Parting thoughts from five-week volunteers.

Our last weekend with GVI was spent taking a well-deserved break at Hector's Island, (Sumak Allpa) on the Rio Napo, 30 minutes downstream from Coca, soaking up the sun and of course the sandflies! The weekend was jam-packed full of activities from helping with some trail maintenance to drinking traditional Kichwa tea at 4am in the morning and hearing all sorts of stories from our giude, Hector. Finally, as the sun was setting, we took a canoe across the river to a stretch of deserted beach, surrounded by serene jungle, for a wild and whacky game of beach football. At half-time we cooled our weary sand-burnt feet with a dip in the Napo River. All feeling like winners, we returned to Hector's camp to feast on his delicious freshly barbequed chicken - what a treat!

As the full moon rose over the Amazon rainforest we sat around a roaring camp fire sharing all sorts of stories and playing games. It was the perfect end to a rewarding five weeks of work and play in the rainforest with the GVI Amazon expedition. All that was left now was to return to base camp for a couple of last days back at base before packing up and heading out into life outside the beautiful backdrop of the Yachana Reserve.

Kristin Bianchini & Emma Steer, volunteers GVI Amazon, October - November 2009

Parting thoughts from five-week volunteers.