The End of an Era

After over 6 years of intensive research and community development work in and around the Yachana Reserve, GVI Amazon is coming to a close. We have finished our final research project (look forward to our Road Effects paper, coming soon!) and are handing over the project to our partner, The Yachana Foundation. They will continue to maintain and monitor the reserve, using it as an hands-on science education center for students -- we're very excited to see what fabulous things this next generation of scientists find! For more detail on GVI Amazon's closure, and our accomplishments over the years, please read on...
GVI Amazon Closure Statement

Friday, April 3, 2009

A New Phase!

The beginning of April sees the start of a brand new expedition. 16 eager new volunteers arrived in Quito excited about the prospect of what may lie ahead of them over the following five or ten weeks. Some of the volunteers chose to arrive a couple of days earlier than the start date and took the opportunity to explore Quito and it's colonial cobbled streets and churches. Invariably they sample some of the local watering holes as well and began the getting to know each other process. Quito welcomed the volunteers with brilliant sunshine which glinted on the slopes of the volcano Pichincha that overlooks the city. Quito's 2850m altitude is a long way away from the humidity and heat of the lowlands and the Amazon rainforest, but a fantastic location for the entrepid volunteers to begin their adventure. After a welcome meeting and introductory session they hopped on a local bus to make the spectacular journey down through the cloud forest with tumbling waterfalls pouring down the steep mountain sides covered in lush green vegetation. Five hours later they pull into Tena, a little jungle town renoun for it's rafting trips on the surrounding rivers. The last outpost to spend the night before making the final leg of the journey by bus and canoe onto the GVI base on the Rio Napo.
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