Experiencing something new

Hey guys!

Sorry for the slight delay – the wifi here is terrible. I mean I am in the middle of the amazon rainforest, so having any at all is a blessing in itself haha.

It’s officially been 2 weeks at the station and I’m absolutely loving it! Mentally and physically I’m exhausted already with 6 more weeks to go, but the research and passion in everyone makes it an incredible experience.

As I’m writing this im hammocking watching the sunset on one of the prettiest and sunniest days so far. It’s not something you can describe. All you can see is trees across the horizon with this HUGE brown river at the base of our station. Truly jaw dropping. With the sounds of birds and monkeys off in the distance.

I am really loving the simplicity of being here and the lack of communication kinda. It’s a great time to self-reflect and figure out different areas I want to go grow in. It always goes back to living in the moment and enjoying what you have around you; the new friendships, the new place I’m experiencing, and the new chapter of my career that I’m living in.

Takeaway: live a little

A bunch of other research assistants just left today (which was sad since we just started to get to know them) and some more show up in the next few days (which is also very exciting). We are on 3 day rotations here which include: primate trapping, primate follows, bats team, birds team, and mammals trapping. I’m currently on primate follows which is where we go out to previously trapped groups to try to habituate them (let them get used to humans) so that we can follow their groups and observe behaviors, collect poop samples, and identify their home ranges and feeding/sleeping trees.

Sleep is hard to come by and bedtime is usually around 9 because wake up time is 4:30 and you gotta be on your game and ready to roll haha.

I hope everyone is enjoying the nice summer weather and having some delicious drinks for me while hanging at the beach/pool.

I’ll keep you posted on things. And remember, go adventure!