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

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Lady Camp!

Loaded up with firewood, plenty of water, and of course- marshmallows- Bianca, Laura, Rachel and Jas arrived at Sat Camp, extremely sweaty and grimy but no less excited about our upcoming exploits. We dropped our bags, grabbed our dinners, and plopped ourselves down at the lookout; a clearing in the trees providing an excellent view of the canopy and its winged occupants. Immediately upon arrival we were treated to the sight of a beautiful White-throated Toucan (Ramphastos tucanus).

But enough with the birds, we had more serious business to attend to. We returned to camp and (after only a few tries) built our campfire, roasted marshmallows and potatoes and tried our best to do justice to the name ‘Lady Camp.’ Feeling a bit left out since he was the only male, Andy begged us to call him ‘Andrea*.’ We soon tired of the usual slumber party activities (talking about boys, braiding each other’s hair*, painting Andy’s toenails* etc), so we headed down to the laguna for a night walk. We saw loads of stunning amphibians, including some Bromeliad Tree Frogs, Monkey Frogs, Rana palmipes, and a Cane Toad. We even saw the menacing red eye-shine of a caiman.

Andy took us out to walk around the perimeter of the laguna in the hopes of getting closer to a caiman...but the walk ended up being a search for a yellow trail marker once we lost the trail. We did eventually find it again, but not before slipping down towards the bank on our backsides at least four times per person.

Clambering around the rainforest, sliding on mud and debris, snapping photos of frogs, scanning the murky laguna for lurking caiman and just generally getting muddier than I have ever been was a complete blast. I feel so lucky; not only to be in such a vibrant, pulsing place but also to be here with such interesting and funny people from all over the world. LADY CAMP 4EVA!!!

*Some of the occurrences in this blog entry may be kind of fictitious...

Rachel Adler, GVI Amazon volunteer February to March 2010


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3 comments:

Jace said...

Here is a shout out to my raquemon tdtdtdtdtdt. Rachel I do not know whether to be overjoyed that you are having a good time on your trip or heartbroken that I am missing camping sleepovers. I feel so torn Date! Keep it easy Rachel and enjoy the moment. Mucha ama, JLenito

Unknown said...

Raquel:
So great to hear about your adventure "first hand," and to see your muddy...self! We can't wait to see you and hear even more details about your radventurousness! Love you so much!
Mom and Dad

Unknown said...

Another shout out to Rachel. With so little communication, seeing this cheerful muddy smile brought your family much joy. We're looking forward to seeing you soon. Fezzie misses you a lot!
xox
Momma