Volunteering in Butterfly Valley, Türkiye

came for the beach vibes, stayed for the mulberries

I was able to stay for a month in Butterfly Valley through Worldpackers, a work-exchange platform where you can trade a few hours of work per week for housing, food, and sometimes extra perks. Worldpackers has really been a gamechanger for me while traveling, because accommodation is the single most expensive bill when you’re traveling. Depending on where I am, I am saving between $10 and $30 a night.

I have a discount link to world packers, if you’ve ever been considering trying it out!

In the case of Butterfly Valley, I saved closer to $80 a night just on housing. I stayed in a tent like the rest of the staff, and yeah it wasn’t incredibly luxurious, but it had a light and a power strip, which is more than most tents. On top of housing, we were given meals, access to yoga mats, discounted drinks and food at the restaurants, unlimited use of kayaks and paddleboards, and free ferry rides to and from the valley.

I highly recommend Worldpackers to anyone who is considering slow travel. It really extends how long you can stay out and you meet so many other travelers who become fast friends!

The Valley

The only way in and out of the valley is by boat. The day that we arrived, the sea was so rough so there was only one ferry going in or out of the valley. We went to a very sketchy little beach and were just told to wait for the boat there. The boat was about 20 minutes late, we took off our shoes, hoisted our bags over our heads and tossed them onto the boat. Then we took the wild ride so choppy I wasn’t convinced we would keep our bags.

Once we made it into the cove that houses Butterfly Valley, the waves were considerably less menacing and I was finally able to relax and take in the beauty and sheer size of the valley. Its massive. The cliffs rise up so high that even days into being there, I wasn’t sure I truly understood how big they were

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I regret not spending more time just looking up. I saw the ocean and the greenery, but I think I missed out on really seeing the cliffs in their full glory.

The Fruit Trees

But my favorite thing about the valley probably wasn’t the beauty, but all of the fruit trees! It seemed like every area was a new grove of fruits to eat. When we first arrived, loquat season was ending, and the fruit was juicy, sweet, and perfect straight off the tree.

Once the loquats finally ran out, the mulberries came into season. I ate so many that my socks and clothes are now permanently stained with purple juice. I should have stuck to the less conducive to staining white mulberries which there were more than a few trees of. I had never tried them before, but they were like a regular mulberry, but even sweeter because it didn’t have the tart flavor. Despite our efforts, the volunteers did not manage to eat all of the mulberries, which is saying a lot because we tried. But no matter how many we ate, there were always more and more ripe fruits the next day.

Just before I left, the apricots started ripening!! I definitely sat under the apricot tree and ate the ripe fruits off the floor and branches. The kitchen also made use of all of the apricots by serving apricots in syrup for dessert one night and handing out the fruits at lunch and dinners on some special days.

The Work

Everyone volunteering had a different role. Some people were building things, some taught yoga, some worked the bar, and Jordan was helping to redesign the website. I was assigned to social media—taking photos, filming videos, and designing graphics.

I didn’t exactly choose the job, but I didn’t fight it either. If I had really pushed, I’m sure they would’ve let me switch roles. It was draining at times. Five hours a day, six days a week. And because my role was to capture “cool moments,” it felt like I was always on alert. Even when I was off the clock, my mind was on the next video idea.

But honestly? I’m grateful for it. I usually forget to take photos or videos when I travel, and this job forced me to document everything.

from a photoshoot for the social media page!

The Friends

I made so many friends in the Valley, both volunteers and full-time staff. People were just so kind and welcoming. I’ve said it before, but I really do think volunteer experiences attract likeminded people that you are just meant to become friends with.

As a group, we ate every single meal together. Constantly growing in our table size to accommodate for the new volunteers in our growing ranks. After breakfast, we would all split off for our volunteering tasks, then by the afternoon, we would all just hang out. We would go swimming, paddle boarding, tanning, or at one point we even started doing dance lessons!

I learned the bachata and (kinda) merengue too. And I did my solemn American duty of teaching everyone the Cotton-Eyed Joe. We would do these dances for ourselves in the afternoons, and sometimes again at the bar after dinner when the music started and the stars came out.

A Day off in Ölüdeniz

We had one off day a week, which meant if we wanted to, we take the ferry to the closest town, Ölüdeniz, and get some shopping done, walk around, or get some food at a restaurant. After eating cafeteria food for a week, that last one was a big deciding factor to visit town.

One time a big group of the volunteers went into town to go paragliding. Whenever you sit on the beach in Ölüdeniz, you always see the paragliders floating through the sky, or speeding towards the promenade ready to land.

I was really nervous and originally wanted to back out. But by the time our van made it all the way to the top of the mountain I was ready. I got suited up and I jumped. Here are some pics!!

peep Jordan in the background

I also got a picture from my Auntie Celle who did the same thing a while back, here is the photo she sent me of her paragliding in Ölüdeniz.

Waving Goodbye

I feel like every time I volunteer somewhere it is a hard goodbye, and this experience was no exception. This place felt like a real break and escape from real life. Just like I was living on an island with all of my friends. I’m almost glad that I was one of the first few people to go, so I didn’t have to say bye to everyone before me.

I guess I can only be grateful that saying goodbye was hard, because that just means that I met incredible people that made my time in the valley worthwhile.

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xx abby