Getting punched in the face by reality - 10th May

Hello everybody! Im sorry i havent blogged in soooo long, but you know how the internet is out in the jungle (Well you dont, but as I've mentioned before, its impossible). My last few weeks in the jungle were incredible and magical and my head is swimming with so many good memories and great things that i cant even think of any specific moments to mention right now, so i'll have to do a recap/highlights post sometime soon.

But now the inevitable has happened- I've left the jungle and my beloved MLC, and my reintroduction to civilisation couldnt have gone any less smoothly. Leaving the MLC on Thursday was HORRIBLE. On wednesday night we had a goodbye presentation for all of us that were leaving, given by one of my best buddies Johanna, and it was so sweet and amazing to see a recap of all of the incredible things we got to do and see there. Anyway, afterwards, there was a lot of mushy gushy letter exchanging and tears, and Thursday morning was the same- so many tears, and it was honestly kind of heartbreaking to say goodbye to such a beautiful place and so many amazing people and a place that becomes your home, but i was also happy (somewhere deeeep deep down, i think) because i really did have the best time of my whole life, and met amazing people who i hope will be friends for life. I keep rambling and getting emotional, sorry, i'll get back to the point now.

 So i woke up on thursday with pain all over my body, but i just put it down to the stress of leaving- anyway, on the bus on the way back to Cusco (8 hours of cliff edges and winding roads) i started getting colder and colder, and my body was in so much pain, and then after we stopped for lunch, everything goes blank, i cant remember a thing. I got a really bad fever, my temperature was craaazy high, like 49.5 and i was all delusional, rambling about boats and too many hippies, which is actually really funny. As soon as we got back to cusco, Jas from the Crees office and my friend Amie took me to the hospital, and they gave me a drip and some oxygen, and thats basically where I've been for most of my time back in Cusco- they said it was a stomach infection, but thats kind of vague. who knows, it sucked whatever it was.

Anyway, they let me out yesterday, just as my friends left for their Machu Picchu treks, so i decided to go back to the hostel i stayed at when i first got here and get a private room for a couple of nights until i was feeling better- that hostel didnt have any rooms, so i went to one just down the road which looked really cute and had a nice little courtyard, and they had a room free, but only in their "other building". So i was like, this is probably going to be a disaster but whatever, I'm tired, so i followed the woman about 5 minutes away, down some weird alley that smells like pee, into a tiny hostel that smells like dirty nappies, into a tiny room that is bathed in flourescent green light due to the yellow and blue plastic covering the skylight (why??) with no common area, no tv and shitty wifi. Then in the evening, when i was freezing cold and wantedwanted to have a hot shower, there was no hot water, so that didnt happen, so i just gave them all of my disgusting damp clothes to wash, watched a movie and went to bed. So aaannyywayy this morning i woke up with a killer headache, which probably wasnt helped by the flourescent green light, and went to have a shower after i was told that The water was fixed, which it wasnt, it was ice cold. And then i got my laundry back, and they'vthey've managed to shrink basically ALL on my clothes, so now all of my tops are crop tops and all of my trousers and leggings are ankle grazers. So it wasnt a great morning. Anyway now im sitting in starbucks trying to spend as much time away from the hostel as possible, and ive just booked myself into the hostel that my friends will be staying at after their trek, in a dorm room so at least i wont be so looonesome anymore. I was supposed to go to Machu Picchu today but obviously i had to postpone that, so hopefully i'll get to go on the 13th instead so that i might have a chance of meeting up with my friends who'll arrive there that day. And then on the 15th, some of my other friends from the MLC will be arriving in cusco, so i cant waaaaiiittt for that! I need to get out of my post jungle slump.

Anyway, this has been a long, ranty downer of a blog post, so apologies for that, but whatever, now I've set the scene for you and you can get a good image of me sitting in starbucks in short trousers and a short shirt, with a banging headache, whishing everyone would shut up. Love you all and miss you loads, cant wait to hear about what everyones been up to! Xxx

Camping in the jungle - Monday 13th

Hi everybodyyy! I hope everything is good back home, im missing everybody lots! Life has been going on as normal here, i cant believe i only have 1 month left, i never wanna leave the MLC!! I've had an amazing couple of weeks, last week i spent a night camping in the forest at one of my favourite sites with 3 of my friends so we could do an early morning survey far away from camp- it was such a fun night, we left before dinner and trekked about 5k with all of our stuff, then we set up our campsite, put on some music and made a fire, ate dinner and toasted marshmallows, then slept in hammocks listening to all the jungle noises, it was sooo awesome! We're trying to plan another camping trip before a few of my closest friends leave in a couple of weeks, so fingers crossed I'll get to go again! I've also started leading surveys and training the new volunteers on the species I.D test which is awesome because volunteers aren't normally allowed to, so it feels really good to be given some bigger responsibilities! Leading a survey basically just means that you take a group of volunteers out into the forest by yourself and are in charge of planning your route/preparing for the survey, briefing your group, making sure the survey is carried out properly and then filling out the necessary data sheets when you get back- i absolutely love leading and taking people out into the forest now that i know the trails and am really comfortable with everything, it's so much fun! Its been a great couple of weeks for sightings in the jungle as well- I've seen a big group of wooly monkeys which are really rare, howler monkeys which are rare as well, ocelot footprints, tamarind monkeys, a rainbow boa, a cayman, and a big pack of angry smelly peccary, which are like big aggressive wild boars which sound like thunder when they walk and smell like chinese food, but in a bad way. So lots of awesome things, I've been really lucky! This week i've got a lot going on, we just got a group of new volunteers in so things are very busy at camp and we have the founder of Crees coming to visit tomorrow. I'm heading back to Salvacion (a nearby town) tomorrow to help build another biogarden, so we'll stay the night, have some good food and stock up on fruit and snacks and stuff, I'm really excited! Other than that, its business as usual here! Please everybody send me messages and update me on everything going on back home, I'm so out of the loop and missing everyone loads! Lots of love! Xxx

Yesterday I climbed a mountain - Monday 30th

Yesterday was probably the most surreal and amazing day of my life so far. Usually, since sunday is our only day off, we have a late breakfast of pancakes, nap, read, sometimes go for a swim, and at most play frisbee or football. But yesterday a group of us decided we would climb a mountain instead! Why not right? So a group of 9 of us got up really early, packed lunch and a bunch of snacks and headed off on the hour long trek through the forest to the bottom of piñi piñi, a mountain at the very edge of the manu reserve. We were really lucky that we were allowed to go up there, because in the wet season, which we're in now, the ground is really muddy and slippery, so people usually arent allowed up there at this time. We started the climb up at about 8:30- i'd heard that it was a really tough climb but oohh my god, my body/brain was not prepared for how difficult it would be! There were points, at the beginning especially, where we were climbing pretty much vertically, on the slippiest mud, grabbing on to roots and trees to pull ourselves up...and it went ooonnn and ooonnn. My legs were screaming at me to stop but we all carried on, and it got a little easier towards the very top, thank goodness! It was one of the most physically taxing things I've ever done but it was sooo worth it- as we got higher up, the air became so cool and breezy and as we walked along the ridge at the top of the mountain the views on each side were INCREDIBLE! We could see huuuge expanses of rainforest, rivers, fields and little towns along the river. The weather was perfect and once we'd reached the top and taken a bunch of pictures, we sat and had lunch and snacks- it was perfect. After lunch a couple of people in our group had to get back to the MLC, so they headed back down and the rest of us found this little grassy patch on the mountainside hidden behind some trees, put on some Paul Simon, and lay in the sun looking out at the view. It was such an awesome moment, and we all agreed it was one of the most surreal moments any of us had had. But perfect moments dont come without a cost, and i think we all paid the price on the way down (some more than others, ahem). If you think climbing vertically up a slippy muddy hill is tough, getting back down it in one piece is almost impossible. We all ended up spending most of the journey back down on our bums, sliding at a terrifying speed with very little control. Some of the group were a little more controlled than others and as Rebekkah, Mo, Jack and Kerry flew down, Katy, our Journalist in Residence went down behind me, crying laughing and filming my many epic falls on her go pro. During this journey down i managed to fall into the splits with a tree between my legs, slip down a very steep hill so fast that i ended up rolling off a cliff head over heels (dont worry mum and dad, it wasnt a big drop and i stopped rolling eventually and it was hysterically funny) and got bitten by the weirdest ant that stapled itself under my skin and had to be pulled out by katie with her tweezers. It was all hilarious, and terrifying, and at times a little painful, but all in all such an amazing experience. Once we'd reached the bottom of the mountain and got back onto the trails, we stopped at sat camp, which is a big clearing on top of a hill on one of our trails. By this time, i think the tiredness and hysteria had kicked in, as we all went a little nuts- we were screeching and jumping around like monkeys, throwing leaves and leaping at each other for a good 10 minutes while Katie filmed the whole thing. Now it sounds very strange and completely ridiculous, but at the time it made perfect sense. Katie has videos of all of this that we're gonna watch tonight, so i'll make sure i get them from her before i leave and put them up somewhere so everyone can enjoy my lack of elegance and self control. When we got back to the MLC, we showered, watched Frozen in spanish, had dinner, watched Human Planet and went to bed. It really was one of the toughest and best days of my life, and im so happy i went, and that i went with the people that i did, who are all just crazy and amazing. Anyway i was really sick when i got back, but luckily i felt better this morning, just in time for a full day of pitfall traps on one of the hilliest trails ._. I'm preeeettyyy tired right now, but happy happy happy! Love and miss you all, send me messages!!

Crees work and MLC life - Friday 20th

Hello everyooonnee!! Another pretty quick blog post here but i thought i would try and quickly summarise what a typucal week here at the mlc is like! The weeks are really busy and we work out in the forest 6 days, then have sundays off! Everyday we go out on a different survey in groups of 2 or 3- some of the different surveys we do include checking pitfall and butterfly traps in different forest types and collecting the butterflies, frogs, reptiles and small mammals we find, i.d them and then process tjeir info. We do nighttime transects of thw forest where we walk really slowly with oour headtorches catching frogs and reptiles we find, which usuually go on from about 5:30-01:00am, and avian mammal transects to listen for and record bird abd mammal calls we hear, which happens from 4:30-9:00am. Other surveys we do are palms and necromass surveys where we section off plots in the forest and measure different species of trees, palms, dead wood and cavity nests and stuff. We also work in our biogarden on camp and sometimes do research/general work in the project room. We usually go out all day from 8:00am to 4/5pmish, and we take lunch with us and eat in the forest or at a river, which is amazing. i dont know the exact number but i reckon we trek about 4/5-10k each day on some realky hilky terrain, but i absolutely LOVE being out in the forest- its so sweaty, tough and exhausting most of the time but coming back to camp after a long tiring day is just the best feeling ever- endorphins are a BIG thing here. In the evenings we have dinner by candlelight, help with serving food and washing up, play games and read and stuff, occassionally drink, play bug group games and sometimes have talkstalks and presentations. On sundays everyone tends to nap alot, hang out at the hammocks, sometimes we go swimming in the river and pkay footbalk/ frisbee. You get to know people really well here since you spend so much time together, and as cliche as it sounds, it really is like a big family of dirty-mouthed, hilarious, mischevious but ultimately really hardworking kids. I just love everything about being here (apart from missing everyone at home of coyrse) and i hope ive finalky beeN able to give a decent imoression of what life is like here! Love and miss everyone xxxxx

Sorrryyyyy everyooonnneee!!!! monday 16th march

Hi everyone!! Im sorry I've been so rubbish on here, but internet is so so diffult out here! I only have 5 mins now, but just wanted to let everykne know that im still alive and having an incredible time! the group i came here with all left last week which was very surreal and we got a bunch of new people in, so everythings a bit crazy at the moment, but still amazing! Ive been very busy studying protocols and exhausting myself in the forest, but that may all be paying off as theres talk that i might be allowed to lead a survey by myself soon, which would be amazing! Other than that, i saw a tarantula, kinkajou, armadillo, tapir and snake all in one night on a survey the other night which was sooo cool! Anyway sorry that was all a bit rambly, but i promise ill update properly sooN! Love and miss you all toNs!!! Xxxx

A very quick update! Monday 23rd

Hi everyboddyyyy! I only have a couple of minutes of internet left tonight, but I just thought I would post a quick update of what I've been up to over the last couple of days, and what I have on this week! Yesterday was our day off, Sunday, and I finally had the relaxing day that I've been meaning to have for weeks! Sunday here is pancake day, and we had massive fat pancakes with dulce dede leche and bananas for breakfast. After that I spent the rest of the day having a nap, reading my book in a hammock, playing cards with people, and I even had a little visit from some capuchin monkeys as I was making jungle jewellery. n the evening we had dinner and then watched Taken 3 on the big projector. It was a pretty damn good Sunday. Today I spent the day working in the biogarden where we grow all of our fruit, vegetables and herbs. It was an awesome day because I spent it all in the sun hacking down dead plants with a machete and digging in the mud collecting worms to put in the compost (which, for anyone who knew me as a child, is A dream activity). For the rest of the week I'll be going out in the jungle checking our butterfly traps, going on a night walk to look for snakes and mammals and stuff, catching butterflies in the jungle with a net, and working on camp duty, helping out in the kitchen and washing sheets in the river. On Wednesday night we're making sangria and having a big leavingparty as some of he staff and interns are leaving on Thursday. So it's looking like a good week ahead and I'm looking forward to going out on some of the projects that I haven't been on yet! Hope everyone back home is well, EMAIL OF OR FACEBOOK ME UPDAAAATES!!!! Lots of love to everyone and missing you all xxx

I finally have internet!! Friday 20th

Hello everyone! I finally have enough internet time to write a quick update! sorry it's been so long- we only get internet and electricity a couple of nights a week and you have to sign up for it, so it's been difficult to find the time! I'm having the most amazing time here, and it's all been so crazy and surreal! I don't have the time or energy or memory to Recap everything from the last weeK in full, so I'll just try my best to summarise. Our journey to the jungle was amazing, we stopped in some awesome little towns and villages, tried lots of local foods, drove on tiny roads through breathtaking mountains, got stuck between two landslides for 4 hours and had to carry all of our things plus months of supplies across a waterfall to get on a new bus; stayed in a beautiful little lodge with huge Windows overlooking a massive river right below us, got up at the crack of dawn to see peru's national birds, and finally took an amazing boat journey through the mountains to finally arrive at the mlc. Arriving here was surreal and overwhelming- there was a group of 20 university students that had just arrived along with the 15 or so other interns and staff members, so it was loud and busy but Lso fun and so welcoming- we quickly learned lots of valuable lessons about life at the mlc, like you must always tuck your mosquito net Over your whole bed unless you want to sleep with the cockroaches; you'll get sweaty, smelly and Bitten all day no matter what you do so learn to embrace it; life here is totally open and communal and everyone chips in to help with whatever they can; days in the jungle will be tough, sweaty, tiring and muddy, but amazing and fun if you throw yourself into it. The mlc itself it is so beautiful- we sleep in beautiful huts, have amazing gardens overlooking the river, lookouts hidden in the jungle with amazing views and the jungle surrounding us- we regularly get monkeys, Armadillos, snakeskes frogs and tarantulas hanging around the camp, and I've seen so many amazing things in the jungle. I've been measuring trees, counting butterflies, catching frogs, swimming in coves in the jungle, having paint and water fights and trekking ALOT. The people here are great aswell- everyone is so funny and friendly and open, and I've definitely made some friends for life already. The students left this morning so camp Seems very quiet today, but the relaxed atmosphere is really nice and it will be nice to get closer to some of the people I haven't spent much time with yet. Anyway my internet time is running out so I'll have to end it there, but hopefully next ttime I'll have a bit more of a specific update. Anyway I'm fine, very tired but having an incredible time, and missing everyone at home very much much! Send me emails with updates please!! Lots of love to everyone xxx

I cuddled a baby alpaca!! Tuesday 10th

Buenos dias!! Today has been by far my best day yet in Cusco, definitely a day I'll always remember! I woke up nice and early for orientation day luckily feeling a lot better than last night, and got my stuff together that I'll be leaving in Cusco at the crees office, then all the volunteers met downstairs to get the bus to the office. There's 7 of us volunteers all together, and we're already getting on and making fun of each other, so I can tell it's going to be a good few months! At the office we had coffee and biscuits and met all of the crees office staff and Louise and Tabby who work at the MLC, so they'll be with us on our journey in tomorrow, and they're just the coolest. Anyway we sorted out all of our documents and stuff like that and then had a little presentation about crees and what they're doing and what we can expect to see while we're there- I can't wait to handle some cool frogs and snakes! After that we all took a walk up some VERY steep hills in the boiling sun and saw some amazing views of all of cusco and the mountains behind, and carried on up, walking through little side streets with lots of cool shops and stalls. And then....I saw it....across the street, a lady holding her baby alpaca in her arms! So like the embarrasembarrassing tourist I am, I ran over to ask to take a picture of him, and she just handed him over to me!! Oh my god he was so soft and fluffy and cute, it was hard to hand him back (picture on FB)! After our walk Louise and Tabby took us to a little restaurant near our hostel and I had some amazing Dragon fruit juice and the best minestrone soup I've ever had (apparently the Peruvians are known for good soup, but I didn't know this). After lunch we took a walk to this massive indoor market that has EVERYTHING- I saw some crazy things that I've never seen before, lots of gross animal carcasses and stuff like that, but lots of amazing fruit and jewellery and clothes as well. We stopped at a massive fruit stall and tried all kinds of amazing fruit that I've never heard of before, I wish I could remember the names but it was all so good! I tried a teeny tiny banana that tasted like perfume, but it was so cute I didn't even care. Anyway I've just been out to get the last few things I need for the jungle and we're having a rest now before dinner tonight- I'm determined to try guinea pig and a proper pisco sour, so I may have to try and sway our restaurant choice! Tomorrow morning we're meeting at 6:30 to start our journey into the jungle- it sounds like it's going to be incredible! We're driving through the Andes stopping at some little towns and Inca ruins, and spending the night at a place called Paradise something in the cloud forest, where they have a bunch of hummingbird feeders that are swarming with hummingbirds, so I just can't wait to see all of that! I won't have internet during the journey and apparently the internet at the MLC really is infrequent and temperamental, so I'll do my best to update whenever I can, but it'll probably be pretty sporadic from now on :( Hope everyone is well back home, i miss you all, feel free to email me and let me know what's happening with you, I'd love to hear from people! Xxx

New arrivals! Monday 9th

Hola everyone! Again, not much to report from today, sorry!! The good thing about today is that some of the other volunteers arrived at the hostel! Friieennddss yay! I went out for breakfast earlyish this morning because I got woken up by noisy people at 7 and couldn't get back to sleep, grr. It was pretty rainy today and I kneww the other volunteers were arriving at some point, so I decided to hang around the hostel and try and be around when they got here, which I was so that was good! Four people arrived this afternoon, they're all really nice and friendly so far and I had some good chats with a few of them this evening- definitely people I can get on with there and I'm excited to get to know everyone! We're still waiting on one more, but he may have already arrived at some point this evening for all I know! Tomorrow we're meeting at 9 for our trip to the crees office and orientation day which I'm excited about because I'll get to see everyone who I'll be spending the next few months with and find out more about the next few days and our journey into the jungle! This evening everyone was pretty jet lagged and feeling bad from the altitude so it was only me and one other volunteer, David, for dinner. We went to a little Peruvian restaurant just down the road and I had an amazing quinoa salad because I was craving vegetables. David has done all kinds of jungle/biology related stuff and just recently bought a piece of jungle in Belize, so he had plenty of interesting stories to tell, but I started to feel sooo sick towards the end of dinner so I'm back at the hostel now and luckily feeling a bit better! I still can't believe I'll be in the jungle in a few days, its still soo surreal!! Xxx

Alpaca pizza and llama ice cream - Sunday 8th

Hello! Hope everyone is doing well back home and not missing me too much (mum and dad, I'm looking at you!). I'm afraid I don't have anything too interesting to report from today so I'll try and keep this short rather than rambling alot like yesterday! I slept pretty well last night, I watched a movie in bed and fell asleep by about 11, and got up at 10 this morning, so I feel a lot more rested and not too jet lagged today! The weather today was amazing, so sunnybu but breezy so it was perfect! I decided to explore a little further than I did yesterday and try and get most of my shopping for the jungle done , so I headed out to some markets and the pharmacy and stuff and got pretty much everything I need. The markets here are so colourful and they have loads of cool alpaca and llama themed stuff, and lots of jumpers and ponchos- I got a really cool bag with a llama on it to to keep in the crees office with all the stuff I don't need in the jungle. After lots of walking and shopping, I was really hungry and I wanted something Peruvian but I was also in the mood for a nicer restaurant rather than street food type stuff, so I went to a nice Peruvian grill type restaurant just off the main square and had a cusqueña beer and an alpaca pepperoni pizza (ok so not really that Peruvian, but I was super hungry and they didn't have guinea pig on the menu, and it was AMAZING, maybe the best pizza I've ever had!). Anyway I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and wondering wandering around taking photos and I had a coffee in a little cafe on a balcony and took lots of pictures of people like the creep I am, so it was a lovely day all in all. Oh and I saw a woman sharing an ice cream with her baby llama, which pretty much made my day! At the moment I'm just relaxing in the living room at the hostel, I might watch a movie in a bit then head out for some dinner. The guy that picked me up from the airport said there was going to be another volunteer arriving ttoday, but I haven't seen anyone around the hostel yet, so fingers crossed they'll surface soon! Going to have to wash my hair tonight which I'm crying on the inside about because it means the end of my nice straight hair, and hello frizzy jungle hair :( Ok so that wasn't really as short as I was planning but oh well! I'm still trying to figure out how to get pictures on here but for the moment I'll put some of my mobile pictures up on Facebook! Only two more days left in civilisation, aaaahhh!!! Xxx

Saturday 7th - I made it to Peru!!

Hello everybody! I made it to Peru! This is actually a miraculous thing, because I spent yesterday morning having a last minute tooth extraction, the whole of yesterday and last night sprinting through airports, nearly missing flights and nearly being picked up by rogue taxi drivers who knew my full name. But I'm here, I'm safe and I'm very very tired! I got collected from Cusco airport this morning by a very friendly crees staff member who brought me to my hostel and gave me some good information and advice about cusco, along with a crees t-shirt and welcome pack, which has got me soo excited to get to the jungle in a few days! I have my own room in the hostel with a tv, bathroom etc which is really nice, so I had a nice long nap when I arrived, showered, then headed out this afternoon to explore. The main square and Sol avenue (a big street where all the banks, big shops etc are) are just 2 mins down the road- I felt very safe walking around by myself, and I genuinely haven't felt so happy or excited in ages as I was when I was just wandering around looking at all these amazing things! It's very very surreal to be here and to be so far from home and completely by myself! It's so beautiful here though and I've seen some magical and hilariously Peruvian things already (women walking around with baby Llamas on their backs etc) which I'll attach pictures of! The weather was amazing this afternoon, it was sunny but cool and not at all humid, but then as I was having lunch in Starbucks (disappointing I know, but tbf it was the only cafe I could find in a good location for people watching) thunder and lightning started and by the time I left it was pouring with rain, as it is now! So I'm back at the hostel now eavesdropping on a group that are having a welcome talk in the next room- I haven't really felt many negative effects of the altitude so far, other than when I've been sitting down for a while like right now, I kind of feel like I'm bobbing up and down on a boat, which is weird. That may just be tiredness though for all I know. Anyway I realise that this has been a long yet quite boring update, so I shall attach some pictures and sign off now! Love and miss everyone back home! If you wanna get in touch I'll be able to get on Facebook until Tuesday, or just comment on here or email me at emmahope.may@hotmail.com xxx

Ps- having a hard time uploading photos tonight, so I'll try again tomorrow during the day when there'll be less people using the WiFi!

Pps- thank you so much to everyone who sent messages before I left yesterday and so sorry for not replying, I was so stressed out! But love and miss you all!

Wednesday Feb 4th

Hello everyone! This is the blog I'm going to try and update with news and photos as often as possible while I'm in Peru! I'm not sure how easily I'll be able to upload photos, or how often I'll get to update on here, but I'll do my best for anyone who might be interested in seeing what I'm getting up to! Em xxx