comunidad inti wara yassi

I travelled alone to volunteer at parque Machia. The hours are long and the work is hard but super rewarding at the end of the day. I spent a month here working with spider monkeys and the birds. I highly recommend volunteering here to anyone who's not afraid of getting dirty. The accommodation is very basic. Two volunteer houses, one in much better condition than the other. The only problem is that they lack the ability to actually release the animals that clearly have no need to stay. Volunteered in 2012 and heading back down to do some more in 2015. They have good intentions just, can't get anywhere due to funding.

I went to Parque Machia for the first time in 2008. Arriving mid-wetseason and promising to stay 3 months - right away I felt very welcome and needed. I did most of my work with the spider monkeys. Spider monkeys are awesome! It was very hard work, but so rewarding. The more they learned to trust and respect me, the more amazing the job became. I learned much about their behaviour and their extremely complex social dynamics. In observing monkeys, one can't help but analyze human interactions and our social structures. Much was revealed to me about myself, the crazy world we live in, and my place in it. At the end of the 3 months I was quite sad to part with my new monkey friends. I had helped to oversee roughly 30 Spider monkeys, knowing each of them by name, their history, their place in the group and their quirky behaviours. When I first arrived, the volunteers that trained me were trying to teach me all their names. I thought they were full of it because they all looked the same, and there seemed to be no way to discern between them. But by the time I left, their faces and mannerisms were as diverse and telling as other human beings'. I still remember most of their names today! I was sad to leave them, and I would have stayed longer if my job wasn't starting again back in Canada. I knew I'd be back some day though.So I returned in February of 2014, 6 years after my first arrival there. I was amazed that the team of permanent workers remembered me! I thought for sure I would have blurred in with the thousands of other volunteers that had come and gone in the mean time. But once again I felt right at home. I was hoping to work with the spiders again, but they needed someone to help with the bear. I only had a month to offer this time, and again I wish I had longer. Balu is exactly how you'd imagine a bear to be. He is stubborn, and strong, and intensely real. It took me almost the whole time I was there to gain his trust and respect. 3 of us would walk him on a rope through the trails in the jungle everyday. We would stop and wait when Balu wanted to stop and wait. We'd take turns napping on the jungle floor when Balu wanted to nap (sometimes for 2 hours!). We would feed him twice out on his walk and give him dinner when we arrived back at his cage. We would clean his cage. Watching him open coconuts and watermelons with such force was amazing! But even more amazing was his gentleness and dexterity in opening peanuts. Balu loves peanuts. It seemed a month wasn't quite long enough with Balu. He's incredibly intelligent, and he seemed to know that you were briefly in his life only to be gone again. However, my last few days working with him, I really felt the gratitude and trust he had for me. There's not many places to go anymore where you can get such a genuine, unmonitored, hands on experience. So many touristy things have turned into just that - things, or concepts, or photo ops, or pseudo-experiences. This is a real experience, and the more you put into it the more you get out. When you're working out your travelling budget, trying to decide where to alot your money, it probably doesn't even fit into the same category as your other options. It's unlike anything else I did in S. America on my 4 different tours there. Your enjoyment there will be directly influenced by the care and commitment you show to the animals. This ability to help animals that have been dealt a crappy hand, along with the feeling of being part of a team working towards a better life for the animals there, and better stewardship of nature in general, is something you can't put a dollar value on. If you have the opportunity, go for at least a month. If you have only 2 weeks to spare go for a little taster and help out. I will definitely go back again some day when the time and money is available :)

I went to Parque Machia in November for 5weeks and I loved every second of it! They have different sections with animals and you will be offered the section they need most help in. I was working with capucchin monkeys and I fell in love with many of them.The center does not have a lot of money and are run with the help of volunteers. The accommodation is basic and the workdays can be long but you will be rewarded with an amazing animal experience together with new friends from corners all around the world.All the staff permanent and volunteers are super hard workers and I want to say an extra big thanks to Nena, one of the founders and Marta the volunteer coordinator.If you want an experience that will change you and get more understanding about wild animals and you don´t mind working hard for a period, then this is the perfect place! I will definitely come back when I get the opportunity and then I will stay longer <3 <3 <3Nina from Sweden xx

Want to Walk a Andian Spectacled Bear in the jungle for a month! What about a Puma or an Oscelot? Not to mention the Monkeys...the Spider Monkeys are the best for me.Albifones are crazy too....Gringo, Ivana, Mielo.....AMAZING!The Mrs and I were there in Feb 2011 and we extended our trip for this and Galapogas and would swap it for anything........DO IT!!!!

Intiwarayassi pretends to fight against extinction of species according to their information on the webpage.But that´s wrong, they care about animals and that´s interesting. But everyone should be able to decide on his own, for what he wants to spend time and a lot of money. Intiwarayassi does not send any animals back to the wild nor doing any effort to do this.

HI i thought i should write a review of my experiance volunteering at parque ambue ari in Bolivia.i first heard about the park from my house mate when i was living in the uk it sounded amazing something i had to check out when i got to south america.by the time i got to boliva i was on a bit of a tight schedule and cauld only spare a month to vollenteer .opon arival at the park i was met by friend;y helpful ppl who showed me to my room and ran me through how the park worked then i met Gill the volunteer coordinator who ran me through registration and asighned me to my animals i had the howler monkeys in the morning and a puma named maggie.the level of interaction and the thrill of it all absolutly blew me away so much that when my first month ended i cauldnt leave so i stayed for another month and met some new cats lazy cat, engine, and wayra.the level just kept getting higher and higher so after two months i still cauldnt leave i ended up staying a total of six months and worked with maggie, tupac, the sisters, roy, carlos, engine, lazy cat, mariano, katie, amira, wayra and the howler monkeys,i had the most amazing experiance of my life there so much im planing on doing it all again.you will have to ruff it a bit thoe there is no elecrticty and living conditions are basic but i think this adds to the hole experiance you dont got to the jungle to stay at a five star hotel do you .they have a car and phones in case of a emergancy but dont stress the hole time i was there nobody was badly hurt in any way there are stricked saftey protocalls you will have to follow plus a lot of training for your work with your animal.there is a cafe were you can go for a beer if you choose after work and on fridays they have a party night were you can go all night.saterday is your day off so spend it how you wish.there is alot of helpful info on getting to the park on the ciwy website.i would reconmend doing more than a month if you can the level of interaction between 4 weeks and 6 weeks is mind blowing and it just keeps getting better and better as time goes on your daily avtivies will include feeding, walking, enrichment, cleaning, maintance, camp activies.you will start work at 7 am and finish at 5,30.the are shower and toilet faclitys at camp if you have any questions please comment bellow ive been travaling for around 6 years now and this has been my most amazing experiance to boot so far if yourve got the time get down the one of the 3 parks im heading back to ambue ari who knows i might see you there. kevpardon my spelling the spell checker on the computer is in spanish

Me and my girlfriend had a great experience working for CIWY this year. First off I noticed some of the poor complaints were aimed at staff and dated last year. As this is more recent I hope it helps anyone put off to reconsider. Our volunteer coordinator was always incredibly helpful and understanding, she was often very busy so couldn't deal with problems right that second but never forgot about us and always did her best to help us. Yes the work is hard and the accommodation is basic (as all their money goes to the animals), but they tell you that on their website so people should have known what they were getting into. The work is very hard but extremely rewarding and you really feel like you make a difference whilst your there. The food at Parque Machea is excellent and very cheap and you can get A decent meal in town. As long as your keen to work with animals and ready to deal with basic conditions I would absolutely recommend these guys. Peace

My girlfriend and I working at CIWY for a month. We both got assigned to a ocelot. (different once). It was great! I would recommend it to everyone who is not affraid of working hard, mosquitos, living in basic accomodation and making a lot of new friends. This was a life experience for us. When do you ever get the chance to walk a wild cat (or bear) through the jungle?! I would say never. But here you can. And you're making the lives of the animals better. Don't get me wrong, it really is hard work. I was with Tigre, and she loves to walk off trail and hunt for hours. You will be tested by the animals, the jungle and hours of walking up and downhill. You will live in basic accommodation, wear smelly clothes and don't get the best quality of food. But in return you will work with animals you probably only see at a distance or in zoo's, will make awsome new friend who share the same interests and you will explore new parts of yourself which you never thought you had them. Even though Tigre gave me a hard time some days, I would re-do it without a doubt!

My wife and I just had an amazing month spent at Ambue Ari. The accommodation is basic but it's well worth the time spent in the jungle with incredible animals and with an organization that cares deeply for each of them. Days are spent prepping animal food, cleaning cages, keeping the park and camp clean while providing enrichment to these amazing animals who are very happy to have you there. The park relies on volunteer funds to operate and feed the animals, and the hard work you put in is definitely rewarding.Highly recommended.

This experience is for you if you want to work closely with wild jungle animals and have a love for the rainforest. I spent one month at Parque Machia working with an ocelot (jungle cat) walking in the jungle every day. It was very challenging at first but was absolutely worth it!There were a few things that were hard to deal with:-no bug repellent the whole time-accommodations were very basic and run down-the potential to be injured or lost in the jungle was higher than I had expectedBut the good MAJORLY outweighed the bad-developed a close bond with Tigre the ocelot-got to know other volunteers very well-felt I was making a difference-stepped way outside of my comfort zone and overcame personal limitationsAfter my time at CIWY I wrote a couple of blog articles with photos if you are interested in more informationtwobeinchili.com/1/category/inti-wara-yassi/1.html

I spent one month at parque Machia and my experiences were amazing.I have seen a documentation about Inti Wara Yassi in germany and decided while watching to go there. And it was worth it!You can work with monkeys (Spider or Capuzins), birds, coaties, a puma, ocelots, foxes or a bear. It has to be say, that you are not able to say totally were you want to work, because it depends on the number of volunteers etc. And if you want to work with the bigger animals like the bear, the ocelots or the puma you have to stay at least for one month, otherwise two weeks. This is necessary for the animals, because it needs time to get used to your work, which is not that easy and the animals need to get used to you. Otherwise they get confused and uncomfortable. Imagine your teachers changed every week... I worked with Balu the bear and it was unbeliveable. We walked like 6 to 8 hours a day with him through the jungle and shared his life more or less. If he wanted to run, we ran. If he wanted to sleep, we slept. And so on. He definitly teached me cosiness :) Beside this we had feed him, look for his trails and clean his cage. A friend of mine worked with the Spider monkey and was fascinated too. This is an experience you will never forget!Now a few words to the staff and accomodation. The accomodation is basic, but all you need. Especially because you are only there for sleeping. The rest of the time you work or hang around with the other volunteers. A short time ago the new volunteering house was finished and the accomodation is a lot better now. In my opinion, contrary to some other reviewers, the staff is very friendly. I had a lot of fun with them and if you are able to speak spanish it will be even better. And the food they cook every day is clean and very good. One of the other reviewers spoke about the short time coordinator. I have not knewn him and cant say anything about him. But since a few months there is a new coordinator and shes great. You really feel appreciated and she has an open ear every time you have something on your heart. A last word to the money we have to spend for volunteering. At first its bit confusing, that you have to pay for the hard work you are doing, but its necessary. Otherwise projects would not be able to exist. You have to see your payment as a donation to the animals. And the need it! If there are no volunteers there would be no food for the animals. All in all I can really recommend volunteering in parque Machia. Best for one month or more.You will never forget it. And I will definitly come back!

I have spent a few months in each of the parks over the years- and can´t stop going back!Things you should understand before going-The conditions are very basic but are much better then most bolivians get.The animals are mostly not able to be released so CIWY tries to gives these animals the best possible life. If they weren´t there they would be either put to sleep or thrown into a bolivian zoo.In times when there are not enough volunteers- or too many- the long termers are there months on end(sometimes years) working about 12 hours a day most days. They may not have the chance to make friends with everyone- but they do appreciate someone, who rather then gets offended, they pull up there socks and lend a hand- or 5!!This project gives you the opportunity to live in the real middle of no-where. You get to make friends and learn about the wildlife and jungle in South America. You get to live your own mini real life "survivor" . And if you are as lucky as me you will make some amazing friends who will be friends for life <3 It is not a project for everyone, but I love animals, I love working hard, learning new things and new ways to do old things. You get out of this place as much as you put in!!

I spent a month volunteering at parque Ambue Ari and i have to say it was absolutely the most amazing experience i've ever had.As other people have said, it is not easy work - but it's not hard, and although the food is not amazing, the beds aren't the most comfortable (bring your own pillow or air mattress if you have such an issue) and the mosquitoes can be absolutely unbearable - all of these things are majorly out weighed by the opportunity to help make the animals have the best life possible - and i think that eating sub par food and forgoing electricity so that the animals can eat fresh meat and receive the medications they need to stay alive is a very small sacrifice, and there is always the option of going into town for dinner when you're feeling like something a bit different.Most of the animals kept at the park can not be released for various reasons, and the ones which can are being prepared for release - not always such an easy process. While they're living at the park the volunteers work to ensure the animals have the most enriched life that they can living in captivity - from walks around the jungle, feeding and spending time enriching their lives in their enclosure. So, aside from working with these amazing exotic animals, the friendships that you make here are also amazing, i found that most of the people at the park had similar values, and while the main focus was looking after the animals and keeping the park running smoothly, there was also a lot of socialising time.This place is not for people who want to have a cushy holiday and play around with wild animals, but for people who actually care about animals and can look past the small sacrifices made to ensure this amazing organisation stays running and helping out the lives of these amazing animals.It is truly one of the most amazing experiences ever, be prepared to fall in love with your animals and either extend your stay or return!

After a recommendation from a fellow traveller and some of my own research, I spent a month in the Machia park. I knew it was going to be long days and demanding work, but the ability to work with wild animals and learn more about the work that they do here was unforgettable. You don't need Spanish, but if you really want to get an in depth understanding of what the organisation is all about it certainly helps. A truley unique opportunity and some incredibly dedicated people.

I arrived to the Ambue Ari park in January and planned to stay for a month. Even on the first day of arriving I noticed a very strange and uncomfortable atmosphere within the camp. As it was wet season, there weren't a lot of volunteers and not really enough to do the work that needed doing so everyone was quite stretched. The long term volunteers are completely unfriendly and border on being just downright rude. They don't make any effort to talk to you or get to know you and never ever ask how you're getting on. They are happy to take your money and use you to work but don't care about you as a person whatsoever.The work they do here is obviously great and it's good that a place like this exists to help all the rescued wildlife. It has the potential to be so much better but it's like the people running it just don't care about its reputation. We were thrown into work straight after doing administration which was great and what we expected but we weren't given any guidance and were allowed one on one contact with certain animals immediately and without supervision which I think is wrong. If you're planning to go here you need to expect hard work in difficult conditions. The beds are rock hard at they are made from bales of hay and they don't provide pillows so go prepared! There are a few Bolivian people who live and work there, Marco was really nice and always happy but I had my phone stolen by another guy there, Oso. He took it while it was charging and swapped it for his which was broken. He gave it back after I confronted him and had a bizarre excuse as to why he had stolen it. This really cemented my wanting to leave!After 4 days of being there, the horrible atmosphere, the treatment by the other people, the heat and mosquitos and of course the resident theif got too much so I decided to leave. Unfortunately I had signed a contract stating I would stay for a month so I had to pay the whole fee, which is fair enough. But if you're on the fence and think you might not like it I suggest staying for a few days before you sign anything. All in all this is a place with potential and their objective to help care for these animals is brilliant but as an individual, they do not care about you and do nothing to make your experience enjoyable.