Oxapampa: Machetes for Everyone!

Hello Readers! Yes I am still alive! I've returned to civilization (ie electricity and internet) after a little over two weeks having an absolutely wonderful time volunteering at a convervation project in the Cloud Forest Jungle near Oxapampa, Peru. There's so much to say about the project, the people, and the place that this will end up being a long post. But I hear from reliable sources that my readers are antsy for more adventures so hopefully this will satisfy you for a while!

There's so much to say but I guess I'll start off with what I was actually doing. This was my first experience with a Workaway like I mentioned in my first post, where you exchange labor for food and a place to sleep. I was a little aprehensive going into it since I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was able to meet up with the host right when I arrived in Oxapampa with no problem and everyone was immediately very nice so I settled in quickly. The project that I was working on is the brainchild of a husband and wife ecologist team, Flor and Federico. What they've done is basically buy a large plot of land right next to the Yanachaga Chemillen national park to turn into a combination of ecology research station and educational center. It's definitely the only one like that anywhere in the area and is already a great contribution to the community. They've had the property for five years and have already set up a model organic garden, greenhouse to grow trees for reforestation, a couple of composting systems and much more. They plan to build laboratories as well for experiments regarding frog development and orchid conservation. They seem to single-handedly be working to help the citizens of Oxampama switch to a more eco-friendly and sustainable way of farming and living.

Main building at the center

 There's a lot at the center to do to get it up and running to fufill their vision for it. Each volunteer gets to focus on a project that holds the most interest for them, but also gets to help out on other ongoing projects to get a taste of all the center is doing. Along these lines, I focussed on helping with the reforestation project. Another girl, Sarah, and myself, instructed by the all-knowing site manager Pancho, went through the steps of harvesting seeds, preparing beds or bags, planting the seeds, and planting existing seedlings where they were needed. Quite honestly the most fun part of the whole project was when Pancho handed us machetes, and after showing us the correct technique, instructed us to clear some underbrush so we could plant the seedlings. Yes, I literally macheted my way through the jungle. You can be jealous. Along with the reforestation project, I also helped build some terraces for the organic garden to prevent nutrient run-off, filled recycled plastic bottles with sand to use to build new bathrooms, and searched water samples from the river that provides Oxapampa with water for microinvertebrates that are bioindicators of the river's health. All in all lots of learn and do.

Machete expert 

Garden terraces

Beyond the projects, what made being at the center so great was the people there. There was a mix of volunteers from all around the world that ranged from five to eleven people plus the locals who came everyday to work at the center. All the volunteers were very interesting like minded people who were a pleasure to be around. It was such a treat to hear all about their travels, especially Bob the German who's been traveling for two and a half years and whose stories include sailing a boat from South Africa to Australia and working at a monkey sanctuary in Bolivia, and how they ended up volunteering at the center. Being with each other 24/7 gave us plently of time to get to know each other, which was aided by us cooking dinner together each night and playing plenty of games of cards. One thing about solo backpacking is that it does get lonely, so it was very nice to have a group of friends for a couple weeks to hang out with and go on adventures with on the weekends.

Celebrating Baptiste's birthday at our German bar Vater Otto of course 

Oxapampa's Plaza de Armas 

Which leads me to my final point, it was really cool being so far off the beaten tourist path and really getting to see what every day life in regular Peru is like. And I mean far enough off the path that I was asked to have my picture taken with a group of students. Holy crap a white person, pics or it didn't happen! (Is what I assume they were saying before they asked for a photo) But we spent the weekends going into town, hiking in the National Park and checking out a really cool waterfall, all things I literally would have never seen if I hadn't been at the Workaway there. It definitely felt like a privilege seeing all these cool places that foreigners almost never get to see. All in all, it was a really great experience and if you're ever in Peru, I recommend you go check out Oxapampa and the conservation center!

Our three mile walk to town. Scenery along the way: just average 

Link to the center: http://www.cds-peru.org/