The responsibilities involved in this endeavor vary according on the season and weather. There's a lot of service-related work as well as tour guide duties, during the summer months when most visitors arrive. To ensure that hiking paths, footbridges, bridges, and mountain huts are in good shape and that there are no mishaps or problems, during the pre-season everything must be meticulously arranged.
Following the season, there may be construction work to be done, an inventory to be completed, and plans to be made for winter and the upcoming season.
You might find the following chores on your list of things to do:
- Assistance in the visitor center
- Receiving visitors (trail talk, leave no trace agreements, and biodiversity)
- If the volunteer speaks Spanish fluently, they may conduct the introductory talk at the Information Center, provided they have practiced it beforehand with a park ranger.
- Maintenance of the hiking trails
- Maintenance/cleaning of the mountain huts and camping area
- Forest work
- Chop and stack wood
- Supporting the park rangers
- Other tasks in the area of nature protection
There are no regular working hours, as is typical while working outside and in the highlands. In Patagonia, the workload and working days are determined by the weather. People typically work longer hours in nice weather and have more relaxed days in bad weather. Depending on the season, the workload is another consideration when volunteering. If we needed to define an example day, work shifts start early in the morning at around 7:30 am and finish in the early afternoon at around 4:30 pm with a long lunch break in between.
You will be assigned to shifts comprising 4 days and 3 nights to enable job rotation. The shifts may differ depending on the workload and the specific needs at each refuge to support the park rangers. You will always be accompanied by a park ranger who operates on a schedule of 6 days and 5 nights. The arrangement of shifts and days off is managed by the volunteer coordinator or the park ranger coordinator.
The work schedules for volunteers are shaped by the shift patterns, team structure, and visitor numbers; however, typically, the total work hours amount to 40 hours per week. Volunteers will not work independently during their shifts; they will consistently be under the supervision of the volunteer coordinator and/or the park ranger on duty.
You will be granted one day off each week. Please be advised that days off do not transfer from one week to another. Furthermore, please understand that exiting the park during your stay is not a simple task, as it demands a considerable amount of time.
Note: There may be variations in the tasks. The quantity of volunteers, the weather, the time of year, the project's present requirements, and self-motivation are some of the variables that affect them. Maybe not every volunteer will take on all of these responsibilities.
