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, May 14, 2010

Return to the Jungle

Returning to GVI Amazon as a scholar after seven weeks of travel was met with excitement and a little bit of trepidation. Seven weeks ago you had to pry my fingers from the comedor and make me leave the snakes, spiders, mud, six o’clock breakfasts, cold showers, diet of beans and most importantly my friends which I had loved so much for the past ten weeks. Now I was returning and needed to pick up where the previous scholar Benny had left off. Which people tell me is a ridiculous amount of benches being built around camp.

I was welcomed back into camp by having to help carry a massive food order up from the GVI port at the river’s edge. 270 steps and over 80 packets of pasta later I was home again for five weeks. I have a new room, new responsibilities and the task of removing 12 amphibian pitfall traps this phase.

However, nothing has really changed around camp. My hair is twice as crazy in the mornings, Laura and I have resumed gossiping positions in the hammocks with the new recruit Jenn and the rainforest is as amazing as ever. It’s great to be back.

Bianca Amato – Scholar and Volunteer – Jan-Apr & May 2010

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