Knowledge acquired all over the place!

After being in the rainforest with GVI Amazon for a couple of weeks we are all settling in and getting used to the way things work around camp. It has been a busy with lots of training and a lot to learn about the environment and its inhabitants. We have had our emergency first response training and we all feel fully confident to deal with any problem we may enounter in the field. We have started to prepare for our TEFL work and met the children at the local school.

Everyone has been studying hard for our ID test which enables volunteers to identify species we are likely to see on our travels around the reserve. We had an incentive to pass the ID test, our reward was hammocks for the Commado which were successfully gained!

With all the new knowledge we have gained from lectures and revision we are all keen to get out there in the forest and get our hands dirty. We were teased this week, inbetween training, with some nice (but hot) bird walks and a very exciting night stream walk. Being waist high in a steam, in pitch black with all the forest noise around you is quiet an experience. We saw some amazing wildlife on this walk. Particular highlights were a Stingray, a Cane Toad (Rhinella marinus) and an Amazonian Milk Frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix). We all had the chance to catch and release frogs and have a closer look which was a great way to learn.

Surveying has now begun. The amphibian pitfalls have been opened, mist nets prepared and the mammal project began. It’s all very exciting stuff!

Laura Boniface – GVI Amazon volunteer, Oct-Nov 2010

Knowledge acquired all over the place!