The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life Part 8

PERU.

Now when you cut a forest, an ancient forest in particular, you are not just removing a lot of big trees and a few birds fluttering around in the canopy. You are drastically imperiling a vast array of species within a few square miles of you.

-Edward O. Wilson, American biologist and Pulitzer Prizewinning author 29 Most tourists go to Peru to see Machu Picchu and learn about the ancient Inca. That's a lucky break for this volunteer vacation. The more camera-toting tourists who head for Machu Picchu, the less who tromp through the jungles of the Amazon Basin, the most diverse ecosystem in the world. In fact, Puerto Maldonado, where the p.r.o.naturaleza b.u.t.terfly farm is located, escaped development for just long enough that most of its natives understand and carefully guard the complex relationship between all animals (not just the human ones) that live down the Madre de Dios and Tambopata Rivers.

If you'd like to join them in conserving their unique spot on the planet, consider one of the following volunteer opportunities.

p.r.o.naturaleza b.u.t.terfly Conservation Project. If you're one of those people who keeps a list of b.u.t.terfly sightings the way some Audubon types keep lists of birds, this is the project for you. Since 2002, p.r.o.naturaleza, a prominent Peruvian conservation organization, has been running a riverfront b.u.t.terfly farm near the Puerto Maldonado airport. The farm, formerly named Tropical Insects and now called j.a.pipi, was started six years earlier by a couple of self-taught scientist-entrepreneurs who raised and sold b.u.t.terflies (this southern Peruvian rain forest has more than 1,230 species) to museums, zoos, and private collectors all over the world.

Volunteers a.s.sist in b.u.t.terfly research studies and in environmental education programs. Being located so close to the airport, the center stays quite busy with tours and b.u.t.terfly walks. j.a.pipi's volunteers are trained by the center's scientists to find caterpillars and their feeding plants in the wild.

Volunteer packages with the p.r.o.naturaleza b.u.t.terfly Project or other conservation projects sponsored by the group can last anywhere from one week to three months and include personalized training, field manuals, and excursions. In the case of longer packages, your stay might include field trips to nearby protected regions such as Tambopata National Reserve, Bahuaja Sonene, and Manu National Park. p.r.o.naturaleza, which was formed in 1984 to protect and find sustainable uses for Peru's natural resources, seeks volunteers for field projects all over the country.

p.r.o.naturaleza, Box 18-1393, Calle Alfredo Leon 211, Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru, 51 1 447 9032 or 51 1 241 7981; b.u.t.terfly Center: 51 1 264 2736, www.p.r.o.naturaleza.org.

Reserva Ecologica Taricaya. With the highest canopy walkway in the Peruvian rain forest (125 feet tall), this 1,200-acre reserve run by Projects Abroad seeks volunteers to a.s.sist with their important conservation work. Several species like the black spider monkey and the white-chested capuchin monkey became extinct before the group, led by Oxford biologist Stuart Timson, started the place from scratch in 2001. Staff and volunteers at the reserve are working hard to keep the same fate from befalling the endangered side-neck turtle, black caiman, and other rain forest species.

THEY DON'T ATTACK IF THERE'S NO BLOOD Not far from Puerto Maldonado and the Taricaya center is Lake Sandoval, a beautiful rain forest lake, with ma.s.sive schools of piranhas. People also swim in the lake, because, as a guide explains, piranhas wouldn't dream of attacking unless there's blood in the water. Some of the other unusual species in the Peruvian rain forest include: Giant otters, as big as 6 feet long. Supposedly, there are only a thousand of this mammoth species left, nine of which live in Lake Sandoval.

Hoatzins. Emus and ostriches aren't the only birds that can't fly. Hoatzins use claws, two per wing, to climb trees. Their call is loud and wheezy and sounds like something a three-pack-a-day smoker might make.

Macaws. The largest known a.s.semblage of macaws in the world can be seen at the clay licks near the lake. These high orange cliffs attract hundreds of large macaws in a rainbow of colors, which come each day at sunrise to eat small b.a.l.l.s of clay. Scientists speculate that the clay detoxifies the poisons of the seeds they ingest the rest of the day.

One of the reserve's biggest functions is educating the 18 ethnic groups that live in the Madre de Dios (and others who settled here in the early 1900s to farm rubber trees and Brazil nuts) about how to live sustainably rather than destroying the forest. They're experimenting with alternative food sources and have pilot farms for growing many of the plants being destroyed in the rain forest. The palmiche frond, for example, a popular roofing material, can be grown right at the center.

The Taricaya Center, located about an hour's boat ride on the Madre de Dios River from Puerto Maldonado, has an animal release program (jaguars, margays, and anteaters are just a few of the creatures now free to roam their protected habitat), a turtle protection project, a pilot mahogany farm, a medicinal plant garden, and much more. Volunteers build and monitor trails (more than 30 miles of them since its founding), patrol the reserve, help on the experimental farms, and record such wildlife as giant anteaters, pumas, black jaguars, red howler monkeys, green anacondas, white-lipped peccaries, a dwarf caiman (fully grown at only 3 feet long), and more than 350 other species.

You'll live with up to 30 other volunteers (and a resident spider monkey) at the Taricaya Center. A two-week stay is $2,995, a one-month stay is $3,695, a two-month stay is $4,645, and a three-month stay is $5,695.

Projects Abroad, 347 West 36th Street, Suite 903, New York, NY 10018, 888-839-3535, www.volunteer-conservation-peru.org.

europe.

I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing G.o.d who is sending a love letter to the world.

-Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Catholic nun and founder of Missionaries of Charity.

This chapter presents volunteer opportunities throughout Europe, ranging from working with dolphins in Scotland's Hebrides to refurbishing castles in Germany. You can tend gardens at castles and manor houses all over the United Kingdom, take orphaned children hiking in Kyrgyzstan, or play the part of a Viking ghost in Iceland.

European volunteer gigs, like the countries in which they take place, are culturally and historically diverse. The best part of embarking on a volunteer vacation is that you'll learn more about your dream country than you could ever get from a book, a nature show, or a tour bus. You will be right there, in the thick of things, working with the very organizations who are restoring Provence's medieval stone work, beekeeping on organic farms in Tuscany, excavating Roman forts, and a.s.sisting Romanian gypsies.

Although there must be a million ways to experience the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Europe, sometimes it can seem difficult to get away from ticking items off on the same-ole, same-ole tourist trail. Eiffel Tower? Check. Big Ben? Check. Acropolis? Check. As a volunteer, however, you will be able to immerse yourself in a new culture and experience day-to-day life as the Greeks or the Armenians or the Bulgarians or the Russians do.

h.e.l.lENIC WILDLIFE HOSPITAL.

protect indigenous greek wildlife.

ISLAND OF AEGINA, GREECE.

The bulldozer and not the atomic bomb may turn out to be the most destructive invention of the 20th century.

-Philip Shabecoff, environmental journalist.

30 Amid orange, fig, and pistachio farms on the tiny Greek island of Aegina sits a sprawling wildlife hospital that treats between 3,000 and 4,500 injured, poisoned, or orphaned wild animals every year. Coming on ferries from all over the Greek islands, the hospital's menagerie includes everything from baby foxes with broken backs to storks, pelicans, owls, blind cormorants, and a griffin vulture that survived 75 gunshot wounds.

With a patient load like that, it's not surprising that volunteers are welcomed with open arms. The busy nonprofit even converted part of its nationally recognized veterinary clinic, a former prison, into volunteer quarters complete with comfy bunk beds, kitchen, and a s.p.a.cious living room where volunteers meet every morning for breakfast.

With dazzling views of the island's mountains and surrounding Aegean Sea, the clinic attracts animal lovers from all over the world who come to clean cages, prepare food (expect to chop up a lot of raw chicken and carry many heavy buckets of fish), administer medicine, and play with baby magpies, peac.o.c.ks, and owls.

The roots of the h.e.l.lenic Wildlife Hospital (HWH) were planted in 1984 when university students in Thessaloniki rescued animals from an understaffed and unsympathetic zoo where animals were dying and being stuffed for display. By 1990, the most active of the rehabbers, many of whom are still involved today, opened the hospital on Aegina. In addition to animal rescue, HWH is committed to educating the public on the perils of overdevelopment and the importance of protecting wildlife. The center is open to the public and presents programs to schoolchildren throughout the islands.

Volunteers work six days a week from approximately 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and are asked to commit to stay at least seven days, although it is not uncommon for some volunteers to stay for months or even years at a time, developing into what they call "a big, happy family."

MIRACULOUS DEEDS.

Need a miracle? St. Nektarios, the protector of Aegina and one of the most widely known Greek Orthodox saints, built a monastery there with his bare hands, carrying stones, planting gardens, and praying for the nuns who requested his services. Located just 4 miles from the Aegina harbor, the monastery is probably the best regarded of the island's 365 churches. The locals built one church for each day, supposedly to protect them from pirate raids. Thousands of people visit the saint's tomb, located on the monastery grounds, to ask for blessings. Many of the faithful swear that if they put their ear to the tomb, they can hear his healing words. Although more than 2,000 miracles have been attributed to St. Nektarios, we'll limit ourselves to just two: Born into poverty in 1846 in Thrace, Nektarios was sent by his parents to Constantinople when he was 15. He had no money for boat fare, but begged for a ride from a captain whose ship was about to leave the port. The captain refused and the boy walked away. Although the ship's engines were running, it refused to budge, despite the captain's every effort. Feeling guilty about rejecting the boy, the captain called to him to come back and jump on the boat. Just as Nektarios leapt aboard, the boat regained its power.

Next to the hospital bed where St. Nektarios died on November 8, 1920, lay a man who had been paralyzed for many years. The nurse and the nun who prepared Nektarios's body for burial accidentally set his sweater on the bed of the paralyzed man, who immediately gained strength, arose from his bed, and began shouting, "Hallelujah!"

"Everyone is pulling the same rope at work as well as on time off," says Susan Maki, a HWH volunteer from Finland explaining the family bond that develops.

The highlight for volunteers and staff alike is when an animal of any kind, be it endangered or common, finds the strength to spread its wings and return to the wild.

There's no charge to volunteer at HWH. While meals are not included, the kitchen has an ample supply of basics such as pasta, rice, and bread.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

h.e.l.lenic Wildlife Hospital, Box 57, Island of Aegina, Greece 18010,30 229 7031338, www.ekpazp.gr.

a.s.sOCIATION FOR REGIONAL PARTIc.i.p.aTION AND ACTION.

restore medieval stonework on castles, farms, and chapels.

PROVENCE, FRANCE.

Every breath you take of Provencal air is like ten euros in the bank of health.

-Peter Mayle, author of A Year in Provence and many other books.

31 Peter Mayle's 1990 best seller, A Year in Provence, turned this once little-known destination of unspoiled rural countryside, stone farmhouses, and ancient fortresses into a cliche. Almost.

Now, busloads of foreign tourists crowd the quaint villages, every gourmet store offers goat cheese tastings, every linen store sells calming lavender pillow sprays, and Mayle, forced to enter the "author protection program," decided to relocate.

Luckily, some things are impervious to trends. Since 1979, ten years before Mayle met the characters of his famous book, the a.s.sociation for Regional Partic.i.p.ation and Action (APARE), a nonprofit based in Avignon, has been organizing volunteer work camps that to this day still offer a slice of authentic Provence.

SAY GOAT CHEESE.

How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?

-General Charles de Gaulle, France's first president.

At every market in Provence, you'll find cheesemakers proudly selling their version of un crotin de chevre (goat cheese), usually with four different ages from fresh (one to two days old) to tres sec (a month to three months old).

Claudine and Yves Malbosc, who sell two varieties of the famous unpasteurized cheese from an outdoor market stall in St.-Martin-de-Crau, tend 70 Alpine goats, raising them on hay of the Crau (called foin, it is even flown to Saudi Arabia for racehorses), grains, oats, corn, and barley. Their Cheverie du Mas Doutreleau (open March to Dec., tel 33 4 90 47 08 95) offers private tours where you can meet the goats, learn about cheesemaking, and of course, indulge in samples. You might even catch Yves dancing with the goats.

From July through September, about three dozen of these work camps spread out across the lavender fields of the Provence countryside, bringing groups of 10 to 15 international volunteers together to restore and rebuild historic and cultural sites.

On one project, you might repair stone roadways at the base of Mont Ventoux. On another, you'll renovate a chapel in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or learn to rebuild a stone wall on a citadel overlooking Saint-Tropez. You'll work on huts once used by charcoal workers, gunpowder factories, pebble walls surrounding castles lived in by popes, and hermitages where spiritual seekers still come to find peace and insight.

And the best part? These two-to three-week gigs are not called work camps, but chantiers, which-like most things-sounds a lot more romantic in French. Make no mistake, however. You'll be wielding pickaxes, hoes, and cement shovels. A team leader and a technical advisor train each team in such traditional building techniques as dry-stone walling, stone dressing, and lime facing.

You'll start early in the morning, work for five or six hours, and have afternoons free to partake of Provence's well-known savoir-vivre. Wholehearted pa.s.sion, whether from the region's chefs, vintners, artists, craftsman, or even the humblest stall keeper who will spend 15 minutes extolling the virtues of a particular melon, comes with the territory.

Perhaps you'll join other members of your team at one of Provence's famous outdoor cafes. With tables laid out beneath shaded awnings, these quintessential Provence gathering spots are where locals gossip, talk politics, play boules, or simply drift to a gla.s.s of Chateau St.-Pierre, one of the region's fabulous chilled roses.

On weekends, led by your team leader, you'll pedal through fields ablaze with poppies, herbs, and olive trees, visit wine festivals and leather fairs, and partake of the colors, smells, and other delights that so inspired painters Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cezanne.

Three-week chantiers, including lodging (usually in a castle, barn, or village hostel), meals, insurance, and excursions, run 130 euros ($167).

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

APARE, 25 Boulevard Paul Pons, 84800 L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France, 33 4 90 85 51 15, www.apare-gec.org.

INEX-SDA.

help build community or restore a castle.

CZECH REPUBLIC.

The man with the boots does not mind where he places his foot.

-Irish proverb.

32 The Czech nonprofit INEX-SDA (a.s.sociation for Voluntary Activities) organizes a wide range of volunteer work camps every year throughout the Czech Republic. These two-to three-week camps range from herb collecting on a country farm to a.s.sisting the handicapped in Prague. The nonprofit group, which was established in 1991, works with local organizations that need a.s.sistance through four programs: One to Another, Bridges to Nature, Hands and History, and Meetings in the Countryside.

CASTLES ON THE GROUND.

Another well-known castle in Moravia is commonly known as the Archbishop's Chateau. The castle is located in the heart of Kromi and surrounded by lush baroque gardens considered to be among the best in Europe. The castle and gardens were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1998. The building includes a 275-foot tower, a hall where the 1848 Austrian Imperial Congress took place, and an extensive gallery with paintings by t.i.tian, Chranac, and van Dyck. But perhaps its biggest claim to fame is that Czech director Milo Forman used it as a stand-in for Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace during the filming of Amadeus, the award-winning movie (1984) about the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The castle's main audience chamber was also used in the 1994 movie Immortal Beloved, during the piano concerto scene.

Tasks vary from year to year, depending on community needs, but you'll be given full instructions when you arrive. Volunteers help children or teenagers to learn English by playing games and talking with them. At a summer camp in Lipova-lazn, they plan activities for the children, and may a.s.sist with water therapy, ma.s.sage, and breathing therapy in the nearby caves. In usti nad Labem, volunteers help rebuild the community center and lead Roma children in singing, drawing, field trips, and other activities.

When you volunteer with INEX-SDA, you should arrive prepared to work outdoors in all kinds of weather-comfortable, waterproof boots are a must. Tasks include clearing invasive plants from protected areas, landscaping educational trails, tending and planting trees, cleaning up rivers and streams, and gardening. If your trip is in late summer, you might be harvesting apples and putting them by for winter. You will help clean, create, or maintain village public s.p.a.ces. In 2008, volunteers helped construct a historical museum of Slovanian houses from natural materials.

If historical preservation is enticing to you, there are castles galore in the Czech Republic. INEX-SDA volunteers work at an archaeological work camp at the ruins of Hartenberg castle, clearing rubble and excavating, and on the grounds of the baroque castle at Beov. They also work at ruins of castles around the Malse River in southern Bohemia. At the 13-century Zamek ("castle" in Czech) Kynvart in the town of Lazn Kynvart, volunteers work on the grounds, revitalizing a brook, repairing an old greenhouse, and removing invasive plants.

One unusual work camp takes at a place at a 15th-century castle in Stilky, a village in southern Moravia. The 64-room fortification near the town of Kromi was crumbling in the 1990s, when an international yoga a.s.sociation, Yoga in Daily Life, bought it and began renovating. They then opened an ashram and began offering cla.s.ses. Volunteers tend the castle's sprawling gardens, help out in the kitchen, clean the meditation rooms, and generally practice the art of karma yoga-selfless service.

Depending on the location of their work camp, in their free time, volunteers may hike, swim, attend community events, and visit eco-farms, ruins, spas, and so forth.

Accommodations run the gamut from castles to cottages to hostels to tents (you may need to bring a sleeping bag). Meals are usually prepared by partic.i.p.ants in shared kitchens, though there may be some canteen or restaurant meals provided. Some work sites do not have running water. All of INEX-SDA's work camps are free.