Semillas Life

ATTENTION!:
If you are considering joining Semillas Life for a Conservation Ecology internship, please be very careful. The programme advertised is not what you actually get.

I came here for 3 months with the goal of gaining practical experience in conservation ecology, but what I found was very disappointing and misleading:

There is no real team – only one person acting as a “supervisor”, and he has no proper experience in conservation ecology.

No lab, no equipment, no tools – not even a microscope or basic research materials. Apart from a few camera traps, there is nothing available to learn from.

No structured projects – it feels more like rushed jungle tours rather than conservation work. Nobody explains clearly what we are doing, why, or how.

Poor communication – the person in charge doesn’t speak English and makes no effort to explain things clearly. I had to study Spanish on my own just to keep up. Even then, everything is rushed, unclear, and poorly organised.

No teaching or mentoring – I was never given time to observe, learn methods, or work on proper projects. Weekly schedules were promised but never delivered.

Unprofessional behaviour – when I was sick and unable to join "activities", instead of understanding, my “supervisor” still forced me and when I refused he then ignored me.

No local management – Christian, who is supposed to lead Semillas Life, actually lives in Berlin and not in Peru, so there is no proper on-site management or support.

Also, the location is not Puerto Inca anymore, even though that’s what was advertised. I travelled to Puerto Inca on my own to investigate, and I was shocked – there is literally no forest left there due to deforestation. A genuine conservation ecology programme would have stayed in Puerto Inca and fought against that destruction. Instead, Semillas Life is based in Codo de Pozuzo, and while they claim to be doing “reforestation”, what I saw was just planting a few trees in a school backyard. Real reforestation should be happening in the forest, not in a yard where it has no ecological impact.

The living conditions are unacceptable:

The camp is dirty, dishes are left unwashed, food is left to rot, and hygiene is very poor.

The “rooms” are not proper rooms at all – they feel more like animal shelters.

When I left and booked myself into a hotel, I found a private room with my own bathroom and even a TV – and it was actually cheaper than what Semillas Life charges for their camp.

A real Conservation Ecology internship should include things like:
species monitoring, habitat assessments, biodiversity surveys, camera trap analysis, mark-recapture methods, GPS tracking, soil and water sampling, lab analysis, GIS mapping, climate change monitoring, and community engagement. None of these exist here.

This is not a conservation or biological programme. At best, it’s a chance to walk in the jungle and get some general experience of the environment. The only positive for me is that I managed to record some footage for my documentary, but I had to look for serious conservation organisations on my own – at extra cost – to get proper learning opportunities.

Another intern who came here also struggled a lot because she needed help with her dissertation but got no support, no tools, and no proper guidance. She left very upset.

In my professional opinion (as someone who has taught conservation ecology at college level), Semillas Life is misleading interns and students by advertising a conservation ecology programme they simply do not provide.

If you are serious about learning conservation or ecology, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. This is not the right place for it.

ATTENTION!:
If you are considering joining Semillas Life for a Conservation Ecology internship, please be very careful. The programme advertised is not what you actually get.

I came here for 3 months with the goal of gaining practical experience in conservation ecology, but what I found was very disappointing and misleading:

There is no real team – only one person acting as a “supervisor”, and he has no proper experience in conservation ecology.

No lab, no equipment, no tools – not even a microscope or basic research materials. Apart from a few camera traps, there is nothing available to learn from.

No structured projects – it feels more like rushed jungle tours rather than conservation work. Nobody explains clearly what we are doing, why, or how.

Poor communication – the person in charge doesn’t speak English and makes no effort to explain things clearly. I had to study Spanish on my own just to keep up. Even then, everything is rushed, unclear, and poorly organised.

No teaching or mentoring – I was never given time to observe, learn methods, or work on proper projects. Weekly schedules were promised but never delivered.

Unprofessional behaviour – when I was sick and unable to join "activities", instead of understanding, my “supervisor” still forced me and when I refused he then ignored me.

No local management – Christian, who is supposed to lead Semillas Life, actually lives in Berlin and not in Peru, so there is no proper on-site management or support.

Also, the location is not Puerto Inca anymore, even though that’s what was advertised. I travelled to Puerto Inca on my own to investigate, and I was shocked – there is literally no forest left there due to deforestation. A genuine conservation ecology programme would have stayed in Puerto Inca and fought against that destruction. Instead, Semillas Life is based in Codo de Pozuzo, and while they claim to be doing “reforestation”, what I saw was just planting a few trees in a school backyard. Real reforestation should be happening in the forest, not in a yard where it has no ecological impact.

The living conditions are unacceptable:

The camp is dirty, dishes are left unwashed, food is left to rot, and hygiene is very poor.

The “rooms” are not proper rooms at all – they feel more like animal shelters.

When I left and booked myself into a hotel, I found a private room with my own bathroom and even a TV – and it was actually cheaper than what Semillas Life charges for their camp.

A real Conservation Ecology internship should include things like:
species monitoring, habitat assessments, biodiversity surveys, camera trap analysis, mark-recapture methods, GPS tracking, soil and water sampling, lab analysis, GIS mapping, climate change monitoring, and community engagement. None of these exist here.

This is not a conservation or biological programme. At best, it’s a chance to walk in the jungle and get some general experience of the environment. The only positive for me is that I managed to record some footage for my documentary, but I had to look for serious conservation organisations on my own – at extra cost – to get proper learning opportunities.

Another intern who came here also struggled a lot because she needed help with her dissertation but got no support, no tools, and no proper guidance. She left very upset.

In my professional opinion (as someone who has taught conservation ecology at college level), Semillas Life is misleading interns and students by advertising a conservation ecology programme they simply do not provide.

If you are serious about learning conservation or ecology, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. This is not the right place for it.

I volunteered 4 weeks as an english teacher in the primary school of Puerto Inca, Peru. The time I spend in the amazonian jungle was amazing and I would do it all over again. Chris and his wife Anne welcomed me very warmhearted and were always there for me and my needs. I felt very comfortable the whole time during the project of Semillas Life. I lived in a hut with the other volunteers, we had a lot of fun together. The kitchen was outside and we used an compost toilet. With that I had a real jungle experience.
We did a lot of adventerous trips into the jungle, to streams, we went to hot streams and even camped in the jungle. It was fantastic and I felt really close to nature.
The whole time I stayed in Puerto Inca I felt peaceful and life felt very easy and intuitive.
The work with the children was delightful, they welcomed us every morning with a big smile and tons of hugs. They were willing to learn english and I had a lot of fun teaching them.

I would totally recommend Semillas Life , it's a once- in- a- lifetime experience and a safe space to get to know the amazonian cultures, people, nature and surroundings.

I'm very thankful for the experience and the chances I got with this project, aswell as the people I met and the friends for life I found. Thank you Chris and Anne!

Working in Puerto Inca in Chris project was the first experience of my half year Sabbatical. I started in July and was there for 4 weeks. It’s the time I look back to most often to remember.

Living and working in Puerto Inca is an experience in itself, the trips Chris and his friends take you on, to see places in the jungle for a day tour and the camping trips with overnight stays in the jungle are incredible. Definitely pay attention to only drink bottled, filtered or boiled water there - the jungle can be a tricky place if you’re not careful (like me) who ended up in the hospital for 3 days. Chris was there everyday with me, making sure everything was alright.

Couldn’t recommend this project more, the work itself teaching the kids and the adults is easy and really helpful for the community.

If you go there definitely make a point of watching the sunset on the bridge. It is beautiful.

I would definitely not recommend Semillas Life, the project in itself is unstructured and is generally not what you think it is. I spent two weeks there with a friend, and it was very scary to see the owner Chris react so aggressively, when we wanted talk to him about a very bad trip he took us on. When you have a business you should be able to take responsibility and critisicm, but instead he ran away from us and threathened us. Never have i ever seen a grown man behave like that, and i would strongly recommend to not support a man like that.