Indigenous Project

The Center hosts groups from around the world, as well as leading tours throughout the indigenous reservation and even into Panama. The best part about this center – Danilo’s dream fulfilled – is it directly supports 20 local families through the income it produces through receiving overnight guests, groups and the tours they lead. The families all take turns with Center responsibilities, such as cleaning, cooking, managing guests, leading the tours and performing the necessary maintenance on the grounds.

There are many things our volunteers help with at the Center, including teaching English to the families who work there, children and adults from town, translating for the tours, helping to build marketing material, planting flowers and trees, general maintenance, and the planning & fulfillment of cultural activities.

The center has electricity, running water and real bathrooms, not to mention a “pet” crocodile, Julia, who lives in the river behind the Center. This place is so incredibly beautiful that you won’t want to leave!

Using the Center as our base of operations, we work with other area residents on community projects such as reforestation, encouraging and supporting traditional farming, as well as permanent or sustainable agriculture.

Many volunteers decide to combine their work at the Center while there with the nearby elementary school and retirement home.

As a foundation, one of our main goals is to work with the community and their own intentions of preserving nature and their indigenous culture.

As a volunteer, you will also have the wonderful opportunity to take part in the local activities of the family that you are living with. The families take turns in hosting our volunteers and pride themselves on creating a safe, loving and enjoyable atmosphere. You will be welcomed into their home as part of their family and you will be fed wholesome meals of rice, beans, fresh fruit, plantains (type of banana), fresh fruit juices and often chicken or fresh fish, and – of course – fresh Costa Rican coffee.

You will not find bars, restaurants, stores, cell phones, internet cafes or lots of the creature comforts you might be used to back home.

We have found that this opportunity fits well for individuals, families and groups who are ready to leave behind their creature comforts for a while in exchange for the opportunity to build relationships with the people in this community, to learn or improve their Spanish or to really take advantage of immersing themselves in this loving culture.

Where most all of our host families have electricity and private rooms for their guests, there are some homes that do not have bathrooms inside the home. And though the house might have electricity, some homes do not have electrical outlets. Lights are sometimes hardwired into the electrical system. So charging your iPod or plugging in your hairdryer can be a challenge in some cases.

To view pictures from our Bambu Indigenous Project, please click below:

That being said, nearly 100% of our volunteers who have visited Bambu have left in tears, having had life-altering experiences and having made new friends for life. About 25% of our volunteers have returned to visit again, bringing other family members with them and to continue their support of this community in other ways.

Bambu is located about a one-hour bus ride away from the popular tourist beach town of Puerto Viejo. Because of this, many volunteers find it nice to volunteer in Bambu during the week and then to take advantage of our many tours during the weekend, or to just go relax and enjoy the many restaurants and beaches of Puerto Viejo, or nearby Bocas del Toro Panama.

Here are some pictures you might enjoy from a recent group from Stony Brook University who visited our Bambu Indigenous Project for 20 days. 

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