8
Location: Amazon Rainforest
The alarm in our cabin went off at 5:00 AM sharp, but we ended up getting up at 5:30, thus making us late for breakfast. This got us scolded by Hector, our half monkey, half survival expert, scientist guide. After a large breakfast, we all hopped into an old looking motor-canoe boat and headed off to our second volunteer opportunity in Limoncocha. Our group was asked to help build a tree nursery to help grow more trees to reforest the Amazon! After being told all the plans for the nursery, we were split up into two groups. One group headed off into the jungle to collect large amounts of bamboo and palm wood to build the actual nursery. The other half stayed behind to clear the land of grasses and other plants and level out the ground. After hours of hard work in the mosquito-infested Amazonian, we finished building the plant nursery and called it a day. Later, we arrived back at the hotel and ate dinner, then headed off to a night hike in the jungle. This was our death-wish; in the middle of the jungle featuring MASSIVE insects, spiders and snakes. We hiked in pitch-dark with the sounds of wildlife screaming right in our ears. It was SCARY!!! Luckily, we all got back safe and sound with wet boots and a new awareness of venomous juvenile snakes and oversized frogs!