild are free to visit the house from time to time.
Dominical and its surroundings is very luxuriant and typical of Costa Rica’s pacific side. I didn’t have to look too far to see beautiful red-eyed frogs sleeping amongst the leaves of aquatic plants. A good place to live and enjoy overwhelming nature.
