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