Time! part II

...In a blink of an eye my ten weeks were coming to an end, I’d begun to picture how life would be back in the good old London town. BOOM!!! Scholar you say, yes sir I would most definitely take you up on that offer. Being given the chance to spend ten more weeks out here working with the staff team was something I would have never even thought about, I felt it was a massive testament to how much I had changed. I wasn’t ready to leave and there was still so much more for me to learn, but above all this was an opportunity for me to pass on what I had learnt, learn a ton more and get closer to the communities. By the start of the new phase, equipped an awesome GVI blue t-shirt, I was well aware of how big of a privilege it is to be out here so it was really easy to pass it on to the new volunteers.

In my time on GVI Amazon I’ve had the ‘E and the old man’ hair cut, waxed, learnt to cook from the Welsh Delia Smith, played mud football with Shaggy, saw ‘the Burd’ take a majestic drop, slept in the middle of the rainforest, floated naked down the river Napo, dressed like woman, ate butterfly bait, slept on the road, met the locals, seen a tree bleed, walked habitats that take your breath away, seen animals I knew nothing about and even began to call base camp ‘home’, this is but a fraction of the things I have done out here. Some of the people I’ve met and everything I’ve done from the first minute I got here has sparked a big change in me and like my hat, helped me build more character over time, so I would like to thank all those who helped fill this massive luggage of knowledge I’m taking away with me. I’m not ready to leave, but by no means is this my last GVI expedition.

Embrace the privilege that is being out in the Amazon rainforest and make the most of your time here.

Edwin Vaca - GVI Amazon Intern and Scholar, April-September 2010

Time! part II