My Volunteering Adventure in The Amazon Rainforest

That's me, at the top of the observation tower

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My trip to the Amazon Rainforest

On June 3rd I made my way to London Heathrow at 3 am to catch my flight to Quito, Ecuador for what I believed would be a life-enhancing experience of living and volunteering in the Amazon Jungle for a few weeks. The adventure turned out to be an incredible experience and the purpose of this blog post is just to share my experiences with you and what I learnt from my travels!

Firstly, this was the furthest I’d been away from home on my own and I was going to a country that spoke little to no English and is often described as a third world nation. I was pretty ignorant to this in my preparation because my Spanish before arriving in Ecuador was dreadful, I could only say the basics and I realised that this would be a hassle once I reached the Amazonia region where 99% (that’s what it felt like) of it’s inhabitants only speak Spanish/their native tribe language. This definitely forced me out of my comfort zone which is fantastic because I feel like this is where I learn the most!

So I land in Quito and I instantly notice the incredible hill and volcano range of the Andean foothills. It is truly breathtaking. The organisation I was volunteering for had organised a lift for me and he was waiting for me at the arrivals holding a sign with my name on it. This was a relief because it relieves the stress and uncertainty you feel when you don’t know where you are. Patricio was a wonderful guy, very welcoming and speaking with him was my first direct experience of a native Ecuadorian. It was very evident from the moment I left the airport that I stuck out like a sore thumb due to my height and my Celtic looks. I embraced this, however, and tried to be as respectful as possible to those native to Ecuador.
Patricio drove me to the volunteer house in Tumbaco, La Morita where I was staying the night before I caught the bus to the Amazonia region the next morning.

At the volunteer house, I met my first wave of interesting people. There were many Americans who were out in Quito volunteering as nurses or teachers and some of them had been there for a few months! It’s inspiring to hear a personal story in how they got there and what their intentions are. I also met a fellow volunteer from Ireland who was doing the same volunteer project as me in the Amazon Rainforest so this was fantastic. She also had no Spanish speaking skills but she was smart and brought a Spanish-English language book which really helped with our commute and conversing with the tribe we were helping and staying with. So we all sat and ate dinner together, relaxing before making our ways into bed to sleep for my first night in Ecuador.

I was awake and ready to leave by 7 am the next day and myself and my friend were on our way to Quito’s bus station to catch the bus to the Amazonia. The bus journey was 6 hours to the town of Tena where we then had to then catch a different bus to our establishment ‘Jatun Sacha’ further into the Amazon rainforest. We were completely lost now. This was the first bit of discomfort I experienced as we couldn’t find the correct bus, but I’ve learnt that you need to always stay calm in these situations because you will always find a solution if you use your initiative and stay focused.

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Poverty in Amazonia

I want to mention what the Amazonia region looks like and the people who live there. It is what we in the western world would describe as real poverty. You can see some developments and improvements are taking place but the people (although generally happy) are living in poverty. Their clothes are cheap, and their wages are low, they have to be self-sufficient and everybody is an entrepreneur, selling their goods wherever they can to whoever will pay a decent price. It is inspiring to see, especially when they are happy.
I experienced a moment of embarrassment when buying myself lunch in Tena. Living in London, $12 for a meal and drink is a pretty standard price. So in my ignorance (and because the restaurant's pictures weren’t so clear) I ordered what I thought would be a normal meal, but turned out to be a whole chicken and large platter of rice, enough to feed a family of 4 for sure.

The looks I obviously attracted from the locals in the restaurant with me were of astonishment, and also jealousy and with reason. I couldn’t finish the lunch of course but I did eat the majority, and this gave me my first wave of appreciation for the luxury I’ve been given in life to afford such a thing.

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Jatun Sacha

We did end up finding the bus and eventually arrived at our destination - Jatun Sacha where we were greeted by Jonas, the station leader. He spoke no English, so I did my best to communicate in Spanish and this was a trend that continued over the course of the two weeks. I must say that we got pretty good at communicating by the end. Jatun Sacha is beautiful, situated in the heart of the jungle, there are many trails and hikes you can do and even an observation tower where you could overlook the jungle from 30m high. It had wonderful hammocks where we would spend hours reading or listening to podcasts etc whenever we weren’t working.

Jonas lead me and my fellow volunteer (we would be the only two volunteers over the 2 weeks but we were joined by an array of nurses from the US and scientists from Canada in week 2) to our cabana which was quaint and very basic fitted with a table, 2 beds and of course mosquito nets. It was perfect. Funnily, all the cabins are named after hallucinogens such as Ayahuasca. Ours was Chali Panga.

The insects and animals of the Amazon are no joke and it did take a lot of getting used too. The mosquitos are deadly and at first it feels like around every corner there is a snake or scorpion that is going to attack you. This is far from the case however and it became evident very quickly that the jungle is actually a very friendly place. The animals that are dangerous, such as the Bothriopsis bilineata snake shown in the picture will only ever harm you if you threaten them. It was all about respect between human and insect/animal.

Furthermore, the jungle is never quiet, and at night the noise gets louder which took me a week to get used too. There wasn’t one night where I didn’t wake up at least once. I think that this may be due to the fact that we would go to bed at around 8:30 pm and wake at 6:00 am for breakfast - this is twice the amount of sleep I’m used to getting so that may have had a part to play.

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The Volunteer Work

Now onto the most important part of my trip, the actual volunteering. Jatun Sacha is a recognised establishment that attracts a lot of tourists and school trips who want to walk some of the trails and go to the observation tower. Therefore as volunteers, we did a lot of maintaining the pathways and routes to reach such places, whether that being creating bridges, making signs or clearing an area of any potential harmful animals. It was incredible for me to see how the Kichwa people are so self-sufficient. We would choose the perfect tree, cut it down and then have to transport it to where it may be needed. To see how they get from A to B in this way was truly inspiring from a creative perspective and also from a hard labour perspective. They really take pride in their work.

As well as doing things like clearing areas and creating safe bridges, we worked on plant conservation in their organic farm and also the botanical garden they have. This involved doing things like creating and planting saplings, making sure they are getting the right amount of sunlight and their growth isn’t being inhibited by weeds or other plants. This is important for the Kichwa tribe not only to continue to attract tourists but to also provide medicine and food in the future. Furthermore, they had a pig farm and it was our responsibility to transport and feed them turnips.

This was difficult in the rain when the paths were muddy so we had to think like the Kichwa people and use our creative abilities to create a pathway out of wood in the parts where it was difficult to move. On the whole, this work was brilliant for me because it allowed me to empathise with their lifestyle and understand what it’s like to be self-sufficient in the Amazon Rainforest. A bit of hard labour is always good 🙂!

The eating routine in Ecuador is as follows: they have a small meal for breakfast, then the main meal is at lunchtime where you are given a bowl of soup and a main course. Then for dinner, you have the main course which tends to be lighter and less quantity than your lunchtime main course. The food was fantastic and was really tasty, although it was a lot less then what I’m used to eating and I had to snack in between meals, it really makes you appreciate everything you are given.

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The biggest takeaway from my experience

In summary, my volunteer experience was amazing. I’ve made some great friends and it has been a lot of fun. The biggest takeaway from the whole experience is really a further reinforcement of my appreciation of the chance to live in Great Britain where my opportunities are endless. I am fortunate enough to do things that the Kichwa people may never get the chance to do. I am fortunate enough to choose when I wish to work and when I wish to play, whereas the Amazonian people have no choice but to work from a very young age. I am fortunate enough to be able to get an education comfortably and to not worry about where my next meal is coming from. Living at Jatun Sacha has made me realise the struggles of a third world, and inspires me to make a difference on this planet.

It does not make me feel guilty that I am fortunate enough to have the opportunities I have, instead, it simply inspires me to want to give back, and to make the most out of my life!

Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions feel free to comment below!

All the best,

Adam x

My good friend, Christian.