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 23, 2010

5 people, 8 bsicuits, one dribble....

Camp life is far from all work and no play – here at GVI Amazon we work hard and, sometimes, play harder. With only six brave soldiers left standing in GVIs ‘Time to Die’, we began taking part in other ‘classic’ camp games...

Recently, I was introduced to my favourite game yet – its a game of grace, beauty and wit – but above all, fantastic technique. The rules are simple; eat as many delicious vanilla biscuits as you can, in one go – without spilling any crumbs (no hands allowed as gorging devices). With a massive camp record of ten to beat, this game is certainly not for the faint hearted.

Two veterans of the game and three eager volunteers stepped up to the almighty biscuit challenge. Olly and Chris kicked things off with a respectable eight biscuits each. Adam sensibly followed suit with Kristie going for a humble five. I, the young pretender, aimed for a massive nine – little did we know what we were getting ourselves into...

Kristie devoured hers in double quick time, then, filled with much misguided self confidence, she began to tackle eight – something she would soon regret. Meanwhile, the two veterans slowly but surely dealt with their stack of eight. The first casualty was Adam, who let a small stream of dribble escape, but soldiered on regardless, dignity still intact. I opted for a ‘slow but steady wins the race’ mantra which proved to be the perfect tactic – not a crumb spilled! However, my efforts were soon topped by Kristie, who, in her attempt to tackle her tower of eight with too much gumption, let forth no less than a river of drool escape her mouth. Crumbs spilled. Dignity less so intact.

You can see for yourself, the proof that the biscuit challenge has its casualties...


Edwin Vaca - GVI Amazon short term intern, April-June 2010


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