Health

• Bolivia requires a Yellow Fever vaccination certificate at some borders.
• Whilst a rabies vaccine is advisable as many stray dogs around the larger Andean cities have rabies, each of the refuge animals are quarantined and vaccinated.
• At the time of writing (August 2009) according to Fit for Travel there are no known cases of malaria contraction at the refuges.
• All these issues are down to personal consideration of the risks. We cannot offer advice as we do not have the expertise.
• At Parque Machía bottled water is easily available. At Parque Ambue Ari most drink water untreated from the well but you may wish to bring purifiers.
• Mosquitoes and sand flies share the jungle with us. If you would like to use repellent, only 100% natural repellent is allowed (chemical types poison the animals). The natural repellent may be hard to find, so start looking as soon as possible - bring it from home if you can.  Citronella is a natural repellant which some people find useful.

Travel and Transport:

• On entering Bolivia most foreigners have access to a 30 day visa. In any major city this can be upgraded to 90 days. To stay longer, you can normally leave the country for a night and then re-enter.  In special cases for long term volunteers alternative visa arrangements can be explored.
• Be aware that Bolivian public services are occasionally disrupted by road blockades- this may be something you need to ask about before you set off on the bus. The blockades aren't dangerous- they just block the route. Information is usually available in the press about a week before, should you be trying to plan (particularly if you have flights to get to)

Transport to Parque Machia:

• The refuge resides in the town Villa Tunari on the banks of the Espiritu Santo river. The town is located on the highway between the cities Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.
• From Cochabamba there are two ways to get to the refuge:
  • Take a bus from the central bus station that goes to Santa Cruz and simply ask the driver to get off the bus just after the Espiritu Santo bridge. It takes 4-6 hours and costs about US$7, or...
  • Take a minibus that leaves from the corner of Avenida Oquendo and Avenida 9 de Abril, takes about 3.5 hours and costs about $3. When you get to Villa Tunari ask the driver to get off just after the Espiritu Santo Bridge.
• From Santa Cruz you need to take a bus that goes to Cochabamba (from the central bus station, just make sure it goes through Villa Tunari and can stop off) and ask the driver to get off just before the Espiritu Santo Bridge. Journey takes around 6 hours.
• The refuge is about 500m east of Villa Tunari on the side of the road. Just ask anyone in town about the animal refuge ("refugio de animales" or "Parque Machía"). Just after the bridge you will see people sitting at the cafe and there will be a big painted sign on the side of the building saying Inti Wara Yassi and anyone about will be happy to welcome you to our community.

Facilities:

• There are shoe shops, second-hand clothes shops and pharmacies in the village (so no need to bring toilet roll etc) and a hospital nearby.
• There are several places from which to make international phone calls (9 B/min to the UK).
• Internet access in Villa Tunari is 'often reliable'!
• Tel: 591-44-136572 - try to call 7:30am (or 9:00am for people looking after the large cats) and 17:00 or 18:30.
• Banks  -there is an ATM in Villa Tunari that often has money in it but is not 100% reliable.  It’s not possible to exchange traveler’s cheque’s.
• To contact volunteers working at the refuge, we recommend that you try the refuge phone number above at the times above. Please be patient and persevere - the phone connection is occasionally unreliable, it is shared by lots of people, and volunteers may be some distance from the office. You could arrange to return a call at one of the telephone offices.  This line will generally be answered in Spanish and there are not always English speakers around to translate

Food:

• Food is not provided at Parque Machía (it is at Ambue Ari), although breakfasts and lunches are sold there at the vegetarian cafe.
• Meals in restaurants are around 8 Bs (there are also expensive options).
• There are kitchen facilities available to volunteers included in your volunteering price.
• Villa Tunari has a small, very cheap supermarket.
• Vegetarians or vegans may wish to stock up on some long-lasting flavours as local vegetarian fare is largely eggs and cheese. Some beans are available but best not to rely on them. You will want to have a city-break once a month or so.
• You cannot drink in the Park

Accommodation:

• There are several lodging alternatives included in your volunteering price, run by the refuge. Sheets are provided. Some photos are available on sites on the links page.
• A mosquito net can be bought in the village for around US$5.
• An extra padlock may be handy (small).
• Rooms are generally shared between two or three volunteers. We do our best to accommodate particular people's requests as soon as we can but cannot guarantee particular arrangements before you arrive. (Volunteer numbers and arrangements change constantly, quickly and informally.)
• Accommodation costs vary, as do standards from the very basic to the slightly basic.

Children:

• The minimum age for volunteers is 18 (17 on referral) Children can also of-course tour the park and meet most of the animals - we regularly have children visiting (we run school programs throughout Bolivia).

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