At our house you can tell when an adventure is coming because the guest room bed gets piled with all of the stuff we might like to take. Packing clothing for our next trip will be relatively easy because the temperatures will be stable between 17 and 30, it will likely rain every day and we'll be doing lots of physical labour so we won't need to worry about taking any formal wear! Other gear that we'll have along include our water filter, solar charger and battery, head lamps, GoPro, US cash (Ecuador uses only US cash) and probably some Maple Syrup to share (can't get more Canadian than that!)
So where are we going this time?
For months we've been getting more and more excited about our trip to Ecuador to spend a month volunteering at Amazoonico - An animal rescue sanctuary in the Amazon Jungle!
Amazoonico has two sections - A public zoo with animals that cannot be released to the wild because they've been pets or have injuries and won't survive. And, the rehabilitation centre that has animals that are recovering after injury with the hope of being released. These animals have minimal human interaction.
We'll be joining about 15 other volunteers (mostly 20-somethings on gap year) in a communal "summer camp" like setting. This will surely lead to some fun stories! Something like this, without the sea turtles.
Some of the work we'll be doing includes:
- Lugging food from the canoes to the kitchen - 2 or 3 times per week
- Processing food and feeding animals
- Cleaning pens / cages - yes, we have rubber boots and gloves!
- Leading Tours with Zoo visitors - To get ready we've been learning the stories of the animals in the zoo. Esmeralda is an anaconda who...I guess I better study a little more. Below you see Don Tyson - the Ocelot and Broom a Yellow Throated Toucan.
We are also hopeful that on our days off we'll be able to join the research team on their jungle treks to study animals in the wild. It sounds like there might be some Night Hikes as well!
