Charlie's Angels Costa Rica - 5 weeks of volunteering at a dog rescue station

When we found out in Germany that we could work at the dog rescue station, we were over the moon. For us, it was definitely a dream come true, which is why we were extremely excited to finally arrive at the dogs. And at first glance, it was definitely like paradise for us - 20 little puppies and 19 adult dogs, some living freely and some in kennels, all showered with love.

Charlie's Angels was founded by a German named Tania, who does not live at the station herself. The station is run on-site by the couple Marcos and Shannon. When we arrived, the only other volunteers besides us were Jamie and Ashley, with whom we immediately got along really well. Especially with Ashley, who also worked there throughout our entire stay, we quickly became really close. On the other hand, we didn't get along so well with Jamie's successor, who arrived in our second week and managed the entire station the year before: a 60-year-old British woman who had lived in India for 30 years (and had clearly fried her brain with a lot of psychedelic stuff), and from the beginning she was treated as if the Queen were arriving. Ashley, Paddy, and I agreed that we had never before met someone who judges people so quickly and thinks she knows everything better than anyone else, which we found extremely exhausting.

Our main task was to take the dogs for walks, which included about an hour-long hike in the beautiful mountains of Costa Rica in the early morning (the alarm clock rang at 6:15 am). The surroundings of the small village where the station was located were truly breathtaking - a river with a suspension bridge, banana and coffee plantations, and the aforementioned mountains. We also fed and bathed the dogs, helped with household chores, and took on smaller tasks like making leashes as needed. The time with the dogs was really nice, and watching the puppies, some of whom hadn't even opened their eyes when we arrived, grow bigger and bigger was definitely a highlight.

It was quite emotional when the Husky mix named Rio was almost euthanized because he was extremely aggressive towards people and after Jamie left, no one else dared to go into his kennel. Tania had decided that such a dog was not suitable for the station (he had bitten Ashley's leg quite severely a week before we arrived), so Marcos had already dug a hole in the garden. In the end, Rio got one last chance because no vet could be found who was willing to euthanize him at first. But after Tania did find a vet and was already in the car at the station to take Rio with her, another emergency occurred that saved Rio's life: dog mom Ivy had escaped the night before and had eaten a lot of dirt, trash, and bones, so she started screaming in pain just before Rio's trip to the vet, when she tried to poop. Ivy then naturally took priority, and a solution was found for Rio on the same day: he now lives on a station with about 180 outdoor dogs, where only two people are on site in the mornings. We have no idea how it works, but it seems to be a good solution for Rio.

Unfortunately, besides the Rio story, there were many other reasons why I would describe our stay at the dog rescue station as an emotional roller coaster. As I said, we got along great with Ashley, but otherwise, the interpersonal dynamic didn't fit at all. Being very stressed and not accepting help, poor communication, taking out stress on others, constant gossiping, repeatedly blaming others for small mistakes, not a shred of gratitude, etc. ... the mix of personalities on site was highly explosive, and we never felt 100% comfortable. I long thought that maybe it was also our fault, but Ashley felt the same way, and afterwards, we found out that our successor also decided to shorten her stay after two days because she was already so stressed by the atmosphere there after a short time. The term 'bad vibes' probably describes well what is going on at the station, which is incredibly sad because working with the dogs is so, so wonderful, and in the end, we counted the days until our departure, even though we had been so looking forward to the time there.

Another difficult issue was the days off. Paddy and I had half a day during the 5 weeks, which was enough for a trip to the nearest town, and 2 full days off, but we couldn't really make the best use of them. We went to Uvita to celebrate our three-year anniversary (and we were able to enjoy it together for the first time), a small town right on the Pacific coast, with arguably the most beautiful beach we had ever seen. Without exaggeration, I can confidently say that you probably couldn't spend your third anniversary any better: the hostel was great, as was the food there, the beach was absolutely amazing, and as an absolute highlight, we had the luck of maybe about 50 red macaws flying directly above our heads, totally unexpectedly. For us, it was the perfect break to get a little respite from the station.

Although the 5 weeks were associated with a lot of pressure and stress due to the situation with the people there, we absolutely enjoyed the time with the dogs and were able to take a lot away from it. And of course, one also grows from uncomfortable situations - we try to see it positively and are especially grateful that we found such a good friend in Ashley :)