I wasn’t sure what to expect when I signed us up for a week of volunteering at a turtle conservatory at Nusa Penida, near Bali.
It was my first volunteering trip and I figured that there would be just a handful of volunteers taking care of the turtles. So I was totally blown away to find that we were amongst 150 volunteers that week. The volunteers came from all around the world and the majority were young adults (I was definitely the oldest!). Most were staying at least 2 weeks with some staying several weeks. It reminded me of my younger backpacking days but instead of just doing as they pleased, everyone on the programme worked as a team to take care of the turtles – washing out the tanks, cleaning the turtles, cutting up raw fish and catching crabs to feed the turtles, cleaning the beaches. I was so impressed by the volunteers’ commitment and openness, and the dedication of the organisers.
My other surprise was how much I fell in love with the turtles 💚 They were adorable and taking care of them each day was truly enjoyable. Cleaning them was a real highlight (they were just sooo cute!) as was releasing the bigger turtles back into sea.
So glad in so many ways that we did this trip 🐢
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