problems of the rainforest, such as the multinational oil company who wants to build a pipeline through the Ecuadorian rainforest. It was enough to make even the most devout right-wingers start thinking about some social issues!
Our two main group projects were to complete the storage barn started by Group 6 last month and to start building a wildfowl fence round the lake; other general work included helping restore paths around the centre, working in the local community picking cacao fruit and teaching English in the community school. The Amazon is a rainforest, so it rains! Unfortunately, when it really tips down the only option was to sit around in the hammocks listening to the sounds of the forest! Tough life! These projects and a lot of the other work we did around the centre were very physical, and I'm certain we all sensed an improvement in health and fitness, especially with the food that was served. It was definitely the most healthy month of eating in my life! The food was generally really tasty, but with the odd surprise in the form of a chicken's foot or a cow's tongue! When we were served BBQ whole fish, Paddy (the leader) even ate the eye in a dare that wasn't actually his, so he didn't get anything out of it - he didn't seem to mind though!
One of the things the guys enjoyed most about the work was the fact that we were using machetes daily … and we did actually need them, it wasn't a case of us making excuses to bring them along!
On Saturdays, the group went for Bosque Walks, accompanied by Guardabosques. These involved a full day of walking along forest paths while the guides explained the different plants/trees/medicinal plants we encountered. I found these walks really interesting and enjoyable, as they were the best way to learn about the rainforest.
The packed lunches provided for these walks were very cool as they were wrapped in large leaves and tied using long grasses. The "indigenas" really made good use of the surrounding resources! The guides would also occasionally cut down fruits for us (with the machetes, of course!), cacao being the most popular. They even insisted on us trying a certain lemon flavoured species of ant... which was nice!
There were many possibilities for "après work" activities, apart from the obvious choice of lounging in the hammocks until dinnertime. There's a 30m high bird-tower that we could climb and because it was above the canopy, offered amazing views of the surrounding "primary and secondary rainforest." Ironically though, I didn't actually manage to see many birds in my couple of visits up the tower! Similarly, there's a 20m high treehouse which also has incredible views and, as a bonus, a hammock! (You should be working out a pattern of life by now!)
Also very popular amongst the Venturers was the beach on the bank of the Rio Napo. Cool place to chill out - when the weather was right - and also excellent for a swim in the rapids. One night some of the volunteers organised a BBQ on the beach - huge fire, lovely bread to cook on the fire and cool music courtesy of Paddy - it was a really intimate evening, and definitely one of those "Gap Year Moments!"
So that's life in the jungle! I've probably rambled on for a lot longer than I was supposed to! The jungle was an amazing place to be, and all of the "Jungle Crew" loved their experience there; it's an absolutely beautiful place to spend a month of your life.
AHUANO!!! |
