Weekend Antics

With the help of coloured in dental floss, the end of the week was spent painstakingly repairing mist nets, in order to get them fit for the week ahead of sampling. The work was hard but had to be done for the sake of science! Celebrations all round to the mist netting crew!

After the first full week in the rainforest, was looking forward to a Saturday night fiesta. Warm Ecuadorian Pilsener beer and sweet wines were sipped while Saturday night festivities took place in the comedor. A colourful rubik’s cube themed game was on the agenda, which involved a lot of clothes swapping, and running around like loons. A few volunteer and staff members also had the opportunity to be somewhat intimately(!) introduced during a game of competitive twister.

On Sunday afternoon, volunteers and staff headed out of base, down the old rocky road to the nearby local community of Puerto Rico to engage in un partido de futbol (a game of football). After a bit of time was spent erecting some rather spectacular goals the game got underway. The sun was beating, as was the GVI team’s determination to win. After an intense hour of running around, slide tackling, and goals from both sides, GVI managed to sneak a win after many missed sitters(!) and were able to return to base victorious 5-4, after the first (hopefully of many) local derbies. Only a few minutes after the final whistle blew, another whistle like sound was heard. Could it be..? It was… a small troop of Black- mantled Tamarins (Saguinus nigricollis), were jumping and running around in the trees surrounding the pitch – an added bonus to the afternoon’s entertainment. After all the excitement and heat, we all cooled off with an ice cold drink from the local shop.

Weekend Antics