Overview

This is a unique and holistic internship placement based on Santa Cruz where a community conservation and advocacy project comes together with a high-end eco-lodge and organic farm to protect the island’s precious biodiversity. Led entirely by Ecuadorians, this blended community initiative and social enterprise draws on social action, ethical ecotourism, and conservation tactics to demonstrate how tourism in a high-traffic destination can be done respectfully. As an intern, you’ll become part of a movement that explores how advocacy, hospitality, and communities who come together can support biodiversity, empower local people, and finance innovative conservation efforts.

Daily Life

As an intern, you’ll live with a local host family and participate in a wide variety of activities between the advocacy group, the eco-tourism lodge, and the regenerative farm. Mornings might include harvesting organic fruits and vegetables, helping care for the chickens, or maintaining native plant gardens used to attract tortoises. You might assist with marketing and sustainability documentation for the eco-lodge or participate in communal beach clean-ups with the advocacy group. Afternoons may focus on time with your host family or at the lodge, engaging with visitors, preparing materials for youth workshops, or contributing to social media efforts. Interns generally work 4–5 hours a day, Monday through Friday, with plenty of time in the afternoons and weekends to explore the natural wonders of the island.

Price:

$650 per week, 4 week minimum

Begin your Journey Today!