Media Centre for Volunteer in Ghana

Diary Extracts from Yachana

After the training we are now able to get stuck into the transects, trail, making and exploration. Three groups went out in the morning; route mappers, bird callers and route explorers. It was lunch before we knew it – time just seems to fly in the jungle. One of the agoutis turned up. It is the first time that many of us have seen one – a really weird mix of a rodent’s head and a pig-like body. The afternoon brought Spanish lessons from Louise and animal trapping with Olivia. It’s the first time we have done this so we’ll have to see how successful it will be – my money is on Nick’s trap – it has a certain quality about it. The excitement continued into the evening with the sighting of an Ornate Snail-eating Snake outside the cabin- It’s a jungle out there! Today we went off to a market at Agua Santa. They have a local market there every weekend for clothes, food and rifles! we set off by foot on a route through the forest. Friedman from Yachana lodge pointed out some of the different plants that were around. One that smells of garlic when cut. A tree called “Dragon’s blood” that bleeds when cut and is used for medicinal purposes. A tree with spiky cases containing orange balls that are good for face painting. Some of us went for the good old eco-warrier look! Very dashing. We stocked up on sweets, local food and a few beers, and had a game of footie with some local kids. The best part of the day was tubing down the Amazon. Eight rubber tubes tied together with all of us clambering on them like beached whales. It was great fun, I think everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. We ended the day with the first Yachana ping-pong championship. Some of our pin-pong skills leave a lot to be desired but Graham ended up as the first champion. A great day overall!! Elle and I got up really early (4.30am) this morning to make breakfast for a very excited camp. Today we are off to Hector’s island. We packed the last essential items and waded down to the river to meet the canoe. We were very lucky because our two hours ride to Coca was in sunshine and not rain. It was a beautiful journey. Lots of birds to identify and searching in the trees overhanging the river for sloths. First impressions of the island is that it is stunning – the camp was right along the side of the river an d the sun was beaming down. We set up our hammocks and tents and then set out for a walk. We saw Black-masked Tamarins, Squirrel Monkeys. Itr was so exciting to see mammals in the wild. We then went into the forest and waded through swamps – perfect habitat for anacondas and caimen. We heard lots of birds including the Dwarf Tyrant Manakin, which Hector said that who-ever is lucky enough to see the bird is “in love”. We also saw a hawk in the tree tops. The trees really are enormous!